By the Numbers: Can New GPS Technology Save Your Life? Under the Right Conditions, it just Might

[Stephen Seeber]

Companion forum thread to: By the Numbers: Can New GPS Technology Save Your Life? Under the Right Conditions, it just Might

Stephen Seeber compares iPhone and Garmin Fenix GPS tracks for accuracy and reliability.

[Bill Budney]

This is cool. I’ve never given a second thought to jamming or multipath interference in my watch. Next time I shop for one, they will be at the top of my list!

[Tyler Van Horn]

Thanks for the detailed explanation! My partner (with fenix 7) and I (with epix) had noticed significant differences in our gps output on recent hikes through the Sandias, with the fenix 7 track showing multipath interference and a much longer hike just as you described. Looks like we need to dive into the settings before our next outing to make sure the fenix is accessing the L5 band!

[Stephen Seeber]

Hi Tyler: On the Fenix 7 (and probably the expix), when you are in Hike mode, Hold the left center button to get to the settings menu. Scroll down to system. Select system. Scroll down to Satellites and select. I like to use Auto Select.  If you select GPS only, you will not receive L5.  If you select All +Multiband you will get everything and suffer a noticeable reduction in battery life.  Auto seems to identify multipath and adds L5 when needed.

[tkkn c]

It would be interesting to see the battery life for the current different modes.  The early multiband GPS had reduced battery life with multi-band turned on.   I only turned on multiband in  steep terrain or canyons.

[NoCO-Jim]

tkkn c….you can pull up battery life chart for the Fenix 7 with the Rainmaker review..  Long article, suggest doing a search on “L5”, the 2nd hit will take you near the chart.

 

[tkkn c]

Thanks NoCO-Jim, still a significant increase in power consumption for multi-band.  I guess the upside is that the run time has increased, so the multi-band reduction still allows you to run all day without recharging midday.

[Tyler Van Horn]

Thanks!

[Stephen Seeber]

As I recall, I got 2 days and a few hours of battery life when using all bands.  Auto seems like the sweet spot unless you are in rugged terrain and don’t want to take a chance on the Garmin deciding what to use.

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