Garmin GPS versus Footpod Question (Read 886 times)

I am about to hit the trails and last time I went to china village the GPS in my Garmin found a satillite maybe 40% of the time. I ended up with no idea how far I ran. I also have a footpod that I have been using for cadence and know if I turn the GPS off it will track the distance for me. My question, will the distance be more accurate if I use the footpod with the GPS? Will the footpod just kick in when I lose the GPS and then go back to GPS tracking when I come back into range... or does the footpod not work like that.

Well, my Polar is definitely not smart enough. One measurement device is used at a time. It complains that there are too many devices when I have the GPS unit and footpod active at the same time. If you have tree coverage, go with the footpod 100% of the time. The footpod will be very accurate if it's calibrated.

I think the footpod tracks your cadence when you have the GPS turned on. I don't think it's smart enough to switch back and forth between modes.

Correct -- it does not switch between them. Once you start moving, the Garmin detects the footpod and asks if you want to use the device indoors. Choose Yes, and GPS is ignored. Choose No, and GPS is used, and the footpod only provides cadence info. Which Garmin are you using?

I'd be surprised that the 405 lost contact that much unless there were issues with sky visibility or satellite configuration. Wet leaves after a rain (or snow covered) can be an issue more so than drier leaves. Canyon walls, tall buildings, etc. can still be an issue. Sometimes signals bounce off walls. While you are less likely to lose signal with the newer chip, you may receive a bounced signal (I've had it happen). A couple weeks ago (just after I'd had some bad route issues on a trail I was gpsing for a map - received the signal but it was shifted from actual location) I thought I saw something about some satellite problems, but don't remember for sure and may have been irrelevant to my situation that day. Aside from any actual satellite issues, how they are configured can affect the quality of the readings. People using consumer or natural-resource (I think that's the next step up) grade gps receivers on the ground for data collection usually check the configurations and plan on when to do their field work. I'm cheating and clipping some url's from something else: "Understanding some basics of your GPS will help you collect better data. Explanations of the details of the GPS (entire system) are beyond the scope of this manual but can be found on various web pages such as http://gpsinformation.net/ http://users.cwnet.com/dalede/ This gives some basic background on the GPS system. http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/theory.htm and a forum to ask questions beyond what we can handle http://gpsinformation.biz/phpBB2/ From Garmin http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/ http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/manual.html " To check on satellite availability: "Checking satellite availability before hand is optional, but it may save some frustration in the field. To obtain the best data possible, it is helpful to have a good satellite configuration. This is not just the number of satellites in your view, but their relative positionings. Sometimes their configuration is poor which will increase the likelihood of lost reception. Similarly, if their configuration is good, you will have a higher probability of maintaining satellite reception. Since the satellites are in relatively known orbits, which is corrected by ground controls, the probability of knowing when good and bad times are can be estimated ahead of time. However, keep in mind that reception is also affected by sky view (wet canopies, steep side slopes), receiver, and use of external antenna (most likely you won’t be using this). Two options are available – downloadable software and a website. The software will be explained in more detail, and similar data is input to the website. One option is to use Trimble’s free Trip Planning software. http://www.trimble.com/planningsoftware_ts.asp. The other is to use http://www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Satellites/12? You can read the directions / background on those web sites. (please don't ask me the details of the last 2 links since I just take what I get when I'm out. I don't plan my running or hiking according to satellite availability.)