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Fenix 6x distance increases after I stop moving

1189038
over 4 years ago

When I stop swimming in open water, my Fenix 6x distance continues to increase after I've stepped provided I don't press stop on the watch. This happens quickly at first and then slows down but continues for about 3 minutes when I'm dead still, adding 40 to 50 yards. What's happening? I swim up and down the aisles in a marina and if I went back and forth (essentially swimming laps) the distances were way off (short). I've swam for decades and often swim in a pool, so I know pretty accurately my swim speeds and I knew the distances were way off. So today, rather than swimming, I walked up and down the docks with my Fenix 6 on and tracking my "swimming" distance. When I got to the end of the dock, the distance shown was about 140 yards, but if I stood there, not moving at all, for 2 or 3 minutes, the distance would keep ticking up until it got to 180 or 185 yards, which is probably the accurate distance. If I swim 2 miles and I'm off by 50 yards, I could care less, but if I swim 10 marina lengths and I'm off by 40+ yards on each one, then my data is meaningless. Any thoughts on why this is happening and how I fix it?

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    You probably seeing the random errors in GPS that happen. Standing still with GPS recording will show these mounting up, that's why it's wise to stop the activity as soon as..

    Your GPS position is calculated within an error circle of say 1M radius. Standing still for a few minutes will see this errors mount up. It's a systematic error inherent in GPS calculations. One way of getting rid of it would be allowing for accelerometer readings I guess but even these probably have inherent systematic fluctuating errors

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Ɛpsilon

    As a follow up to my nearly year old post, I found the solution.  Short answer-The default setting on Garmin watches in "smart recording."  I changed it to "every second."  Night and day difference with open water swimming accuracy. 

    My other obsession is vertical feet.  Huge difference between "smart recording" versus "every second."  I had been really unhappy with the accuracy of my Fenix 6X before I had made that change.  For example, on Monday, I ran on the side walk the two blocks to the top of my street several times.  The first time (using smart recording) it was 170 vertical feet and the second time it was 129 feet.  If you only do it twice, it doesn't matter, but if the goal is 2000 vertical, then the difference matters.  12 times versus 16 times is massive.  Super happy with "every second."  The vertical feet and distance are now the same every time.  

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 1189038

    I wonder if that's why some people see more elevation discrepancy than others. Mine is quite well behaved but I've always switched on "every second" - may need to compare

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Ɛpsilon

    I think that's it.  Thanks for your help.  I (obviously not that smart) didn't know "every second" existed until a few days ago.