Garmin Edge 500 - a few questions

[ausmomo]

Hi all,
Just hoping that I can, please, pick your brains regarding a few issues I'm having with my Garmin Edge 500. Many thanks in advance!

1. How do I turn off GPS? I go Menu>GPS>GPS Status>Off but this only partly works. If I turn the unit off, then back on, it tries to acquire GPS! During the week I use a trainer, and the GPS reception is terrible, so I simply want to turn it off when I'm not on the road (partly due to battery issues, see next)

2. I have auto-power-off turned on as well as auto-pause. The other night I used the unit for 40mins and walked away without turning it off (I assumed it would auto off). At the start of the ride it was at 100% battery. When I turned it on the following night it was at 2% battery. I've done 5 hour road rides with it no problems. It's almost as if the auto-off didn't work.

3. I can't seem to display Cadence on the unit. The sensor is pairing fine, and the FIT file contains Cadence info, as I can see it using Strava etc. It just won't display on the unit (the cadence reading simply stays as "---", or something like that).

cheers!

[DoogleDave]

(1)
Turning the GPS OFF only does so until the unit powers off.
Once restarted it resumes back to its default ON setting, and you need to manually turn GPS OFF again.
Not a big deal and only takes a few seconds.

(2)
Not 100% sure on this one but from a quick Google search it looks like this is common and many peope try to steer clear from using the Auto-Power off feature.
It's probably easier to disble it and just manaully turn the unit off after each ride.

(3)
This is a strange one. Perhaps try removing the cadence field from the page, then turn the unit off and back on again, then re-add the cadence field back to the page.
If you don't want to muck around with changing the number of fields displayed, maybe try changing the cadence field to something else, then restart the unit and change that field back to cadence.
Worth a shot...

Can't say I ever had any of these issues when I had a Garmin 500....I've since moved onto a 810 model.
Hope this is helpful.

Dave

[ausmomo]

thanks Dave. All good ideas. I'll manually turn GPS off each time - I guess I was just getting lazy. Same goes for power.
I'll try the cadence tricks tonight and report back.
again, thanks

[dude18]

Mine only auto powers off if I pressed the pause button. On auto pause it behaves like yours, never turning off.

[cerb]

2) Yep, unit will stay on if there is a ride in progress (i.e. you have hit the start button at the start of the ride, but not the stop button at the end). The auto-pause is only a pause for traffic lights etc. - you need to hit start/stop to finish the ride. Hitting stop will allow the unit to power off.

[Arlberg]

While we are discussing the Edge 500 I have a question too.

My unit always underestimates the elevation by about 49 metres. When I am at a known elevation, such as on the street corner outside my house (which is a known 89m above seal level) it measures around 39m. When I am at sea level it even gives a negative elevation and instead of even reading just 0m, instead reads -49m!

There is a feature in the Edge 500 that allows the user to set a known elevation point. I have done that by setting an Elevation Point at the corner outside my house of 89m. Theoretically, every time I ride past this point (which I do EVERY time I go for a ride) the Edge is supposed to detect the Elevation Point and correct the elevation and then it should be calibrated correctly for the rest of the ride.

However the device has only ever once detected the Elevation Point. When it did, it beeped, lit up when I rode past and a message flashed up saying 'Elevation Point detected' and corrected the elevation. However it hasnt done it before or since. I have even stood at the elevation point holding the Edge and it still fails to detect it. I know the point is still in there because I can see it still in the device.

Any advice on how to correct the elevation or Elevation Points?

[GeoffInBrisbane]

I don't think it will auto-correct in the middle of a ride. It does work, however, when you start a ride within 30m of the elevation point. At least, it does for me. Pretty sure it won't work in the middle of a ride...anybody else able to confirm?

[SpinninWheels]

While we are discussing the Edge 500 I have a question too.

My unit always underestimates the elevation by about 49 metres. When I am at a known elevation, such as on the street corner outside my house (which is a known 89m above seal level) it measures around 39m. When I am at sea level it even gives a negative elevation and instead of even reading just 0m, instead reads -49m!

