Too long; didn't read: Grab the 16.50 beta and use the 16.00 downdate file while you still can!
I was forced to update my Instinct Solar from 15.00 to 16.50 to be able to keep my waypoints after a buggy Explore Android update. During that, the sensor firmware SNS was updated from 6.01 to 13.00 and the wrist heart rate sensor WHR from 2.00.04 to 4.00.03. Probably not relevant are GPS 4.80 to 5.40, BMX 2.04 to 4.0.3 and BLE/ANT 3.00 to 3.01.
Today I was hiking outside for several hours. Before the update I had a working altimeter and barometer with automatic calibration. Now it's a total omnishambles. Height sways around with an uncertainty of 100 meters - one hundred!
Sure, I get it. 'Let's change that algorithm, we can make it better'. I guess the guys who had worked it out decades ago on the old navigation devices have long moved on.
Now it's all Agile, Scrum masters etc. (And, just as a side note, the translation of 'Enter Manually' has been messed up, probably because the menu item points to the wrong asset. Update: not probably. The problem persists in all translations.)
Altimeter / barometer calibration is about low and high pass filtering, the weighing of probabilities in conjunction with move detection, and LOTS of experience. It has to be tested thoroughly with pressure and movement data simulations, and in real life.
Or, of course, one can just say, 'if we fix it or not is not such a high priority, because all the YT-influencers are runners, bikers and swimmers, and never hikers, and don't care about altimeter or barometer.'
Once again, I am quite disappointed with this Garmin attitude and the insufficient QA. And, no, I won't send a completely pointless email anywhere. It's all written up right here, and even that won't make one iota of difference.
Why is it that I as a total outsider do my homework thoroughly, quickly see software bugs and even have the courtesy to report them for free, usually with no consequence, acknowledgment or word of thank, while inside Garmin so many bugs are not found? This is not a singular experience, this is normality with Garmin, and has been for many years.
All I can do now is to try a downdate, if the other changed sub-firmwares even allow this. Huge hassle, totally new setup. Update: Rolled back to 16.00, but I am not sure if this will fix the problem - perhaps it's also due to the SNS-firmware update. Update 2: Out again from the warm to the cold, I can say that the rollback has much improved altimeter performance similar to how it was before.
And I didn't even mention the higher power consumption probably due to the new WHR-firmware. I guess the LEDs are pulsed more densely to improve measurement, it sure looks like it, and this has clearly increased battery drain. Or the minute digit not being updated for more than ten minutes, because the screen driver is addressed incorrectly. Again, no one cares. I've seen it all before SO MANY TIMES.
UPDATE:
Well, this is embarassingly bad. I was outside again for an hour, out of the warm into the cold. Walking completely in the horizontal, the 'measured' elevation climbed up 20 (twenty!) meters in mere minutes. I never, ever had this before. Now, I basically have the same functionality as with a cheap Chinese watch from Amazon. Incredible.
Possible explanations:
1. Garmin has totally screwed up their so far quite passable automatic altimeter / barometer calibration, and neither realise, nor care -> VERY PROBABLE
1.1 Garmin have forgotten to re-add temperature compensation after reworking the calibration algorithm -> POSSIBLE, AND IN THAT CASE INEPT - After all, they basically hardly beta-test, and if at all, then only in mild US climates. This explains why the translation bug was missed (see above). Garmin's thinking (seriously): 'But we published a public beta!'
2. There is a patent claim behind the scenes, and Garmin are frantically trying to change the algorithm, while selling it as 'improved' -> POSSIBLE, BUT UNLIKELY
THE FENIX HAS THE SAME PROBLEM:
forums.garmin.com/.../we-need-a-third-altimeter-option
forums.garmin.com/.../altimeter-calibration-not-holding
forums.garmin.com/.../new-altimeter-algorithm-not-working-firmware-is-20-30
GARMIN: Bring back the old algorithm! Just because someone says the new algorithm is better, it does not automatically mean that is true!
UPDATE 2:
THE NEW EPIX 2 PERHAPS ALSO HAS THE PROBLEM:
forums.garmin.com/.../altimeter-problem
Apparently, Garmin had loads of negative feedback regarding the terrible new altimeter calibration algorithm in the Fenix forum, about the beta version. Still, Garmin went ahead and pushed this as a release.
