Compass True North vs Mag North + Weird Nav Problem

Hello,

Here is a video detailing my problem: drive.google.com/.../view

My compass was calibrated today at a place where I intentionally went to get away from any possible magnetic interference. Also, the video compares with an iPhone X's compass which was also calibrated.

I have also recently did a hard reset in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Strange thing is that the mag north reads fine. I could have lived with this. BUT ... because of this discrepancy, the arrow on my track while doing the "Navigate" activity does not point correctly.

Other important stats of my watch: 13.3 firmware. it is an APAC model and under warranty (Serial number 6LL001460).

I wonder if there's a way I can install 14.3 firmware on my own? Seems like that might have solved it for some folks?

Thanks!

TC

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So here's the video showing the weird nav problem. I currently have my North Ref set to magnetic north, and maps set to "Track Up".

Almost tells me to do a u-turn. every. time. I. stop.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/163qJoQsC7aHhYRRjfZUyHONDL4-WamrF/view?usp=sharing

It's a simple route generated from Connect. Just a couple hundred meters of straight line.

But its quite obvious what's going on. The hardware is not powerful enough (understandable, since its a watch) to support things like Kalman Filtering. Otherwise, something like a Kalman filter would have kept this at bay. 

So when moving, the system gives more weight to GPS derived heading, all is good.

But when stationary, the system gives more weight to compass derived heading. Which somehow is quite messed up now.

  • Update your watch to the latest firmware, 14.20, or if it's not available at your localazation, to 14.30 beta, and it will be solved.

  • I tried.

    However, it seems like the watch never gives me the prompt to update after I copy in the gupdate.gcd and I dis-connect my USB cable.

    When I check back in again into /GARMIN folder , the gupdate.gcd disappears.

    Oh well ....

  • That seems to be the typical result of trying to install a non-APAC SW version on an APAC watch. Are you sure you were using APAC versions of the FW? I thought that the APAC FW versions were still at 12.30, or something similar.

  • That's the thing: I can't find the APAC FWs.

    I'm pretty sure it is at least at 13.3. My Instinct Solar is currently at 13.3.

    Is there any reason why APAC Instinct Solars can't beta? APAC customers make good beta tester too. *shurgs*

  • :) I feel you. But cannot help you there. :) Best of luck.

  • Thank you. =)

    Strange decision by Garmin indeed.

  • @Garmin staff

    If the firmware fix cannot be provided, perhaps you could suggest a workaround that I could implement on my end?

    I tried setting the North Reference to a user one, setting to 132 deg west. It "seems" to solve the arrow pointer on the map while navigating but doesn't help with compass headings.

    TC

  • If, on the  compass settings, you define the North ref to be Magnetic North, does that not reflect on the navigation arrows? I am saying this because the magnetic North still works fine in that situation, and I think I remember navigating without problems while that bug was present, but using Mag North as reference. (My maps are always North up). But maybe my recollection is wrong. Old age and memories do not go well together. :)

  • So here's the video showing the problem. I currently have my North Ref set to magnetic north, and maps set to "Track Up".

    Almost tells me to do a u-turn. every. time. I. stop.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/163qJoQsC7aHhYRRjfZUyHONDL4-WamrF/view?usp=sharing

    It's a simple route generated from Connect. Just a couple hundred meters of straight line.

    But its quite obvious what's going on. The hardware is not powerful enough (understandable, since its a watch) to support things like Kalman Filtering. Otherwise, something like a Kalman filter would have kept this at bay. 

    So when moving, the system gives more weight to GPS derived heading, all is good.

    But when stationary, the system gives more weight to compass derived heading. Which somehow is quite messed up now.

    TC

  • I did not check your video. However, please note that version 13.20 had a bug concerning navigation (once it got off course it would always remain off-course and try to point you to the course origin, IIRC). It only got fixed with 13.81 (again, non-APAC), if I am not mistaken. Navigating with 13.20 was a complete mess.

    Therefore, I still think that the mag/true North bug can in principle be completely handled (even though with the magnetic declination error, of course) by defining mag North as a reference. What you are still  experiencing after having made "mag North" the reference is probably the result of that described navigation bug, not the mag/true north bug itself (even though you probably have both). 

    The good news is that, as soon as your upgrade becomes available, both bugs will be gone. :)

    As for the Kalman, I am sure they have some (either statistical or simply low-pass) filtering in there. When moving, the course is simply to stable to be the result of a GPS position-to-GPS position course calculation. And it makes sense that, after one or two seconds after stopping, the arrows change they reference to the compass. We can debate if the filter's (whatever filter is in there) time constant should be slightly lower or higher, but those are small details, of course.

    Best regards