OpenWater GPS Problems

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Level 1

8 points

OpenWater GPS Problems

I use an Apple Watch 2 for my openwater swim training.

It seems the GPS accuracy is sometimes pretty bad and not reliable:

When I start the training it sometimes takes a while until the Apple Watch finds my position. Until this moment all "round" measurements are invalid.

After this, everything seems to work out fine.

Maybe the problems come from a forest nearby the lake whith huge trees disturbing the GPS Signal.

What can I do to ensure the GPS is working before starting the training?

How can I check on the funtion?

Do AW 3 & 4 have better GPS modules?

Apple Watch

Posted on Jul 4, 2019 1:52 AM

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Answer 1

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sparpart Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 8, 2019 6:58 AM in response to Branta_uk

I avoided the problem by starting my swim from another place on the same lake without high trees nearby. Also I swam more distant the shore. Now I have a GPS position from the beginning of my training and no more fake "detours" via land ...

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 2

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,666 points

Jul 4, 2019 1:47 PM in response to sparpart

Your GPS fixes are not helped by the fact that GPS signals are very low level and don’t really penetrate water. It is likely the watch (or any other GPS) will be unable to fix because every time it dips into water it loses the signals. Having high terrain around or nearby high trees will also increase the risk of blocked view for lower level satellites, and multipath reflections may be a problem. There might not be much you can do about any of these problems except swim somewhere else.

julieda recently found a very good article to describe some of the problems with GPS, https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216917707-Bad-GPS-Data

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OpenWater GPS Problems

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