G'day TBW. I used your datafields on my Viviactive 3 over the weekend. A big thanks to you for building this and sharing it with everyone

It worked well, but I have a couple of queries:
1/ a lap timer kept popping up.is that related to your datafield functionality?
2/ the only thing I'm missing from my old app is not being able to see instantaneous speed. I find this useful to gauge my starting point for Alphas and also to make sure I'm maintaining a good pace during an Hour. Is there a way to display this with your datafields, or can you recommend a good one to use in conjunction with yours?

thanks again...

The lap timer is not part of my datafield, that is probably the Garmin auto lap function, you can turn that off in the Activity set up.

It is very timely that you mention the instantaneous speed. When I developed the datafield I was using my fenix 3. So that was always the version that got features first. On that version the live speed is displayed when travelling above 17 kts.

I recently upgraded to a Fenix 5X. I generally still sail with the Fenix 3, but when I occasionally use the 5X I did notice that it does not show the live speed.

Last night I decided to have a look at this. There could be an issue with amount of available memory. Give me a couple of days

Excellent, thanks
Looks like I might need to upgrade my watch, which I've actually nicked off my son anyway...

This is what I am working on.
A page to show a live graph of current speed and peak speed.

Here is a new version of Datafield 1 apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/fda64c56-c9a8-44d8-aad2-eaec6aa4dbaf

Firstly the two current datafields are unchanged and still available in the IQ Store.
This new version is a replacement for Datafield 1 for those who have a Garmin watch with Maps. The maps are irrelevant, but that is the indicator that the watch has 128k of memory for datafields. So we are talking about Forerunner 945 and some Fenix 5 and 6 models.

Download this new datafield to your watch and edit the activity you have been using and replace the original Datafield 1 with this new one.

This new version shows your current speed in really big numbers (suitable for old people who need glasses - like me) and draws a little live graph of your current speed.

It's early days, hasn't had much testing.

If all goes well I plan to make a version for all watches that currently support the alpha, but you will not be able to have the speed graph and the alpha, it will be one or the other.


Instructions (same as on Garmin IQ)
Datafield 1 with Alpha and Speed Page
This Data field is designed to work along side GPSTC Datafield 2. It indicates your "2 Sec", your "5 * 10 Sec",your alpha 500 and displays a live speed graph during a windsurfing session. Create a new Activity and add each datafield to a separate Data screen, configure each Data screen to have a 1 field layout. Put GPSTC Datafield 1 on Screen 1, GPSTC Datafield 2 on Screen 2, then configure Screens 3, 4, 5 etc to your personal needs.
It displays:
* The last 2 Sec run in kts.
* The best 2 Sec run for the session in kts.
* The average of your best 5 ten second runs in kts
* 5 coloured bars showing the relative speed of your 10 second runs
* Session distance in Km

A second page displays
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 50 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 50 m of start point)
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 60 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 60 m of start point)
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 70 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 70 m of start point)

A Third page displays
* Your current speed
* Your recent fastest speed in the last 100 seconds
* A graph of your speed over the last 100 seconds

"2 Sec Run"
This field displays the best 2 second average speed from your last run. A run is considered to have been completed when you either stop or complete a gybe.
"Best 2"
This field show the best 2 second average speed for the session. The colour will change to red if this speed is above the user set target.
"5*10"
This field shows the average of your 5 best ten second runs. The colour will change to red if the average is above the user set target.
The 5 coloured bars show the relative speed of the five best runs. The bar colour is green if within 5% of the best, orange if within 10% of the best or red otherwise.
"Alpha 500"
This page shows your best and current alphas. The alphas can be any length from 200 metres up to 500 metres. The watch only captures data for the last 60 seconds so the alpha must be completed within this time, this corresponds to a 16kt 500 metre alpha. Slower alphas may be recorded but they will be less than 500 metres in length. The two configurable alphas are preset at 60 and 70 metres. These can be user programmed to between 10 and 100 metres.
Cycling of pages:
Due to restrictions within Garmin watches only two user datafields can be assigned to an activity. So the watch cycles through the selected pages automatically every 4 seconds. The "alpha" and "speed" pages can be turned on/off in the user settings.
If the "speed" page is turned on, then once travelling at over 15kts (20kts on high speed page) the pages will no longer cycle. If however a new session best 2 sec or alpha is recorded the relevant page will briefly display
The watch will play the "success" tune if either the 2 sec or alpha beat the previous best for this session.
Settings:
"Your 2 sec target in kts" - Default 19
The colour will change to Red once this target is reached.

