August 19, 2022
Garmin is not any stranger to the navigation and monitoring area. Our GPS handhelds have been the trusted companions of adventurers for many years, and we provide a sturdy monitoring system for nearly any exercise. However should you’re utilizing monitoring expertise usually, you understand that it’s necessary to pick the appropriate satellite tv for pc mode in your atmosphere. In an open sky space, it’s possible you’ll solely want GPS mode. In a canyon or in an city panorama between tall skyscrapers, you may must kick it into a better gear — like All Satellite tv for pc Programs and multi-band frequencies mixed — to find out precisely the place you’re and the place that you must be going.
Right here’s the place Garmin SatIQ™ expertise is available in. Contemplate it your private navigation assistant — it really works within the background of your suitable system to find out which satellite tv for pc mode your atmosphere requires, delivering the accuracy of Garmin multi-band frequency expertise whereas preserving the battery life our smartwatches are identified for. Beneath, Garmin engineer Ben Collins solutions a number of questions in regards to the newest and biggest in GPS expertise.
What Is SatIQ?
SatIQ extends battery life whereas delivering the accuracy of multi-band GPS all through your exercise. It’s a expertise that works within the background to robotically choose the appropriate satellite tv for pc mode in your atmosphere.
How Does SatIQ work?
What satellite tv for pc setting is required to get an correct place from a GNSS system is dependent upon the atmosphere. In open sky, GPS-only mode may present the identical degree of accuracy as All Satellite tv for pc Programs + Multi-band mode. In a canyon or between tall buildings, the chip should hook up with all of the obtainable satellites and frequency bands to ship excessive accuracy. That comes with a big drain on battery life. To present an instance, the fēnix® 7X Photo voltaic Sapphire can obtain as much as 63 hours of battery life when locked into All Satellite tv for pc Programs mode. When you change the satellite tv for pc setting to All Satellite tv for pc Programs and Multi-band mode, that drops to 36 hours, whereas GPS-only mode will get as much as 89 hours.
Previous to SatIQ, you had to decide on what setting to make use of for an exercise forward of time, but it surely’s laborious to know what mode is required. What’s extra, should you solely wanted multi-band for a brief interval throughout a run, you had to decide on between poor positioning in that one location, or larger battery drain all through the complete exercise. SatIQ takes the guesswork out of the satellite tv for pc settings and lets the system swap between modes in actual time primarily based on the atmosphere. Which means higher battery life whereas nonetheless utilizing All Satellite tv for pc Programs mode and multi-band mode via the Auto Choose mode.
What’s the distinction between multi-band GNSS and a decrease energy GPS mode?
There are two principal variations. One is the variety of satellites the system connects to. In GPS-only mode, the system solely connects to the GPS satellite tv for pc system, which is only one of many GNSS satellite tv for pc techniques. With All Satellite tv for pc Programs mode, the system can hook up with others as properly.
The second distinction is the frequency band that the watch connects to. With GPS-only or All Satellite tv for pc Programs modes, the watch is barely detecting satellites on one frequency. That extends battery life, however it’s inclined to error when there’s dense tree cowl or tall reflective objects like buildings or cliffs. Multi-band mode makes use of multiple frequency, which makes use of extra vitality, however permits the watch to filter out errors.
Will customers know whether or not their system is utilizing multi-band GNSS or the low energy GPS, or will SatIQ quietly toggle forwards and backwards within the background?
SatIQ will quietly toggle forwards and backwards. You set it and let the watch do the work whilst you benefit from the outside with confidence.
Which units assist SatIQ?
This will probably be coming to the units with multi-band assist, together with fēnix® 7 Sapphire sequence, Forerunner® 255, Forerunner® 255 Music, Forerunner® 955, epix™ (Gen 2) Sapphire Editions and Enduro™ 2.
I have already got GPS expertise. Why ought to I improve to a tool with SatIQ?
When you reside in an city atmosphere with skyscrapers, or should you spend numerous time within the mountains, you’ll see an enormous distinction within the accuracy of your observe logs, and solely a minimal hit to battery life in comparison with the All Programs mode. Even should you don’t spend numerous time in locations the place satellite tv for pc accuracy is difficult, SatIQ means you don’t must ever give it some thought. You go on trip to the Grand Canyon, and the watch will observe each switchback with out ever needing to alter settings from what you employ at dwelling.
Precisely how a lot battery life does SatIQ save?
In intensive testing, we discovered that multi-band is used solely about 15% of the time throughout an exercise. That signifies that with out multi-band turned on, 15% of your route may have low accuracy, however with out SatIQ, it was a significant hit to battery life to right that. With SatIQ, you get accuracy practically 100% of the time and solely take the hit to battery life 15% of the time (in these circumstances).
Able to roam the unknown? The Garmin fēnix 7 Sapphire sequence, Forerunner 255, Forerunner 255 Music, Forerunner 955, epix (Gen 2) Sapphire Editions and Enduro 2 all include SatIQ expertise or may have it shortly.