I' recently had a fault in my GPSTC Datafield on my Garmin 255. The watch started displaying speeds in what appeared to be m/s. I fixed the fault by going into the Datafield settings and changing speed units first to km/h and then back to knots. All good now.

I figured out how to download the FIT file to the phone through the connect web page. This means I can upload to KA72 and GPSTC before the long drive home.

well done, perhaps you'd better let us in on the secret

Brilliant!!!

I had a request from France to add the session best 1km and 10km speeds that they use in this comp
www.facebook.com/lacorient
So I have added a new page to display the session best 500m, 1km and 10km.
Currently this feature is only in the non-Approved speed version.
apps.garmin.com/apps/f0f3fbd5-9de3-4d69-b89b-10b76d6a9f0f
The default is that this page will not be displayed, so for most users there is no change.

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much !!!
Your app is awesome ! To thank you, I'll put your logo at the top of the 2025 ranking with our sponsors and, of course, tell to my friends to use your app ;-)
Best regards from France !
Romain

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remery said..

Is there a way to export the FIT file without Garmin Connect compressing it?

Not that I have found. Except by plugging in the watch like a USB stick and simply copying the files.

This PC\Forerunner 255\Internal Storage\GARMIN\Activity

I downloaded the zip file to Android then extracted the fit file. It was pretty messy figuring out which file was which in order to send to KA72. .

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remery said..
I figured out how to download the FIT file to the phone through the connect web page. This means I can upload to KA72 and GPSTC before the long drive home.

There's a way to make it even easier. GPSSS has an an automatic Garmin upload function. As soon as you get off the water and are near your phone it is automatically uploaded to the GPSSS server. You can then use your phone to post the speed, then have it transfer the data to GPSTC and post it there. Much easier than trying to download files.

Garmin 255 is on special again at JB Hifi and Rebel for $399

Andrew, my mini motion died and I am getting a garmin 255. I read all the 14 pages of this thread and your online instructions. I just want to tell you how much I admire your technical journey and the selfless support you have given to so many users. It has been almost five years since the first post and you are still here for everybody.

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powersloshin said..
... my mini motion died ...

Just out of curiosity, what happened to your mini?

Has it developed a rattle (loose antenna) or some other issue?

It has stopped charging, my fault i forgot it on the charger all night .

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powersloshin said..
It has stopped charging, my fault i forgot it on the charger all night .

Thanks. I'm sorry to hear of its demise. Was it the free charger, or a branded one? We use Anker chargers for the Motions at Weymouth Speed Week.

We will look to be careful not to leave our collection charging overnight. We've tried to avoid overnight charging, so will look to continue that policy, just to be on the safe side!

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powersloshin said..
It has stopped charging, my fault i forgot it on the charger all night .

My DIY unit became unresponsive after an all night charge. I think it gets too hot and the computer freezes.
Left for days for the battery to completely discharge, it rebooted and came good.
It's possible the motions will do the same. So don't chuck it out just yet.

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powersloshin said..
Andrew, my mini motion died and I am getting a garmin 255. I read all the 14 pages of this thread and your online instructions. I just want to tell you how much I admire your technical journey and the selfless support you have given to so many users. It has been almost five years since the first post and you are still here for everybody.

Thanks for the kind words Georgio.

Garmin 965 on special for $799 ($200 off) at a few places including Garmin and Rebel. I suspect the replacement 975 is coming soon, so probably clearing stock. I'm happy with mine (2 years old now) and it is recently approved for GPSTC use. I expect 975 will have some nice added features but unknown when/if it would be approved for GPSTC.

The FR 970 and 570 dropped yesterday... nice looking watches.

I wonder whether they have the same Synaptics chipset as the fenix 8. I'm fairly sure the Instinct 3 is still Airoha.

If anyone buys one of the newer FR watches, I'd very much like to get hold of a FIT file so please send me a PM.