"Your 5*10 sec target in kts" - Default 18
The colour will change to Red once this target is reached.

"Speed Genie in Kts" - Default 12
A Speed Genie (similar to the one used on GT31). The "2 Sec Run" speed will not reset until you have gybed and then your speed has risen above this number. On start up the Speed Genie that you have set will display in the "2Sec Field".

"Display Alpha 500 page" - Default On
Uncheck this item if you so not which to see your alphas

"Alpha 2 Distance in Metres" - Default 60
A way of checking alphas that do not quite get inside the 50 metre circle

"Alpha 3 Distance in Metres" - Default 70
A way of checking alphas that do not quite get inside the 50 metre circle

Reverse Background/Foreground colours - Default off
Choose either black text on a white background or white text on a blackbackground

"Display Units" - Default Kts
Choose Kts, Mph or Km/h. Note that in the Connect IQ stats panel on Garmin Connect the units will always display as Kts, even though the actual values will be in the units selected (eg an actual speed of 20mph will display as 20 kts in Garmin Connect)

"Speed Display Scale" - Default 15-25 kts
Choose the scale of the speed graph. Options are 15-25 kts, or 20-40 kts or "off"

At the end of the session the following is written to the FIT file and can be viewed in the Stats panel of the activity in Garmin Connect. This function is not supported by the Fenix 3.
* Best 2 Sec
* Best 5*10 second
* 5*10 speed 1
* 5*10 speed 2
* 5*10 speed 3
* 5*10 speed 4
* 5*10 speed 5
* Best alpha
This data field should produce an accurate indication of the GPSTC categories. However this data is not approved for posting to GPSTC.

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..
Here is a new version of Datafield 1 apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/fda64c56-c9a8-44d8-aad2-eaec6aa4dbaf

Firstly the two current datafields are unchanged and still available in the IQ Store.
This new version is a replacement for Datafield 1 for those who have a Garmin watch with Maps. The maps are irrelevant, but that is the indicator that the watch has 128k of memory for datafields. So we are talking about Forerunner 945 and some Fenix 5 and 6 models.

Download this new datafield to your watch and edit the activity you have been using and replace the original Datafield 1 with this new one.

This new version shows your current speed in really big numbers (suitable for old people who need glasses - like me) and draws a little live graph of your current speed.

It's early days, hasn't had much testing.

If all goes well I plan to make a version for all watches that currently support the alpha, but you will not be able to have the speed graph and the alpha, it will be one or the other.


Instructions (same as on Garmin IQ)
Datafield 1 with Alpha and Speed Page
This Data field is designed to work along side GPSTC Datafield 2. It indicates your "2 Sec", your "5 * 10 Sec",your alpha 500 and displays a live speed graph during a windsurfing session. Create a new Activity and add each datafield to a separate Data screen, configure each Data screen to have a 1 field layout. Put GPSTC Datafield 1 on Screen 1, GPSTC Datafield 2 on Screen 2, then configure Screens 3, 4, 5 etc to your personal needs.
It displays:
* The last 2 Sec run in kts.
* The best 2 Sec run for the session in kts.
* The average of your best 5 ten second runs in kts
* 5 coloured bars showing the relative speed of your 10 second runs
* Session distance in Km

A second page displays
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 50 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 50 m of start point)
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 60 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 60 m of start point)
* Your best Alpha 500 (Return to within 70 m of start point)
* Your last Alpha 500 (Return to within 70 m of start point)

A Third page displays
* Your current speed
* Your recent fastest speed in the last 100 seconds
* A graph of your speed over the last 100 seconds

"2 Sec Run"
This field displays the best 2 second average speed from your last run. A run is considered to have been completed when you either stop or complete a gybe.
"Best 2"
This field show the best 2 second average speed for the session. The colour will change to red if this speed is above the user set target.
"5*10"
This field shows the average of your 5 best ten second runs. The colour will change to red if the average is above the user set target.
The 5 coloured bars show the relative speed of the five best runs. The bar colour is green if within 5% of the best, orange if within 10% of the best or red otherwise.
"Alpha 500"
This page shows your best and current alphas. The alphas can be any length from 200 metres up to 500 metres. The watch only captures data for the last 60 seconds so the alpha must be completed within this time, this corresponds to a 16kt 500 metre alpha. Slower alphas may be recorded but they will be less than 500 metres in length. The two configurable alphas are preset at 60 and 70 metres. These can be user programmed to between 10 and 100 metres.
Cycling of pages:
Due to restrictions within Garmin watches only two user datafields can be assigned to an activity. So the watch cycles through the selected pages automatically every 4 seconds. The "alpha" and "speed" pages can be turned on/off in the user settings.
If the "speed" page is turned on, then once travelling at over 15kts (20kts on high speed page) the pages will no longer cycle. If however a new session best 2 sec or alpha is recorded the relevant page will briefly display
The watch will play the "success" tune if either the 2 sec or alpha beat the previous best for this session.
Settings:
"Your 2 sec target in kts" - Default 19
The colour will change to Red once this target is reached.

