Forerunner 45 newbie

Edit - I know believe that the loss of tracking today was due to human error - mine. I’d had an issue earlier when I wasn’t sure the app had started so checked at a muster point. At this final muster, I was checking again and tapped on the screen and git the red square stop icon. I mistakenly thought that I didn’t need to click resume, believing it would launch again after I began running. 

BeeCee said:

tapped on the screen and git the red square stop icon.

Yes, it is a bit confusing, but basically this is showing you the current state of your activity. If it's showing red square then that means it is currently stopped. Press it again to show a green triangle, signifying currently started and recording your activity.

BeeCee said:

Am used to running with Strava app on iPhone where GPS pick up is instant. Can take quite a while on 45 which seems very odd for a dedicated GPS device.

Phones usually get quicker GPS fix, because they're augmented by cell tower traingulation and/or internet connection. The FR45 has neither, and relies on GPS only, but the fix should be much quicker if you start a GPS activity shortly after syncing with your phone.

Thanks for your reply. I’ll get there in the end. 

Thanks for the info re triangulation etc - hadn’t thought of that. Would the same be true of dedicated GPS navigation/mapping devices that don’t have internet/cell tower triangulation? 

Will try to remember to sync before I head out next time to see if it makes any difference. BTW did you see my follow-on question re  issue with syncing? Any insight into that one? 

Hi - I got my wife a 45s. The watch doesn't have wifi so you're reliant on a bluetooth connection to your phone. Your phone having an internet connection is required to sync though as any activity data is stored in the cloud rather than on your phone.

My wife's bluetooth connection is a bit hit at miss. When I run with my 935 it just syncs automatically once I've completed an activity. With my wife's that sometimes happen. Usually there is some toggling of bluetooth on her phone and cycling of power on the watch and/or phone. It's a pain.

Previous commentators are right re GPS taking longer on the watch than on a phone. Also, I think Garmin have announced that there have been some issues with the timeliness of satellite acquisition. https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-45-series/212251/my-garmin-fitness-device-is-taking-a-long-time-to-acquire-a-satellite-signal

Good luck and enjoy!

BeeCee said:

Would the same be true of dedicated GPS navigation/mapping devices that don’t have internet/cell tower triangulation? 

Generally yes. A normal GPS without any augmentation can take even several minutes to get a GPS fix, possibly longer in unfavourable conditions, like obstructed skyview, traveling to a new location or being off for a long time.

Another factor to consider (which I forgot to mention in my first post) is the size of the antenna (quite small in a wearable).

BeeCee said:

did you see my follow-on question re  issue with syncing? Any insight into that one? 

The only info I can give you on this is that the inactivity of the sync button is caused by lack of bluetooth connection between watch and phone. It is hard to pinpoint the reason, but generally bluetooth connection between a garmin and a phone can be a bit finicky.

BeeCee said:

I have to open Connect and try to tap on the circular arrows button to instigate sync. Is this what you have to do? The problem for me is that that ‘syncing button’ is not always active. I have to mess around with screens, toggle internet off and on etc to try to get it to work. Is syncing reliant on a good WiFi connection? Should the iPhone and Garmin be able to talk to each other via Bluetooth without WiFi?

It should work just over BT, I think. Certainly mine is usually quick and reliable: with a cellular connection as well, my run is normally on Strava (via Connect) within a couple of minutes of pressing the stop button. But yesterday that did not happen, and my old Forerunner 35 was a bit flaky in that respect. Good luck. Perhaps try deleting it from your BT list of connected devices and then re-pairing?

So, if I’ve understood you correctly, there could be two issues here. The first is the Bluetooth connectivity, or not, between the Garmin and the phone - and this enables what’s on the watch to ‘transfer’ over to the phone. And then subsequently, the phone needs decent WiFi to transmit the data to the cloud.