Garmin Forerunner 305 Users

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rickydeuce
rickydeuce Posts: 80
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone think the elevation might be a bit off? Just wondering......

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  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Nope, I match mine to Mapmyrun.com and it is very close to accurate. I frequently do training runs that include long or steep hills and mine is spot on.
  • Arizona_JR
    Arizona_JR Posts: 275
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    Does anyone think the elevation might be a bit off? Just wondering......

    Mine has always been pretty dang accurate when compared with other mapping software systems.

    When is the last time you went to Garmin to update the firmware for your 305?
  • ilsie99
    ilsie99 Posts: 259
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    Aboslutely. Garmin uses GPS triangulation for determining elevation, and then corrects afterwards based on your location and what it thinks the elevation should be. This has proven to be much more inaccurate than barometric elevation readings.

    Think of it this way- if you are running on a road next to the edge of a cliff, and your GPS accuracy is +/- 10 ft, the Garmin could place your location either on the road or the bottom of the cliff, at which point your elevation would be way off.
  • Bentrain
    Bentrain Posts: 41 Member
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    I don't believe its real accurate. I get different readings on the same route. plus it showed a 100 feet of climb while doing a track workout on the local high school track.
  • rickydeuce
    rickydeuce Posts: 80
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    I have a 4 mile loop that I run and it states that the elevation goes up to 900 ft. I can't imagine anywhere there is a 900 ft. difference for the life of me. There is a hill or two, but doesn't seem that steep.
  • DonPendergraft
    DonPendergraft Posts: 520 Member
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    Heck yes it's off. It's not Garmin's fault though. GPS sucks at it is all. Don't know what software you use, but I recommend (highly!) SportTracks. There is a plugin that will use your GPS data along with USGS data and automatically correct the elevation. Not sure, but I think the newest version of Garmin Connect may have this as well. Don't use GTC though. It sucks badly. Check out SportTracks instead! Good luck.
  • Arizona_JR
    Arizona_JR Posts: 275
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    My biggest gripe about my 305 is that it doesn't seem to track angular distance, like when you are climbing a steep grade or running over lots of rolling hills. It seems to only track the horizontal "point A" to "point B" distance, and not the true distance if you managed to flatten those rolling hills out.

    Am I wrong here, or does anyone notice this discrepancy?
  • DonPendergraft
    DonPendergraft Posts: 520 Member
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    My biggest gripe about my 305 is that it doesn't seem to track angular distance, like when you are climbing a steep grade or running over lots of rolling hills. It seems to only track the horizontal "point A" to "point B" distance, and not the true distance if you managed to flatten those rolling hills out.

    Am I wrong here, or does anyone notice this discrepancy?

    Well that's true. I think. But do any other units handle this problem correctly?

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