"Your 5*10 sec target in kts" - Default 18
The colour will change to Red once this target is reached.

"Speed Genie in Kts" - Default 12
A Speed Genie (similar to the one used on GT31). The "2 Sec Run" speed will not reset until you have gybed and then your speed has risen above this number. On start up the Speed Genie that you have set will display in the "2Sec Field".

"Display Alpha 500 page" - Default On
Uncheck this item if you so not which to see your alphas

"Alpha 2 Distance in Metres" - Default 60
A way of checking alphas that do not quite get inside the 50 metre circle

"Alpha 3 Distance in Metres" - Default 70
A way of checking alphas that do not quite get inside the 50 metre circle

Reverse Background/Foreground colours - Default off
Choose either black text on a white background or white text on a blackbackground

"Display Units" - Default Kts
Choose Kts, Mph or Km/h. Note that in the Connect IQ stats panel on Garmin Connect the units will always display as Kts, even though the actual values will be in the units selected (eg an actual speed of 20mph will display as 20 kts in Garmin Connect)

"Speed Display Scale" - Default 15-25 kts
Choose the scale of the speed graph. Options are 15-25 kts, or 20-40 kts or "off"

At the end of the session the following is written to the FIT file and can be viewed in the Stats panel of the activity in Garmin Connect. This function is not supported by the Fenix 3.
* Best 2 Sec
* Best 5*10 second
* 5*10 speed 1
* 5*10 speed 2
* 5*10 speed 3
* 5*10 speed 4
* 5*10 speed 5
* Best alpha
This data field should produce an accurate indication of the GPSTC categories. However this data is not approved for posting to GPSTC.

Great stuff Andy, that's a lot of work ??

Wet afternoon today, so time for a bit more coding....

On slalom gear I find that when doing alphas you have to turn reasonably tight and then try and stay upwind as much as you can to get back into the 50m radius. However on the foil, I often find myself turning too tight and ending up way upwind of the 50m circle.

So I have made a new graphic page to show your real time position. This page will automatically appear when you make the turn and start heading back. It will show the alpha separation distance and the actual alpha speed.




Only tested in the simulator, so no guarantees this will work.
Note this is an extension of the new "Speed" datafield and only works on watches with maps

that's awesome ! i wish i could foil jibe !

I love that!!!! Shows all alphas no matter the separation, and gives the separation distance. A great aid to getting good alphas.

Brilliant! will it show the separation distance while still on the return leg, or only after finishing 500m?

Select to expand quote

Stretchy said..
Brilliant! will it show the separation distance while still on the return leg, or only after finishing 500m?

Yes as soon as you are through the turn the the page will display and will update every second the separation distance and show the best alpha achieved on this run.
I tried it foiling yesterday, once round the turn and you get your new front hand on the boom (I wear the watch on the opposite side of my wrist) I could see the separation distance of just over 100 metres, over the next few seconds I could see the distance drop to under 50 and then watch the alpha slowly climb to it's peak. My software measures alphas of length 200 to 500 metres.

Very cool, so you can actively correct your course. Nice!

I see at the moment the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is available for around $260-$290 which is half price. This is about as cheap as Garmin watches get. So if you are thinking of buying, then this is a good time.

It dawned on me that the watch has to have lots more memory to store all the music. So it might also allocate more memory to Datafields.

After a little research it appears that it does have double the Datafield memory of most modern Garmins, so you should be able to run my latest speed version of Datafield 1 without splashing out $1000+ for a Fenix 6 pro.

I would be interested to hear from anybody who has a 245 Music and as managed to install and run the Speed version of Datafield 1.

I assume this also applies to the Garmin 645 Music

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..
I see at the moment the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is available for around $260-$290 which is half price. This is about as cheap as Garmin watches get. So if you are thinking of buying, then this is a good time.

It dawned on me that the watch has to have lots more memory to store all the music. So it might also allocate more memory to Datafields.

