GPS drift and environmental factors can impact the accuracy of locations and activities recorded by your iGS620 / iGS618.

The article will help you understand and reduce the impacts of GPS drift and environmental factors. 

 GPS Drift and Environmental Factors Impact on GPS Accuracy

You may review the solutions below to prevent GPS Drift.

1. Reduce Environmental Factors

The first step to recording accurate GPS data is to reduce distortion and degradation caused by environmental factors. GPS works best when there are no obstructions above 15 degrees over the horizon. Avoid the following when recording activities:

• Tall buildings
• Dense forest or canopy
• Canyons
• Using GPS in a dense group of people
• Using GPS indoors
• Using GPS under water 

2. Soak the GPS

When a watch initially displays that it is GPS ready, it means that the watch has picked up the minimum amount of satellites needed to get your location.

Soaking GPS is practice of allowing your device additional time to communicate with satellites before you start moving for your activity.

This practice allows for your watch to communicate to additional satellites, creating a stronger bond and helping to reduce degradation of GPS signal.  

Soaking GPS

1. Select an activity 
2. Wait for the GPS Ready message or GPS Indicator to turn green
3. Wait 2-5 minutes before you start the timer for your activity

3. Turn on Auto Pause

Recording GPS while stopped is one of the biggest contributors to inaccurate distance in an activity. Setting your iGS620 / iGS618 to pause when you are stopped, can greatly reduce the amount of additional distance recorded. 

4. Equip a speed sensor

When using a speed sensor, GPS will still be recorded for your activity, but your distance will be based on the measurement of your speed sensor. 

Speed Sensor

Speed sensors use the size of your bike's wheel and the number of rotations it makes during a cycling activity to determine your distance. The speed at which your wheel rotates will determine speed.