Comments on: Garmin 405 Accuracy

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:19:50 +0000

I would have to agree with Nobody (that sounds funny).
The image overlays on programs like google earth don’t exactly match long/lats unless you can see them in 3D. Not sure exactly why, but maybe it has something to do with the curvature of the earth? I also tend to believe that the garmin is more accurate than you think.

When you stopped, was the distance recorded accurately on the garmin?

By: Nobody

Nobody — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:47:47 +0000

The watch may be more accurate than you think. I would posit that the overhead image of the track isn’t registered correctly. It is far more telling of the garmin’s accuracy by how your plots stack on top of each other than how they map around the track.

I mean your plots aren’t more than *one lane* off from *each other* —sure they don’t match the track, but that just means that map is off, not the measurements.

By: G Truman

G Truman — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:55:05 +0000

Much to the dismay of athletes world-wide, the elevation computed by commercial (non-military) GPS systems will never be accurate. Quick research, taking into account a military aspect, will explain why this is so…

By: RunColo

RunColo — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:56:23 +0000

It had a few spikes, showing a few changes that were +/- 15 feet, I assume the track is flat!

I’d say that is the biggest area that can improve with Garmin GPS is the elevation tracking.

By: crossn81

crossn81 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:25:35 +0000

What did your elevation graph look like? I tend to assume the distance is pretty much accurate but have never been sure about the elevation. In fact one race it had a huge spike in elevation and I don’t remember any hill at the point it indicated.