Anyone else find their Garmin can't get a GPS lock in foggy weather?

[notbad]

I've only had my forerunner10 a week and it normally locks on the GPS in a minute or two but this morning still no signal over 5 minutes later, just gave up and ran using the stopwatch feature. It was really foggy so I'm wondering if this might be a problem?

[Markee Graduate]

I wish my garmin fr10 found a gps signal that quickly, it takes at least 5 or 6 mins and often goes into power saving mode, no matter what the weather is doing.

However, it usually gets there in the end.

[notbad Graduate in reply to Markee]

I've read a few Amazon reviews where people say the same, perhaps I've just been lucky so far. The power saving mode kicked in after a few minutes today so had to keep my eye on it.

[rcp27 Graduate]

Yes, foggy weather will have an effect on GPS reception. When GPS was developed, the particular frequency of radio waves it uses had to be chosen to meet a range of requirements. I needed to be reliably received by small aerials (like one you can fit in a watch), it needed to be one that wasn't already used (by things like radios, TV, mobile phones etc) and one that was not blocked by chemicals in the atmosphere (nitrogen, oxygen, water etc). Of course this results in a compromise. For optimum reception, the aerial should be somewhat larger than the size of a watch or smartphone. The GPS signal is somewhat attenuated by water (either as liquid, vapour in the atmosphere, or in things like leaves). If you have a very small and very low power device, like a watch or a smart phone, you will find that its GPS reception isn't that good in environments with lots of water around (fog, rain, forests).

[notbad Graduate in reply to rcp27]

Thanks, that explains it very well - another reason to dislike fog

[Mummysaurus Graduate]

My Garmin also took ages to find a signal yesterday, normally takes a minute or two, but then when I uploaded my run last night there was an update to the software to improve the signal so maybe that was what was needed. Might be worth checking your own watch to see if there is an update available

[Hidden]

I have a Garmin 305 that I bought in 2010 when I previously tried and failed to get back to running. It can take far longer than 5 minutes to pick up the signal, especially where I live.

[Hidden]

It is annoying when you are ready to start your run and there is a delay while the Garmin locks on to a gps signal.

To avoid this, I put mine (FR 10) on a windowsill and click the start button before I change into my running clothes. It has picked up the signal by the time I have changed and I set it going (i.e. as if I was starting my run) before I leave the house. When I finish my warm up walk and am ready to start running, I stop the Garmin. Then, when presented with the option to save the ‘run’, I simply elect to discard it. After this, I immediately start it in run mode again and it locks on to the gps signal very quickly, presumably because it had a signal moments before.

Since I started this routine, I have not had to wait more than 5 seconds for a gps signal when I am ready to actually start my run.

I hope this helps.

[notbad Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Aha, what a clever idea Dougb5 that is very helpful - I'll give it a go next run. Thanks!

[notbad Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Tried this morning and it worked perfectly despite the heavy fog, thanks again.