Comments on: Garmin Forerunner 305 Review (part 4) – Locating satellites and satellite reception

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:30:17 +0000

I’m looking to buy a 305 shortly.

Just wondering if it will track my distance covered whilst playing football or if it would get confused?

By: bgm

bgm — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:23:04 +0000

I have one for 6m now and find the accuracy very reasonable, however on a 5k run its +/- 50m off, and 21k was 200m off so abt 1%. And it takes up to 2 min to locate the satelites.

By: trio

trio — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:19:22 +0000

I use sportstracks software on my PC I think it is brilliant!

By: chris

chris — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:16:11 +0000

I’m working with mac (osx) and the trainingsoftware just works perfect.
I also use a website (www.motionbased.com) for uploading my traininghistory. It is free and does everything a non-prof runner.
I’m running and biking with my forerunner now for 2 months and i’m impressed about the quality of satellite-reception.
Just trying to find out now how to upload a custommade program into the forerunner. Some better tutorials wouldn’t be bad in the manual.

Chris

By: Niki

Niki — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:36:24 +0000

Hi Mart,

I’ve been using the Forerunner 305 for a couple of months now and it still works fine!
But I still have problems with its software… I’ve now installed it onto another computer but when I try to uptade the program, it just fails all the time… :-/
Are there any other free programs available I can use this Forerunner with?

Niki

By: mart

mart — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:39:56 +0000

Hi Andrew,

I completely agree… I never have any problems with the heart rate strap/monitor. I simply lick my finger and rub it over each sensor before putting the strap on.

Mart

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:54:11 +0000

I just read the note re the connection from the heart rate monitor being a bit temperemental. I’ve used the 305 and prior to that a polar monitor and they both work just fine, as long as you moisten the contact area first so that it can get a contact off your skin. Obviously once you are warmed up and a bit sweaty, it’s fine anyway, but if you use a couple of drops of water you should be fine. Alternatively you can get a tube of electrode gel, but I find water works just fine.

By: mart

mart — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:15:06 +0000

Hi Mads, and welcome to the site!

I find the best and quickest way to lock on to the satellites is to place the watch on the ground (or on a wall or something), so that the sensor is pointing straight up in to the sky.

If I’m setting off from home I put the watch on my doorstep before I start putting my running shoes on on… so that by the time I’ve stretched and sorted myself out it’s locked on to the satellites.

Let me know how you get on…

mart

By: mads kjolby

mads kjolby — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:31:01 +0000

I’ve just bought a forerunener 305 but it takes minimum 5 minutes for it to locate satellites. I live in central copenhagen and I wonder if that could cause the problem. I can’t see myself in front of my front door for at least 5 minutes waiting for the watch to work in the wintertime:-( Any suggestions?

Best wishes,
Mads

By: mart

mart — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:53:57 +0000

Hi Niki,

I’ll hopefully post an article about the software I use soon.

Regards,
Mart