Access to GPS elevation (not pressure altitude)

Hi there,

I'm working again on a flight nav app, but it's completely useless due to the fact that there is no GPS elevation available in CIQ. Only pressure altitude is provided in Activity.altitude and Sensor.altitude.

In a pressurized aircraft, this shows the cabin pressure altitude but not the aircraft elevation. Big problem.

Is there any way to overcome this issue and add Sensor.gpsElevation?

Thanks a lot.
Julien

Coleman.Apps over 8 years ago

I've created a ticket to address the issue in our documentation.

Thanks,
-Coleman

julienvm over 8 years ago

Coleman,

Are you able to provide an answer on GPS elevation? Is it something Garmin can address or is all hope lost?

Thanks so much.
Julien

Coleman.Apps over 8 years ago

Hey Julien,

As noted already, Connect IQ does not give the option to choose where elevation is coming from. Connect IQ will be given what the watch has determined is the "best" source at the time of the call. With consumer grade GPS products the accuracy of GPS Altitude can be + or - several hundred feet. Typically, devices will default to baro/alt elevation because it is calibrated to a higher accuracy (on many watches it can be re-calibrated if things get out of wack). As of right now, there is no plan to expose a preference to one sensor or another.

-Coleman

julienvm over 8 years ago

Hi Coleman,

Thanks a lot for your reply. At least the Garmin's position is clear.

It seems to me that Garmin understands well the requirements of a sports product but not quite as much of an aviation product.

In aviation, the watch doesn't have sufficient information to make the call of which altitude source is correct. Only the pilot can tell (pressurized cabin or not? calibrated?) and both data sources are very useful (alt -> cabin pressure, GPS -> aircraft elevation).

I understand that developing new functions is a long process and needs to be justified by significant market needs. Perhaps this market need is too small. But hey, you decided to go for it by releasing the D2 Bravo.

Is it something you could note as a feature request? I'm developing a navigation app for pilots but without GPS elevation it's really useless :( I'm sure many other apps could benefit from this.

Thanks anyways for your work and for supporting us out there. I still think you're doing a great job and that Garmin is a top company.

-Julien