Garmin 500 ascent reading
Smithster
Posts: 117
Why does my garmin 500 regularly shown on average 400-500 ft more of ascent than everyone else's on a club run. Is it something in my settings?
Cheers
Cheers
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Smithster wrote:Why does my garmin 500 regularly shown on average 400-500 ft more of ascent than everyone else's on a club run. Is it something in my settings?
Cheers
I've found that my 500 shows up to 25% less than a Garmin 810, I've seen 800' difference on a 50 mile ride. It's all a bit of a farce and it gets even worse when you start downloading it to Strava.0 -
Mine has always been very accurate.
I have a screen showing Total Ascent and Total Descent.
That way you can see if you have some metres 'in the bank' or not (i.e. overdrawn! (below where you started!).
When I get home the two are almost always within 5m of each other (eg. 985 and 987m) and the amounts are correct, which is quite remarkable really.0 -
Similar issue here with the Garmin 500 - which reading is the most accurate one?
Planned a route on Strava with elevation gain of 1546ft, according to the route planner.
Downloaded Garmin ride data to Strava giving a total elevation gain of 2056ft. Checked the elevation adjustment which now gives a reading on Strava of 1236ft.
Downloading to Garmin Connect gives a corrected elevation reading of 1289ft, otherwise 2064ft. Elevation gain minus loss is -46ft.
I'm inclined to go with the corrected Garmin data, even though I have no idea if this is the most accurate.
Just found this on the Garmin help site -
How accurate is the elevation on my Edge 500?
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12/04/2012
The Edge 500 calculates elevation data using a barometric altimeter. Once the device is properly calibrated, the standard area of accuracy will be +/- 50 feet. To ensure that elevation data is accurate at the beginning of an activity you have the ability to calibrate the elevation manually.
To calibrate the elevation manually:
Go to Main Menu
Select GPS
Select Set Elevation
Set the elevation to the known elevation of starting point
Select Save
The elevation will be calibrated from this manually set elevation.
The barometric altimeter is not temperature compensated. Temperature changes in the device will affect the barometric pressure sensor and altimeter readings.0 -
johnny25 wrote:Similar issue here with the Garmin 500 - which reading is the most accurate one?
Planned a route on Strava with elevation gain of 1546ft, according to the route planner.
Downloaded Garmin ride data to Strava giving a total elevation gain of 2056ft. Checked the elevation adjustment which now gives a reading on Strava of 1236ft.
Downloading to Garmin Connect gives a corrected elevation reading of 1289ft, otherwise 2064ft. Elevation gain minus loss is -46ft.
I'm inclined to go with the corrected Garmin data, even though I have no idea if this is the most accurate.
Just found this on the Garmin help site -
How accurate is the elevation on my Edge 500?
Email this Answer
Print this Answer
12/04/2012
The Edge 500 calculates elevation data using a barometric altimeter. Once the device is properly calibrated, the standard area of accuracy will be +/- 50 feet. To ensure that elevation data is accurate at the beginning of an activity you have the ability to calibrate the elevation manually.
To calibrate the elevation manually:
Go to Main Menu
Select GPS
Select Set Elevation
Set the elevation to the known elevation of starting point
Select Save
The elevation will be calibrated from this manually set elevation.
The barometric altimeter is not temperature compensated. Temperature changes in the device will affect the barometric pressure sensor and altimeter readings.
I'll give that a whirl on Sunday and see how that compares with everyone else's readings. Ta0 -
I have found with my Garmin edge 500 that the wind speed and direction has much more of a bearing on the amount of elevation gain it records than the amount of hills I go up.www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes0
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Just find your starting point on Google maps, note the altitude and enter this as the base altitude. All these built in barometers are relatively crude and giving it a helping start in this way is essential.0
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I think Garmin are a joke. Why/ how we keep lining their pockets with cash for instruments that generally don't work is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I'm as bad as anyone. Owned the Edge 305 and now 500. Wish I'd kept my 305 to be honest. Their hardware is gash and their software is gash.0
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You're entitled to your opinion. Me 405 as a running watch and 500 as a cycling gadget... Both have worked faultlessly for many years and both do exactly what i expect of them. Couldnt praise them more highly. In cluding elevation reading ...0
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I take it you don't plan many routes on the 500 then?
Yes, it's just a breadcrumb trail, which on the road is more than adequate generally, but the fact the 500 just keeps losing the trail is ridiculous. I just find it poor that Garmin won't remedy this in firmware.0
