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Altitude is very incorrect

Hello,

Since v3.30, altitude seems to be incorrect, showing very crazy values, sometimes very high, sometimes negative ones.
After I've factory reseted the device, it appeared to be corrected. But after I performed a walk, with GPS online, it seems that the values got wrong again.
It also seems to be impacting in the floors (stairs) counting).
Could it be another bug?
Regards
Hervandil

Top Replies

Garmin-Blake over 5 years ago +1 verified

Please review this FAQ for information on how the vivoactive 3 series calibrates the altimeter.
Dave S. over 4 years ago in reply to Garmin-Blake +6

This calibration does not work at all. The altimeter (at least on the Vivoactive 3) is complete garbage and does not work, and Garmin just won't admit it. In my case, it is always, always, always, several…
4460897 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin-Blake +5

Hi Garmin,

This doesn't seem to work for a number of people for the VA3 as shown by this thread. There seems to be an issue with either the device hardware, software or the design of the ports on the underside…
pieras123 over 6 years ago +4

I have the same problem, has anyone contacted Garmin on this yet?

All Replies

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

@ cheese8800 Your altitude will always register on your VA3 regardless if you're using the GPS or not. It will adjust using the barometer. If the barometer rises, your elevation will drop and vise versa. That's why it's important to frequently calibrate the altimeter either manually to a known elevation (preferred method) or by GPS. Due to constant changes in the barometer, failing to calibrate can result in readings that are way off the actual elevation. I recalibrate my altimeter prior to every workout and I use this website (http://www.mapdevelopers.com/elevation_calculator.php) to find the elevation of my starting point if unknown.

0 vtrifonov over 6 years ago

I got a replacement from Garmin - now the barometric altimeter works fine as well as the temperature sensor. The replacement came with SW version 3.0. Tried several walks it works accurately. Updated to SW version 3.4 and all sensors work fine as well.

0 godolphins over 6 years ago

Looks like I'm now getting very good to ok elevation recordings.

The VERY GOOD: when I remember, I manually calibrate my VA3 right before a run from my home and VA3 works great.
I get elevation recordings that reliably accurate (confirmed within 10 feet of known altitude at various spots).

The OK: I play soccer for 2 hours and set the VA3 to "walk" to record the activity. I confirmed (with https://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htm) that the field is at 134 ft. (at each end - turf field)
The gps doesn't show me leaving the field but the elevation recordings for the activity were as follows:
33 ft (Elev Gain) - 20 ft Elev Loss - 124 ft Min Elev - 162 ft Max Elev (in fairness, I did walk up about 4 feet to a higher level to get a ball).
* I did not calibrate VA3 before soccer *

{clarification -- I have elevation correction turned OFF}

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

I experience that the floors counting seems to be independent from the elevation recorded during an activity. (In my case the native Walk app)

Today I did a mountain hike with approximately 400 meters of elevation which (in the activity) is recorded correctly, at least within acceptable levels of accuracy.
However total floor count today is 43. (believe I read somewhere that 1 floor is approx 3 meters)

Is it possible that floor count is from the altimeter while elevation in the activity is from GPS/Glonass?

(Glonass enabled, elevation correction turned off)

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Floors will be registered by arm swing, the amount of steps and the time it takes to get from point A to point B. This way floors aren't counted while in an elevator or even standing still on an escalator. Even though your mtn hike had a gain of 400M, it wasn't as if your climb was like ascending a staircase. Because the incline was more gradual; or steeper than a normal staircase in some locations, your elevation gain won't be recognized as flights of floors. I work on aerial fiber and copper lines. I'm going up and down 25 feet in my tower truck all day long and it never records that as floors.

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

Okay, didn't know it had to be actual stairs. I thought the "Floors" term was just a gimmick to make elevation gain more relatable for people.

If your theory of just picking up actual stairs is correct, then the tracking is really really bad as most of my floors during a normal day are gained during walking outside in not-very-stair-like conditions, and actual stairs are more likely to not being picked up than actually being picked up correctly.
And no, I'm not arguing the fact that there is (and of course should be!) the logic of no stair counting without movement, in order to rule out elevators etc.

That said; Floors doesn't really matter to me, I'm happy as long as the elevation recorded in the activities are correct :)

0 steveg2112 over 6 years ago

As of now i have physically climbed ZERO stairs today, however i have been for a run and according to connect had a 13ft elevation gain. I live in florida and was running on the road, there were no hills and any change in elevation was very gradual. And yet my watch has counted 4 flights of stairs!

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

What was your ambient and barometric pressure pre and post run?

0 steveg2112 over 6 years ago

What was your ambient and barometric pressure pre and post run?

I don't know, is this information recorded anywhere? Could it have changed that much in the space of 40 minutes?

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

There's a widget for the VA3 that records ambient pressure. It's been a while since I used the VA3, but I thought it had the ABC widget with the barometric pressure displayed. Maybe I'm wrong. I have both set on a datafield page on my 935. Is this an option for the VA3?