There is a feature in the Edge 500 that allows the user to set a known elevation point. I have done that by setting an Elevation Point at the corner outside my house of 89m. Theoretically, every time I ride past this point (which I do EVERY time I go for a ride) the Edge is supposed to detect the Elevation Point and correct the elevation and then it should be calibrated correctly for the rest of the ride.

However the device has only ever once detected the Elevation Point. When it did, it beeped, lit up when I rode past and a message flashed up saying 'Elevation Point detected' and corrected the elevation. However it hasnt done it before or since. I have even stood at the elevation point holding the Edge and it still fails to detect it. I know the point is still in there because I can see it still in the device.

Any advice on how to correct the elevation or Elevation Points?

If the elevation point is right outside your home has the GPS had time to aquire before you ride past it? If not the unit wouldn't know it's at the elevation point and wouldn't calibrate.

[InTheWoods]

I don't think it will auto-correct in the middle of a ride. It does work, however, when you start a ride within 30m of the elevation point. At least, it does for me. Pretty sure it won't work in the middle of a ride...anybody else able to confirm?

Yep that's the way it works for me.

If the elevation point is right outside your home has the GPS had time to aquire before you ride past it? If not the unit wouldn't know it's at the elevation point and wouldn't calibrate.

And this too And for the first little bit after it gets a gps "lock" its still maybe 50+ meters "off" and need a bit more time to narrow that down. You can see this by watching the gps stats and you can see it getting more accurate after it first gets a lock.

[Arlberg]

Thanks for the suggestions. I always turn on the Edge at the same corner where I have set the Elevation Point, so well within the 30 metre range, in fact more like about 3 metres and it doesn't still detect it. I wait there for the satellites to lock me in within about a 5m accuracy too. Sometimes when I have the 5m accuracy I even deliberately ride over the point where I set the Elevation point a few times, but it still doesn't pick it up.

I use the Elevation Correction feature on Strava and Garmin Connect, but that doesn't help when you are actually riding and want to see the elevation.

[InTheWoods]

Thanks for the suggestions. I always turn on the Edge at the same corner where I have set the Elevation Point, so well within the 30 metre range, in fact more like about 3 metres and it doesn't still detect it. I wait there for the satellites to lock me in within about a 5m accuracy too. Sometimes when I have the 5m accuracy I even deliberately ride over the point where I set the Elevation point a few times, but it still doesn't pick it up.

I use the Elevation Correction feature on Strava and Garmin Connect, but that doesn't help when you are actually riding and want to see the elevation.

Is this before you have hit Start for the ride?

Can you physically go to your elevation point, reset, hit start and then go to GPS->Elevation Points and highlight the relevant elevation point. Then down the bottom of the screen it should give the distance to the elevation point in meters, this will let you see if the problem is the location of the elevation point. I had to set one of mine twice because the first time it was a bit "off".

[Arlberg]

Yeah, it is before I hit start, because I always start the ride in the same place too, which is at a cycling shop about 300m away. I will try hitting the Start button while stopped at the Elevation Point and see what that does.

My device has only one Elevation Point in it. I use to have more but I deleted them because I was thinking they might confuse the Edge, and also because when I ride out of my garage I always ride through this corner. I have done in the past what you say, ie go to the Elevation Point and check the location, and I am exactly right on top of it. I know exactly where the Elevation Point is because I set it exactly on the intersection of two streets.

[Bakks]

On this topic the elevation my Garmin 500 records is absolutely screwed. What can I do to try to fix it?

[vosadrian]

I'm pretty sure that the elevation points only work if you are at the Elevation point and have GPS lock when you press start.... not if you ride through the point. I have an elevation point in my driveway. I wait for GPS lock, and then I press start. The unit Auto-pauses, and then I get a message "Elevation Point Found". I then start riding. Seems to work reliably for me.

Unfortunately at my work I park in an underground car park, and start riding in the car park before the GPS Lock. The actual GPS Lock can occur between 0.1 and 1.5kms into my trip. This scenario does not work well with Elevation Points, so I only use it at home. The result is that significant changes in weather conditions during a day while I am at work can give crazy elevations in the afternoon when I leave work (like below sea level).

-- Adrian