Vehicle GPS that shows your Altitude?

 

We have been using a Garmin 550-C for a number of years now and have been mostly happy with it. Before we purchased it we had a hand held unit that was probably designed for hiking but it did show altitude. We really liked that feature and miss it in our much more expensive Garmin.

Do any of you know of a Vehicle GPS Unit that will show Altitude??

Altitude or Elevation..?

I have a Nuvi 1300 that shows elevation.. so isn't that the same as altitude? Asking as a question.. if your elevation shows you're at 6,000 ft., does it really matter if you use the word elevation.. or altitude? Either way.. you're at 6,000 feet!

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

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I'm not really lost.... just temporarily misplaced!

Altitude display

Many of the Nuvi's will show the altitude if you press and hold the screen on the satelite bar. A "area 51" screen shows the satelite positions, lat/long, sun and mooon positions, speed, and altitude. And bars with satelite signal strength.

Vehicle GPS That Shows Your Altitude?

I have the elevation information available to me on my:

-Garmin Nuvi 500

-Garmin StreetPilot 2730

-Garmin Mobile XT on Pharos GPS Phone 600

While I certainly cannot say for a fact that it is available on every Garmin automobile GPS, I suspect that there is a pretty good chance that it is.

The 1490T can show altitude

I found it fun when flying--at least when it could be used prior to last week anyway.

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NEOhioGuy - Garmin 2639, MIO Knight Rider, TomTom (in Subaru Legacy), Nuvi 55, DriveSmart 51, Apple CarPlay maps

.

I believe all the 2, 6, and 7xx's show what you want.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

Altitude or Elevation..? - they are 2 different things

Nuvi1300WTGPS wrote:

I have a Nuvi 1300 that shows elevation.. so isn't that the same as altitude? Asking as a question.. if your elevation shows you're at 6,000 ft., does it really matter if you use the word elevation.. or altitude? Either way.. you're at 6,000 feet!

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

Elevation is the amount the piece of earth you are on is from sea level. Altitude is the amount you are above the that same piece of ground. It's all referenced to sea level, so it is possible to have 100 feet of altitude and still be below sea level.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Elevation vs Altitude

It is my understanding that elevation is the distance above sea-level while standing on the ground. Altitude is the distance above sea-level while being airborne. One can be flying at an altitude of 3000 feet and encounter a mountain with an elevation of 4000 feet.

Altitude/Elevation

To the best of my knowledge, a GPS device utilizing information from 4 satellites can calculate its location as a point in three-dimensional space. I assume that how the information is displayed is dependent upon the individual device and the reference frame it is using. I also assume display of altitude/elevation would require a map/terrain database.

The altitude/elevation discussion is interesting - when flying from Washington to San Francisco, if we climb to 30k' does tha mean that while maintaning level flight we are now at 25k' when flying over Denver? (I guess it's a good thing we're not at 4K' or we'd crash before we got to Denver.) smile

yes

EARL-M wrote:

The altitude/elevation discussion is interesting - when flying from Washington to San Francisco, if we climb to 30k' does tha mean that while maintaning level flight we are now at 25k' when flying over Denver? (I guess it's a good thing we're not at 4K' or we'd crash before we got to Denver.) smile

Yes, altitude is referenced from sea level and corrected by atmospheric pressure below 20,000 feet. Above that a standard pressure setting is used. This keeps all aircraft "in their box" for vertical separation. I don't know if the FAA is allowing the use of GPS units for altitude measurements. I've been away from that for several years.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

765t shows altitude

My 765t shows altitude (elevation), miles to destination, time to destination, time upon arrival, or time of day. I do frequently opt to use elevation when driving in the mountains.

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Unless you are the lead sled dog, the view never changes. I is retard... every day is Saturday! I still use the Garmin 3590 LMT even tho I upgraded to the Garmin 61 LMT. Bigger screen is not always better in my opinion.

WGS-84

Most GPS units display altitude as height above the WGS-84 reference spheroid.

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Nuvi 2460, 680, DATUM Tymserve 2100, Trimble Thunderbolt, Ham radio, Macintosh, Linux, Windows

altitude

In flyiong altitude is based on sea level and atimeters are ajsuted on local barometric pressure.

