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Altitude problem, values look like they have become random

Theo F.
over 3 years ago

About one year in possession of the watch, recently the altimeter show what appear to be random values. In the watch face i am using, in some widgets who combine compass and altitude and of course in the GPS positioning, altitude is stuck to some random numbers. I have turned off the watch and restarted it and once it fixed the issue, but only once. I have many faces, widgets, apps stored and i am not doing a factory reset, any other way i could possibly fix the issue? Thanks.

  • +1 over 3 years ago

    Have you tried to start a GPS activity, and waited 30 seconds after GPS signal was okay before starting?

  • 0 over 3 years ago
    Theo F. said:
    About one year in possession of the watch, recently the altimeter show what appear to be random values. In the watch face i am using, in some widgets who combine compass and altitude and of course in the GPS positioning, altitude is stuck to some random numbers. I have turned off the watch and restarted it and once it fixed the issue, but only once. I have many faces, widgets, apps stored and i am not doing a factory reset, any other way i could possibly fix the issue? Thanks.

    Hi Theo!  Is the watch face that you're referencing from the Connect IQ app/store and not a stock watch face?  If so, please let me know what watch face you've downloaded.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to ovekvam

    I don't understand the question friend. I don't use GPS much in activities. I am using the stock GPS positioning, it finds location but altitude is not correct.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Kevin

    I don't use stock watch faces, they are very limited. The one i currently use is called "Trail Watch". You think this could be the problem?

  • +1 over 3 years ago in reply to Theo F.
    Theo F. said:
    I don't use stock watch faces, they are very limited. The one i currently use is called "Trail Watch". You think this could be the problem?

    Yes, the "Trail Watch" watch face that you have downloaded is likely the issue.  There is a "Contact Developer" option on the download page for that watch.  If your elevation data looks correct in your GPS activities or when using a stock watch face (that allows you to display that data), you will need to let the developer of that watch face know of the issue to have this issue resolved.

    https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/57518d13-ed7f-4342-8e25-ced535ef9152

  • +1 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Kevin

    Watch faces can't turn on GPS, only access the last GPS location, but that goes stale fairly quickly. 

    You need to start an activity that uses GPS (like "run").  You'll see a status for GPS that will turn green when it's ready.  That's a 2s fix - lat and lon.  After about 30 seconds, assuming you are in open sky, you'll have 3d fix - lat,lon,altitude,

    Start an activity that uses GPS, wait for the green, then about 20 seconds longer.  Start recording, stop recording, then discard it.

    That should calibrate the altitute/elevation.

    It's also possible that the tiny hole used as an air port is clogged, so carefully wash the watch.  I'm not sure where the post is on the va4, but on other devices it's just a pin hole.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Kevin

    Thanks for the reply. I am not aware of any stock watch faces that "allow you to display that data" as you wrote, meaning altitude. The best i have come across is one with 4 data fields, apart from the clock. If there were stock faces with the needed data, i would of course prefer them to the independent developer ones.

    I am not usually contacting developers, i don't feel i should ask for things if their product is free. But maybe i will.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

    Thanks friend. Yes, i started the activity and stopped and discarded it. Waited for it to find GPS first. But that solution would not have crossed my mind, because doesn't the watch do the same thing, when i long press upper right button and then select the GPS position icon, which also says "Wait for GPS"? I tried that option many times, no watch faces involved. And the GPS position was found BUT altitude was way off, didn't get fixed. But now that it searched for GPS because of the activity, it DID got fixed. Is there an explanation for this?

    Also, i am using a couple of widgets who are compass-altitude-barometer. Do these widgets measure these independently and how frequently do they take the measurements?

  • +1 over 3 years ago in reply to Theo F.

    As earlier mentioned, GPS location on the ground comes first, but you need to wait longer for GPS-altitude. 

    The barometer should work constantly (it is used for counting floors), but needs to be calibrated by GPS, as it will drifts VERY far off when the weather changes.