After a little research it appears that it does have double the Datafield memory of most modern Garmins, so you should be able to run my latest speed version of Datafield 1 without splashing out $1000+ for a Fenix 6 pro.

I would be interested to hear from anybody who has a 245 Music and as managed to install and run the Speed version of Datafield 1.

I assume this also applies to the Garmin 645 Music

My wife has a Forerunner 245 Music Andrew, so will give it a go.

Select to expand quote

rww said..

tbwonder said..
I see at the moment the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is available for around $260-$290 which is half price. This is about as cheap as Garmin watches get. So if you are thinking of buying, then this is a good time.

It dawned on me that the watch has to have lots more memory to store all the music. So it might also allocate more memory to Datafields.

After a little research it appears that it does have double the Datafield memory of most modern Garmins, so you should be able to run my latest speed version of Datafield 1 without splashing out $1000+ for a Fenix 6 pro.

I would be interested to hear from anybody who has a 245 Music and as managed to install and run the Speed version of Datafield 1.

I assume this also applies to the Garmin 645 Music

My wife has a Forerunner 245 Music Andrew, so will give it a go.

Haven't given it a proper test run as yet, but have just successfully installed it on my wife's Forerunner 245 Music.

If this complents the simple motion can it be used with the latest LCD Motion?

Select to expand quote

sboardcrazy said..
If this complents the simple motion can it be used with the latest LCD Motion?

My Datafields run on Garmin watches and provide feedback for all six GPSTC categories in real time.
So yes you can see your projected 1 hour as you progress through it.
Yes you can watch your NM or alpha update second by second until it reaches the maximum for that run.
It is a good match for those who have the mini (simple) Motion as that device provides no on water feedback whatsoever.

Other devices provide various "live" results
GT31 - 2 Sec, 5*10, Dist
GW60 - 2 Sec, 5*10, Alpha, Dist
Original Full Motion - 2Sec, 5*10, NM, Alpha, Dist

It is simply an on the water device, you upload to GPSTC with whatever device you normally use. The datafield does however report the 6 GPSTC categories to Garmin Connect. So they can be compared to your approved device.
There is no communication between my Datafields and the Motion.

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..

sboardcrazy said..
If this complents the simple motion can it be used with the latest LCD Motion?

My Datafields run on Garmin watches and provide feedback for all six GPSTC categories in real time.
So yes you can see your projected 1 hour as you progress through it.
Yes you can watch your NM or alpha update second by second until it reaches the maximum for that run.
It is a good match for those who have the mini (simple) Motion as that device provides no on water feedback whatsoever.

Other devices provide various "live" results
GT31 - 2 Sec, 5*10, Dist
GW60 - 2 Sec, 5*10, Alpha, Dist
Original Full Motion - 2Sec, 5*10, NM, Alpha, Dist

It is simply an on the water device, you upload to GPSTC with whatever device you normally use. The datafield does however report the 6 GPSTC categories to Garmin Connect. So they can be compared to your approved device.
There is no communication between my Datafields and the Motion.

Ok. The heading confused me..just bought the Garmin .

I have been swamped with requests for help with choosing watches and installing datafields this week. Even from a few people who have previously been a little anti Garmin.
Several new models have appeared since I first published this code. Most notably the 245/645 Music and the 745. These three models all have double the memory of the standard Garmins, so will support developments well into the future.
The 245 music is still selling for AU$260-290. I got feedback from a user this week who has successfully installed the Datafield on this watch.
Below is an updated table of supported watches, further down the table the more desirable.

Minor update to the the "Speed" version of Datafield 1.
You can now manually set the speed above which the screen will display the speed graph page. I found that when foiling, after an alpha the speed would rise above 15 kts before I had the chance to look at my stats for the last run. So now I have set the new setting to 19 kts, so I can look at my speed for the last run for a little bit longer.

I have also made the lines thicker on the alpha graph page so hopefully it will be easier to view in real time.

I would like everyone who has a compatible watch to change over to this new "Speed" version.
Compatible watches are shown in yellow or green in the post above.

I will eventually remove support for these watches from the original version. At this stage you can choose to install either.

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..
Minor update to the the "Speed" version of Datafield 1.
You can now manually set the speed above which the screen will display the speed graph page. I found that when foiling, after an alpha the speed would rise above 15 kts before I had the chance to look at my stats for the last run. So now I have set the new setting to 19 kts, so I can look at my speed for the last run for a little bit longer.