Only a radar altimeter is used for AGL Altitude above ground level.

altitude

Microsoft streets and trips with a gps receiver on a laptop shows altitude.

"elevation" on bridge/tunnel?

I think someone mentioned this, but the Street Pilot 2730 (which is what I own) shows elevation under the GPS Info menu.

I always wondered what "elevation" is used for bridges and tunnels - is it the elevation of the roadbed, or the elevation of the earth directly below/above the roadbed?

-Dave

It is the elevation of the

It is the elevation of the GPS unit. Elevation is calculated by measuring the time to receive a signal from the satellites in the sky.

Magellan

I know the Magellan Maestro 4250 will show your altitude, but it fluctuates greatly so I wouldn't use it other than as a best guess.

Just Press The

Section of your screen (probably upper left) that shows several bars (indicating accuracy and number of satellites you're linked to). That display should show your elevation.

I know, not nearly as much fun as the elevation/altitude debate but at least it's a shot at answering the question.

Cheers wink

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Nuvi 760 & 660, Streetpilot, GPS III, GPS 10X

Thanks

DarkCanuck wrote:

It is the elevation of the GPS unit. Elevation is calculated by measuring the time to receive a signal from the satellites in the sky.

That makes sense - originally I thought that the elevation was "coded" somehow in each coordinate.

alitude

my 255 show altitude by touching vehicle icon. it shows log lat and alt as well as nearest intersection

The Nuvi 1490t will show

The Nuvi 1490t will show elevation at all times while driving. Turn on the "extra data" feature

The Nextar ME Shows

The Nextar ME shows your speed and elevation on the info page.

Zero Negative Feet..

a_user wrote:

Elevation is the amount the piece of earth you are on is from sea level. Altitude is the amount you are above the that same piece of ground. It's all referenced to sea level, so it is possible to have 100 feet of altitude and still be below sea level.

Well.. Yeah! Most people know elevation has to do with being land bound, while altitude has to do with air bound.

The question is: if you're at sea level and you go below sea level, is that 100' going to be a positive or negative number as it relates to zero feet at sea?

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com.com

--
I'm not really lost.... just temporarily misplaced!

One and the Same..!

dgilb wrote:

It is my understanding that elevation is the distance above sea-level while standing on the ground. Altitude is the distance above sea-level while being airborne. One can be flying at an altitude of 3000 feet and encounter a mountain with an elevation of 4000 feet.

O.K., but in your example that's why pilots have and use flying charts. If you're sitting in a plane at Denver Airport Field (5,280 ft) and you're ready to take off.. you would set your altimeter before take off to 5,280 feet. If you then take off and fly 1 foot above the field, your altimeter would show you flying at 5,281 feet.. even though you're only 1 foot above the ground.

In the same vain, if your standing on the ground at Denver Airport field, your GPS would show 5,280 ft. and NOT 1 foot. That being said.. elevation and altitude distance is one and the same, with the only difference being mode of transportation.

If you Google the above you will find the definition to be: "The terms "elevation" and "altitude" are sometimes used synonymously. The term "elevation" is preferred to indicate heights on the Earth's surface, whereas "altitude" is used to indicate the heights in space above the sea level surface of the Earth."

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

--
I'm not really lost.... just temporarily misplaced!

Bridges

If you mean as in the signs, I'd hope it's from the road bed!! I'm pretty sure it is. Except when they repave and forget to 'adjust' it??

Brings to mind an interesting site I stumbled onto the other day as well. surprised
http://www.11foot8.com/

(You (probably) might have meant something else entirely, but the link is worth watching!)

dconsolla wrote:

[snip]

I always wondered what "elevation" is used for bridges and tunnels - is it the elevation of the roadbed, or the elevation of the earth directly below/above the roadbed?

-Dave

--
It's about the Line- If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former shall not be extended.

If you are dealing with water

Nuvi1300WTGPS wrote:
a_user wrote:

Elevation is the amount the piece of earth you are on is from sea level. Altitude is the amount you are above the that same piece of ground. It's all referenced to sea level, so it is possible to have 100 feet of altitude and still be below sea level.

Well.. Yeah! Most people know elevation has to do with being land bound, while altitude has to do with air bound.

