Some GPS Devices Stopped Showing Exact Location

In the early days of 2021, some Garmin, Suunto and other devices with GPS were affected a problem that prevents the user from determining the exact route.

The owners of the devices noticed that their GPS tracks were shifted from their real coordinates by a hundred meters or more. In general, the picture of the route looked accurate, but he himself deviated to the side. In some cases, the route was displayed accurately at the end of the run.

The problem largely affects companies that use the Sony GPS chipset.

This is a sample list of affected devices:

• COROS GPS watch
• Garmin Forerunner 45/245/745/945 / Fenix ​​6 / MARQ / Vivoactive 3/4 / Venu
• Garmin Edge 130 Plus 530/830/1030 Plus
• Polar Vantage V / M / V2, Grit X, Ignite
• Suunto 5 and Suunto 9
• Wahu RIVAL.

The issue is related to the EPO (Extended Predictive Orbit) or Connected Predictive Ephemeris (CPE) file. By sending it regularly, the devices find GPS satellites almost instantly. The file contains information about where the satellites will be in the next few days.

EPO is sent to devices via Bluetooth Smart from a smartphone, or using Wi-Fi or USB. This usually happens in the background.

However, if the file contains inaccurate data, then devices may issue incorrect routes.

Garmin said it is working on fixing the problem and preparing to update satellite pre-cached data. In the meantime, in the company offered The workaround is to wait about 5 minutes before starting your workout, going outside. During this time, the device will have time to receive updated data.

Industry representatives note that technically there were 53 weeks in 2020, and the problem arose just in the first week of 2021, which includes three days of the previous year. Thus, the current week refers to 2020. An extra week could have affected the data transfer.