It's been a long wait for these new Forerunner watches. The Garmin Forerunner 970 replaces the 965 and the 570 replaces the 265.
The bad news is that the 970 will retail at AU$1400 and the 570 at $1000. Which is clearly a lot of money for a device that could well get knocked off and lost in a sailing crash.

I will shortly release a new version of my Datafields that will include these new models. However at this stage they will NOT be approved for posting to GPSTC. I expect this will happen eventually once these models become more common place and can be fully tested. But there is no guarantee that they will meet the requirements of GPSTC.

Currently the Forerunner 965 is available for $799 or even a little less. This is a great buy if you are looking for a full featured Garmin watch that you can use for posting to GPSTC. At the cheaper end of the market the discounts on the 255 appear to have disappeared as has most Australian stock. I see they can still be purchased on ebay from overseas sellers at good prices, this may be an option.

The Forerunner 265 (Basically a 255 with amoled screen) has not been a big seller in Australia. However this model will most likely become the discounted model next summer. Currently it is not approved by GPSTC. I would like to encourage anybody who has one to send some comparison files for testing to the guys at GPSTC.

I got the 255 from Ali Baba, paid about $350.
First outing today with your datafields, didn't play with the screens, but it was easy to read the main screen without glasses, awesome !

Garmin 255 available on ebay from ryda-online for $448 -10% (or -15% if you have ebay Plus)

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tbwonder said..
Garmin 255 available on ebay from ryda-online for $448 -10% (or -15% if you have ebay Plus)

Would the battery in these still be OK given that they've been sitting in the box uncharged for up to 4 years now?
Ali express are selling 255 for around $330 (bit risky maybe)?

I got it from Ali a couple of months ago, it works perfectly, no issues with the battery

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ducati said..

tbwonder said..
Garmin 255 available on ebay from ryda-online for $448 -10% (or -15% if you have ebay Plus)

Would the battery in these still be OK given that they've been sitting in the box uncharged for up to 4 years now?
Ali express are selling 255 for around $330 (bit risky maybe)?

No reason to believe, they are four years old. More than likely only one or two. I still have a Garmin from 2011 that works fine with the original battery.

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ducati said..Ali express are selling 255 for around $330 (bit risky maybe)?

Thanks for mentioning that. I like risk, that's cheap, and i doubt it's any riskier than any other place anyway. I go to Thailand for dental work
Cheaper now as a seller in Ali Express has special on till 6th July $265. But it'll be $296 at checkout with gst. Pretty sure my current watch is broken and reading 5kts slower than i'm really going so i'm getting one

Finally got round to adding the Garmin 570 and 970.
There is support for 42mm and the 47mm version of the 570, but it looks much better on the 47mm version.

Also added a user field called 'Craft' the default is Windsurf.
It can be set to
1 Windsurf
2 Windfoil
3 Wingfoil
4 Kitesurf
5 Kitefoil
This is written into the FIT file so processing software can detect the discipline.

I have also added a foiling version of the Approved Datafield. So now there are four versions altogether. Two for approved watches and two for the older unapproved watches.
The foiling versions are just so you can set different parameters if you regularly do say speed sailing and windfoiling.

All new versions are in the Connect IQ store V4.973

The only Garmin watches currently approved for GPSTC are the 255 and 965

The Garmin 570 is the replacement for the Garmin 265, which in turn was the replacement for the Garmin 255 which was released over 3 years ago.It will not be long before Garmin stop supplying the 255 altogether.

I have not seen many good deals lately, but currently they are $300 off at JB.

www.jbhifi.com.au/products/garmin-forerunner-255-music-watch-black

It's that time of year again when Garmin start to discount the older models.
Most of the Fenix 7pro range are heavily discounted.
However the supply of the 255 appears to have almost dried up. I don't see any good deals on them.

The good news is that the excellent (and already Approved for GPSTC) 965 is currently on special at $699.
This is a premium watch with large amoled screen and full built in mapping.