Watch unusable in wind
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@Brad_Olwin I wrote to you several times that it is not about the altitude measurements themselves (they are quite accurate even in strong winds), but their pulsation, which sometimes causes the totals of ascents and descents to be even several times overstated.
To observe this, quite small mountains are enough.
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@maszop said in Watch unusable in wind:
@Brad_Olwin I wrote to you several times that it is not about the altitude measurements themselves (they are quite accurate even in strong winds), but their pulsation, which sometimes causes the totals of ascents and descents to be even several times overstated.
To observe this, quite small mountains are enough.
Yesterday was quite windy in my area (Wind weather alert by authorities). I went on a run with my son, I was using the SV and my son my old S9B, he wears it in the right arm. I got an ascent of 559 m and he got 540 m (data of activity: highest point 386 m, lowest point 127 m SV and highest point 397 m, lowest point 136 m in S9B, the altitude values are more realistic in the SV). I have analysed both altitude profiles and no sudden spikes in both profiles, so I consider that the different ascent is due different hardware/algorithm, in my area there are a lot of small hills that are better detected by the SV. I paid lot of attention in the flat/open areas where the wind guts were even more noticeable and the ascent value was static in the SV, as it should.
I’m not saying you do not have problems, but your circumstances can be more difficult to reproduce to find the issue. Could be that the issue come from your clothes that do a pump effect in the baro holes?
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@cosme-costa The difference is fundamental, as I have written here many times. When running, the speed is greater and this pulsation does not affect the total ascents and descents so much.
I write about activities such as mountaineering, hiking, where there are many steep ascents, during which this problem is always in strong winds. I repeat: always.
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@maszop Understood.
I do not hike much but this last summer I did a lot in the Alps and Pyrenes, in some of those hikes we had strong winds around the summits and ascent was very stable, I have checked some graphs. Anyway I would pay more attention in the future in case of a hike with strong winds.
But as I said, could be the clothes? In the S9B I had issues when wearing a membrane in windy or rainy days.
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@cosme-costa I tried to have the watch completely outside, under a sweatshirt, softshell, between the layers, under gore tex, various variations, the effect was usually just as bad.
While 9 Baro was fundamentally less accurate, the total ascent were less absurd because of this lower accuracy. It was only with 9PP and later Vertical that a much more serious problem began.It’s more or less the same problem in this article, just swap the GPS with the altimeter and the distance with the sum of the ascents:
https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/tutorials/track_filters.html -
@maszop impressive communication skills - I am too old for that
! I don’t doubt you’re telling the truth, but this does not make other people “pretend” anything. Hope you can find a solution for your problem. plonk -
@maszop said in Watch unusable in wind:
@cosme-costa The difference is fundamental, as I have written here many times. When running, the speed is greater and this pulsation does not affect the total ascents and descents so much.
I write about activities such as mountaineering, hiking, where there are many steep ascents, during which this problem is always in strong winds. I repeat: always.
Always for you is not always for everyone! On a 5 day fast pack in the Wind River mountains of Wyoming with a storm every evening. I can show the data for Race s and Vertical. No altitude issues.
Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing
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@maszop I have been using A3p, S9b and now both SV and SR. My wife uses S9pp.
The only two watches I had elevation problem with were :- the A3P => cold and windy conditions were causing errors, + baro sensor failures (replaced twice)
- the S9b => it couldn’t manage elevation properly under wet conditions when it was under my jacket.
In both case I had totally wrong values (-4000, +8000m meters…)
I didn’t had any elevations problem with other watches, whatever the conditions (very strong wind, cold, over or under clothes…).
I hope you’ll solve your issues ; It’s very sad that your experience that with all your watches…
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@Tieutieu The problem with Suunto is that every discussion ends with Suunto watches being fine and the problem being imagined by the user.
The effects of this approach are visible with every software update.
Next time I make a purchase I will look for offers from other manufacturers. -
@maszop said in Watch unusable in wind:
@Tieutieu The problem with Suunto is that every discussion ends with Suunto watches being fine and the problem being imagined by the user.
I don’t think I saw anyone saying or even thinking you’re imagining the problem you encounter.
I see people sharing their own experience and sympathizing with yours, being sorry for you.
Keep in mind that people on this forum can’t do much more than that in the end. We’re not Suunto’s official support. -
@taziden I’ve been writing about this problem here for a few years now (and so have other people), the problem is easy to repeat, it’s been present in several watches, and every discussion ends with some denial.
And there’s never been any analysis of the problem (not to mention improving the performance).I’ve stopped believing in the assurances of Suunto developers or testers for a long time now.
The same applies to contour lines, battery drain, and many other problems that haven’t been solved to this day. -
@maszop I got that feeling also, but only in recent years, when I joined it was more friendly, not sure what happened
To be on topic: you have to elaborate what strong wind is, for someone is 60kmh very strong when on top of mountain. Where I live we get wind gusts well above 100kmh and we are used to this, so it’s not so strong
I also encountered altitude problems, but only when wind gusts are above 100kmh (measured, not by feel) -
@Likarnik I wouldn’t write about it because I know how the barometric altimeter works and what effect the wind and other weather conditions can have, but since all my friends with Garmin watches have more or less correct data, it means that it can be done.
Especially since a simple filter is enough to remove the noise of the measurements. I have to filter Suunto measurements myself in external services to get correct data.
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@maszop said in Watch unusable in wind:
since all my friends with Garmin watches have more or less correct data, it means that it can be done
In a different thread on this forum I explained to you that my Garmin Forerunner 955 added ca 100 metres to the Asc/Desc while running in stormy weather, even though I was protected by a lot of trees in a wood. In this thread you claim that running is a fundamentally different activity than hiking or climbing when it comes to the baro sensor’s exposure and/or reaction to wind. Now you even offer up your friends ‘perfect’ Garmin sensors as proof that Suunto is doing everything wrong in the Altimeter area.
Well, since I have used Garmin watches since 2013, all * (except the FR70) with barometric altimeter capability and been an avid reader and sometime poster at the Garmin forums, I must say that you close your eyes to the broader reality. Garmin is well known for both the poor quality of precicely the baro sensor implementation - where it can fail within a year or two - and the poor quality of the software converting pressure to altitude. Every watch generation and branch (outdoors section or sports section) it is the same story: The altimetre complaints quickly surface in the forum postings.
- FR70, FR620, FR630, Fenix5X, FR955.
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@Inge-Nallsson Let me put it this way, I would rather have these 100m extra in Garmin than the current +1000m in Suunto.
Suunto measurements R and Strava data L:
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@maszop
thats really crazy -
@GiPFELKiND Usually there are a few hundred meters extra, sometimes over 1000, but there is also such madness as in that example. I am talking about approaches in very strong winds, of course.
In stable weather everything works perfectly.
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@maszop No you wouldn’t, because with Suunto you will know that is not correct but with Garmin you will always have doubts…jokes aside, I’m not saying that you do not have issues.
Can you share the SA graph where the spikes should apear? Have you tried to send logs to see if someone at Suunto can help with it to adjust the algorithm?
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@cosme-costa The Suunto graph:
https://i.postimg.cc/qMhcJDDr/Screenshot-20250128-114024.png -
I wrote about the same problem several months ago, on a strong windy day the total altitude reported by the Suunto App was quite overestimated:
the problem can be solved by exporting the GPX data from the SA and then import them into a smarter software that smooth out the data (for example I use Oruxmap, see details in the thread)