I have also made the lines thicker on the alpha graph page so hopefully it will be easier to view in real time.

I would like everyone who has a compatible watch to change over to this new "Speed" version.
Compatible watches are shown in yellow or green in the post above.

I will eventually remove support for these watches from the original version. At this stage you can choose to install either.

Thanks for all of your continued work on this Andrew. Have just upgraded to a fenix 6 pro and installed the latest datafields. Looking great and can't wait to see "what's next"!

This is a fantastic project. I scored a hand me down watch from my son. I have installed the data fields & find then terrific for on water info. I particularly like the 0ty as it is hard to make sure you go long enough on the run. The Current Hour read out is great if you want to push your self past the hour to improve your speed. The Alpha is a great indicator BUT it always over states the speed achieved the worst was by a full Knot.

This is a dumb question, but once you have loaded the data field to the watch, how then do you activate it?

Select to expand quote

John340 said..
This is a dumb question, but once you have loaded the data field to the watch, how then do you activate it?

This question has been raised three times in the last week.
If you are not a regular Garmin user then it is a little hard to understand the difference between Datafields and Activities.
My datafields are not Activities. You need to add my Datafields to an exising Activity or better still make a new Activity called "windsurfing"
Have a look at this on You tube

Set the layout to 1 field for each screen and then add my custom datafield to that field.

The advantage with Datafields is that you can put my datafields on screens 1 and 2 and then configure screens 3,4,5, etc to what ever else you want. I like to have time of day and the map on the other pages.

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..

John340 said..
This is a dumb question, but once you have loaded the data field to the watch, how then do you activate it?

This question has been raised three times in the last week.
If you are not a regular Garmin user then it is a little hard to understand the difference between Datafields and Activities.
My datafields are not Activities. You need to add my Datafields to an exising Activity or better still make a new Activity called "windsurfing"
Have a look at this on You tube

Set the layout to 1 field for each screen and then add my custom datafield to that field.

The advantage with Datafields is that you can put my datafields on screens 1 and 2 and then configure screens 3,4,5, etc to what ever else you want. I like to have time of day and the map on the other pages.

Can I call you on Christmas day when I open my Prezzy

Select to expand quote

tbwonder said..

John340 said..
This is a dumb question, but once you have loaded the data field to the watch, how then do you activate it?

This question has been raised three times in the last week.
If you are not a regular Garmin user then it is a little hard to understand the difference between Datafields and Activities.
My datafields are not Activities. You need to add my Datafields to an exising Activity or better still make a new Activity called "windsurfing"
Have a look at this on You tube

Set the layout to 1 field for each screen and then add my custom datafield to that field.

The advantage with Datafields is that you can put my datafields on screens 1 and 2 and then configure screens 3,4,5, etc to what ever else you want. I like to have time of day and the map on the other pages.

Thanks Andrew, between this and Shannon's help, its now all sorted. I took it for a test run in the car, both data fields work really well. I can't wait to try on the water.

updated mine and tried it today, the new graph is great, thanks Andrew

Great effort with the App! This may have already been asked, but looking at the specs for the Garmin Fenix 6 it appears to be only 32MB:

"Each Pro edition of the Fenix 6 has 32GB storage capacity which is twice that of the Fenix 5 Plus ( the Basic editions don't have onboard music storage)."

Am I looking at the right specs as on the list above you've listed 128MB?

Select to expand quote

AUS02 said..
Great effort with the App! This may have already been asked, but looking at the specs for the Garmin Fenix 6 it appears to be only 32MB:

"Each Pro edition of the Fenix 6 has 32GB storage capacity which is twice that of the Fenix 5 Plus ( the Basic editions don't have onboard music storage)."

Am I looking at the right specs as on the list above you've listed 128MB?

Wouldn't it be nice if we were talking megabytes! The memory numbers listed above are in kilobytes. The number I am quoting is the memory that Garmin make available for writing Datafields. Generally the more expensive watches allocate more memory to Datafields. I don't believe this number is listed anywhere in the marketing info.
The watches with maps do have pretty large memories, my Fenix 5X has 16 Gigabytes but still only allocates 128 k to each datafield so that is only 0.0008% of the available memory.

Been very impressed with this thread , effort and skill for quite some time. Well done and thanks Andrew. you should get a kick back from Garmin ... this data field is the reason I went and bought a 245 music today.
I can report both data fields install and without issue. Once you've done some reading it's not too hard to set up with your instructions either.

again great work ... all 6 categories on the water feedback is brilliant. Ben