Instinct - 6.51 Beta Release

Hello Instinct users,

We have new beta software ready for your upcoming adventures!

Please read the 'notes' and 'installation instructions' in the 'Updates and Downloads' page found in the link below. We look forward to your feedback!

Instinct: https://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=14527

Note: Please allow for the updates to propagate across all servers. There is no need to post that the link does not work. It will after a bit of patience.

6.51 Change Log Notes:

  • Added Body Battery widget (Settings > Widgets > Add Widgets > Body Battery).
  • Made improvements to altimeter calibration.
    • Added “During Activity” and “Not During Activity” auto calibration settings (Altimeter > Auto Cal.).
    • Added option to manually calibrate altimeter to DEM (Altimeter > Calibrate > Use DEM).

Top Replies

  • Added Body Battery widget (Settings > Widgets > Add Widgets > Body Battery).

    Body Battery widget on the watch works fine, but the Body Battery pane does not appear on GC Mobile…

  • Added option to manually calibrate altimeter to DEM (Altimeter > Calibrate > Use DEM).

    I had to lookup what DEM means. Perhaps there are other as uneducated people as myself, who…

  • over 4 years ago in reply to trux +2 suggested

    In other words, it means the elevation is not retrieved directly from the GPS data using trigonometric functions. Instead, just the longitude/latitude GPS coordinates are used to read the topographic…

All Replies

  • Added option to manually calibrate altimeter to DEM (Altimeter > Calibrate > Use DEM).

    I had to lookup what DEM means. Perhaps there are other as uneducated people as myself, who would like to know what it is:

    DEM = Digital Elevation Model 

    In other words, it means the elevation is not retrieved directly from the GPS data using trigonometric functions. Instead, just the longitude/latitude GPS coordinates are used to read the topographic elevation for given position from an online database. It also means, that this kind of calibration can likely work only when you are connected to the Internet through GC Mobile on the phone.

    At least this is what I understood. It is also possible that I am wrong, of course

    The advantage over GPS should be better accuracy, though it may depend on the accuracy of the Elevation Model in your immediate location. If you are lucky, the accuracy may be an order (or perhpas more) better than the accuracy of GPS calculated elevation (GPS altitude accuracy is typically 20-60 meters, and possibly even worse with a device as miniaturized as a smart watch).

  • In other words, it means the elevation is not retrieved directly from the GPS data using trigonometric functions. Instead, just the longitude/latitude GPS coordinates are used to read the topographic elevation for given position from an online database. It also means, that this kind of calibration can likely work only when you are connected to the Internet through GC Mobile on the phone.

    At least this is what I understood. It is also possible that I am wrong, of course

    It appears you are partially correct.

    In my 6x Pro, the DEM database is on the watch - current installed version is 2.90.  It is not necessary to have an active connection to GCM on my phone to calibrate the Altimeter using DEM.

    On my Instinct, I can find no record of an installed DEM database.  So, I tried to find out how it works on the Instinct.

    My first attempt to calibrate the Altimeter using DEM was done with the connection to my phone disabled.  My Instinct acquired GPS with no problem, but then flashed the message "No DEM data available."

    OK.  So then I enabled the connection to my phone and tried again.  Again, GPS was acquired with no problem, but the next message was "Retrieving DEM data."  Very shortly after that, an Elevation was shown and I was asked to confirm - the Elevation was within 1 foot of what I have established as correct for my location.  Certainly a great result.

    But it shouldn't have to rely on a phone connection to work, right?  What happens when we are out of cell coverage and need an Elevation?

    So, I again disabled the connection to my phone, manually calibrated to an Elevation about 1500 feet different from what it should be, and tried to calibrate the Altimeter using DEM.  GPS was acquired, and almost immediately the correct Elevation was offered for confirmation.  Great!  No cell connection required.

    My conclusion is that at least part of the DEM database is "retrieved" through a cell phone connection and stored to memory on the watch at time of first use, but after that, it simply pulls the data from memory - no cell connection required.

    I don't know how much of the DEM database is downloaded and saved at first use, nor how long it remains current, or even how large an area is covered; but it looks like a significant improvement.

    HTH

  • Added Body Battery widget (Settings > Widgets > Add Widgets > Body Battery).

    Body Battery widget on the watch works fine, but the Body Battery pane does not appear on GC Mobile. I tried also restarting the application, and removing/re-adding the watch. Still no BB pane on the Edit My Day screen, althought the widget on the watch already shows data. Well, I'll retry tomorrow, perhaps it needs some sleep data, but more likely GC Mobile is not aware yet, that Instinct has that feature now too.

  • I don't know how much of the DEM database is downloaded and saved at first use, nor how long it remains current, or even how large an area is covered; but it looks like a significant improvement.

    Yes, I think the watch (both Instinct and other models supporting the DEM) simply uses a local cache for the current region where it stores the data when the Internet connection is available. I can barely imagine that there could be sufficient space for the world-wide DEM data. That must be rather huge, and there is not much free memory (at least not on the older models like Instinct).

  • Good morning,
    Great initiative on Garmin's part!
    I'm glad to see that the watch continues to evolve.
    We'll see what it does for the use, especially for the altimeter.
    Does anyone know if the calibration is done automatically before the activity only, or during the whole activity?

  • Same problem with BB pane not showing on GC Mobile.

  • Did this resolve itself after time? or can you still not see it?

  • Not available. I guess they will have to make a modification in GC too, and that may not happen before the official release of the new firmware

  • Hi,

    An idea : find the special file in instinct system files (like epo.bin for

  • Hi,

    An idea : find the "special" file in instinct system files (as "epo.bin" for ephemeris)