Venu 2S, Can Smart Recording Be Better Than 1 sec Recording In A City?

GPS signal will vary by time of day, (location of satellites and how the signal reflects off of buildings), the amount of satellites available at that time, cloud cover/weather and even the status of your EPO/CPE file.  Don't let a one time occurrence determine which setting is better.  In all cases every second recording is better for tracking results, but the track can still be poor if you encounter any of the things I listed.  Smart recording is only useful if you're concerned about the size of the activity file. 

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So you think I should stick with 1 sec recording? I know gps accuracy in general aren't great it cities. And I did this in roughly the same time of day both times with the walk, and same weather.

Yes, but as you've stated, cities pose a great challenge for GPS. Can you go into more detail on how today's activity appeared worse?  Is it possible every second recording amplified the existing challenges of city tracking and it wasn't as obvious as smart recording which filters your track some. 

So basically I was working south for the majority of time both times. When I was walking south I walked on left side, when I walked back, I went with the right side. With every second, somehow the gps thought this was switched? With smart, it mostly was on the right side.

Let's say you're moving in a perfectly straight line, point A to B and it takes you 10 seconds to cover that distance.  GPS accuracy can be off by 3M, or 10 feet. This is normal for the technology.  So, with every second recording it could mark you 7 feet to the right of that straight line and the next second 4 feet to the left.  On smart recording, as long as your speed or direction hasn't changed, it kind of filters your track and connects the recorded dots for your route and the track may appear better. Does that make sense?  The example I gave is a little extreme in most cases.  I still prefer every second recording, but it shows these challenges in city running moreso than running in the open.  I'm not sure why you got the one side of the street vs the other issue, but I'd try it again to see if it was a one off situation. 

Thinking about this a little longer it very well be a satellite location issue. I don't know for sure, but I don't believe satellites orbit the earth in perfect 24 hr increments.  So, it doesn't guarantee a satellite directly overhead will be at that same location 24 hrs later.  They would have to have a perfectly circular rotation at the same speed and distance from the earth and I don't believe this is the case.  The gravitational pull from the earth's polars would affect rotation. 

Hi,

Okay thanks. I'll try keeping one second on for a bit longer. Thank you for your help!

Now that I think about it, satellites aren't in the same position.  That's the sole purpose of the EPO file. Extended Prediction Orbit.  Now I'm just rambling and answering my own questions. I hope I was of some assistance.