Projected Elevation profile when navigating a route MAYBE FIXED (Was a bug between v 7.10 and 21.0)

On my Fenix 5x I noticed a very strange thing when looking at the 'projected' elevation plot when navigating from point A to point B in a straight line rather than following roads or tracks. Not a closed route. (i.e. point B is 11 km from point A in a straight line) Version of the software on the Fenix 5x is 7.10 and the maps involved are Aus and NZ Tope lite V5 and Garmin Cycle Aus/NZ 2016.0. Both maps are turned on in the navigation settings. Navigation setting for routing is set to 'direct'. (Although note that it also does something similar if I set it to Pedestrian, or Mountaineer or one of the other choices)

So, just to clarify, I am talking about the profile that is calculated for the projected route, not the route travelled already. i.e. this is what the navigation sw is telling you you will go up and down if you walk in this straight line from where you are to where you want to be. What an excellent tool this would be IF ONLY IT WORKED PROPERLY!


The elevation plot looks strangely symmetrical. In fact it looks like the elevation plot I would expect, but doubled and reflected around point B as if it is the plot for A->B->A again rather than just A->B
.
Above is a picture, and I assure you that the real elevation between A and B should not be symmetrical like that. It's showing as green not blue because I haven't hit the 'start button yet. Starting doesn't change the shape of the graph, though as I hike along the route, the elevation profile changes from blue to green and corrects itself until at the end it looks about right.

I have also seen similar strangeness when looking at elevation plot for routes that follow roads and tracks out in the bush whilst hiking, though I don't recall them being symmetrical, they were definitely wrong and overshot the destination by about a factor of 2 as well. Drove me crazy trying to work out what it was doing!

This doesn't always happen. Sometimes abandoning the navigation and starting again gets the correct elevation plot, but very often it doesn't. More often than not it is wrong.

I haven't noticed this on closed routes that I have recorded, i.e. ones that come back to their beginning.

Looks like a bug to me.

Anyone else noticed this problem, or is it just me, or maybe the particular maps or settings I have chosen?

Thanks 

  • Version 13.30 of the Fenix 5X still has this issue, for 'saved locations' at least. 

    Whilst I was testing, I tried some of the other means of choosing the point to navigate to. Similar results.

    'Points of interest' elevation profile worked properly OK, then BAD on another try

    'Around me' seemed to give proper route elevations. OK  then BAD on another try

    'saved locations' gives the strange 'round-trip' elevation plot that I started this thread about. STILL BAD

    'courses' seems to work reliably. OK

    'round-trip course' OK

    'activities' OK

    "sight'n'go" BAD has a different bug. It doesn't give a proper profile at all, just a straight-line ramp between the end-point elevations. Not as useful as I'd like. If it behaved as I'd expect it'd be a great boon to navigation, giving me info on what the terrain would be like in a particular direction. But no, as it is, it's (almost)  useless.

    'use map' BAD with same round-trip elevation profile error

    'use coordinates' OK at first but BAD on another try

  • Just bought Forerunner 945 and guess? Same bug! (i suspect also for Marq series). Just reported to beta team that also new Forerunner 945 suffer this bug! To me bug is also here for "point of interest", just sometimes works 5 times in a row and sometimes not... However is unacceptable! If i don't know my destination how can i trust in my watch???

  • It's sad isn't it? These wrist-mounted devices are 'almost' there for navigation. Got good battery, maps, positioning, route finding and following and if the projected elevation profiles worked they would be truly wonderful aids to finding our way around the bush. Just not quite there yet...

  • Version 13.4 and the problem is still there. Might be getting it right more often, but definitely not always.

    Interestingly, sometimes Navigate doesn't show the elevation at all. Maybe it was too hard or too far away?

    NOTE: I now notice that '0m' thing on the turn prompts that pop up during Navigation. This is an unsolved problem that has been discussed elsewhere since at least a year ago. I've never really noticed it before. (More because I was focussed on the elevation? Dunno but it just goes to show how buggy the navigation activity is...)

  • so on 13.4 the "0" navigation problem still exists? thanks for info. i was allready thinking 'bout going back from 13.51 with hope that it is solved now. 

  • Version 14.10.

    The first time I tried with a saved  location, it showed the 'symmetrical elevation profile' symptom. HOWEVER, I tried 5 more times to same and different locations and the problem wasn't there! Dare I hope?

    No, because on 6th try, the problem was back again.

    Sigh.

  • Has anyone tested this on the Fenix 6? I'd be fascinated to know...

  • Version 14.20 and the bug is still there. (My passive-aggressive approach to getting it fixed clearly isn't working...)

    HOWEVER, having tried it in the Navigation activity using Direct routing more than 5 times and having that symmetrical 'wrong' predicted elevation every time, I wonder if at least they have accidentally made it consistent?  (Can't imagine they'd do that on purpose)

    That'd be an improvement.... sorta. If you knew to expect it.  (More testing later shows it isn't 'always' wrong but most of the time, especially after the first time which appears to sometimes be correct. )

    Dunno what it does when you try to follow the course, in terms of filling in the blue 'predicted' elevation with  the green the actual profile that you follow. That could get a bit messy because the horizontal scale is wrong on the predicted graph. Resigned Sigh.

    Whoa! Hold your horses!

    Just tried it using Mountaineering routing  which actually follows footpaths (I'm in the city testing this) and first and second time were good'uns. Let's not get our hopes up. Gotta try a few more times... 3 ok, 4 good, 5 aha excellent, 6 mmmHmmm, 7 Nice, 8 Looking good, 9 getting excited 10 YeeHaw!. (I've got my Texan hat on, apologies to real Texans) 10 tries in Mountaineering mode all worked!

    Hmm, I wonder how Sight'N'Go will fare? It uses Direct routing, i think... and Oh yes, i remember, it just gives a linear ramp. Hmmm, pity. And almost useless. No change there.

    So to sum it all up, they've broken it most of the time for Direct routing and fixed it all the time (well 10 out of 10) for Mountaineering (and maybe pedestrian, hiking cycling any mode that actually uses a non-direct calculated path.)

    I'm going to count that as a win. Except when I am out in the middle of nowhere with no roads to route on, where it will be broken in a way I can maybe work around. (But I will grumble anyway)

    Anyone else get the same sort of results? (Or better/worse?)