The question is: if you're at sea level and you go below sea level, is that 100' going to be a positive or negative number as it relates to zero feet at sea?

If you are dealing with water, it's called depth and it is expressed as a positive number. In Death Valley, 281 feet below sea level, the elevation would be a negative number, but flying 100 feet above the floor of the valley you would still have a positive 100 feet of altitude while your elevation would still be negative in relation to the average level of the sea.

And before you ask it, above a certain altitude, and the exact level escapes me right now, altimeters use a standard atmospheric pressure regardless of the actual barometric pressure that may be measured at that location. So, an airliner when it states it is at 36,000 feet it is measuring that altitude on a barometric altimeter using a standard setting, just as all aircraft all over the world.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Initially misread OP title!

My 765T show elevation.

Guess it is too early in the morning for me, I initially looked at the topic and was curious to see what this GPS that shows your "attitude" was all about! lol

Garmin GPS altitude

The Garmin 760 shows altitude as do most of the other Garmins that I know of. The problem is finding the screen. Holding the signal strength antenae indicator produces a screen with various information. Perhaps Garmin should actually publish in writing or on line an instructional manual that details all of the things the GPS can do if you touch and hold various screen positions.

I Just Learned Something New About My GPS

In reading some of the above responses I just learned a new shortcut to a screen it used to take three touches to get through.

I have a Nuvi 500. To save a location it used to take three touches to get to the screen. It used to be Menu, Tools, Where Am I?

Now it's touch the Vehicle Icon on the map and there I am at Where Am I?

I've had this unit for two years and I learn something new every day.

I am guessing that this will work for any of the Nuvis.

--
If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there.

It should work on all Nuvi models

alpine1 wrote:

In reading some of the above responses I just learned a new shortcut to a screen it used to take three touches to get through.

I have a Nuvi 500. To save a location it used to take three touches to get to the screen. It used to be Menu, Tools, Where Am I?

Now it's touch the Vehicle Icon on the map and there I am at Where Am I?

I've had this unit for two years and I learn something new every day.

I am guessing that this will work for any of the Nuvis.

Works on my 255W...

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TOMTOM - LG LN740 - Magellan Roadmate 1430 - Garmin Nüvi 255W - Garmin 2455LMT

855 has altitude

As others have pointed all or almost all have altitude information in the Nuvi line and I would guess almost all other brands too.

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___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

NUVI 350

From the main menu, press the signal strength icon (upper left part of screen). That will take you to the technical info page (satellite received, current location, mph and elevation)

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I have seen the future and it is now!

750

On a 750 Tools---Where Am I and then Bingo there it is!!!!!

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Thanks for that info

TITNTUFF wrote:

Many of the Nuvi's will show the altitude if you press and hold the screen on the satelite bar. A "area 51" screen shows the satelite positions, lat/long, sun and mooon positions, speed, and altitude. And bars with satelite signal strength.

I didn't no it did that

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Go Dawgs!!!

i have the Garmin Nuvi 350,

i have the Garmin Nuvi 350, 750, and 755.. and all three of them show the Altitude. im pretty sure all of the Garmin Nuvi have that feature.

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DriveSmart 50, DriveSmart 60, nuvi 2595, nuvi 3760,

touch the vehicle while in map 3D view My Location will pop up

If you touch the vehicle while in the map 3D view "My Location" will pop up and right below the longitude and latitude is the Elevation at the location the GPS unit is at.

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Garmin Drive Smart 55 - Samsung Note 10 Smartphone with Google Maps & HERE Apps

touch the vehicle while in map 3D view My Location will pop up

Will this work with the c-550 street pilot?

Third Party App for TomToms

There is a third party application for TomTom that will show elevation (among other things). It is called Tripmaster.

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Shooter N32 39 W97 25 VIA 1535TM, Lexus built-in, TomTom Go

Flying Fun

I have the 1490T and took it with me on a flight to New Hampshire from Houston. I held the unit close to the window (only after receiving permission from a flight attendant) so the unit could lock onto the sats. It was really cool to see our altitude at 39,000 ft and speed at almost 500 MPH

In other words . .

Flying at 3000' (altitude) with a radio tower in front of me marked as 1400' above the ground (elevation). If ground level is 1500' above sea level (elevation) I clear the tower by 100'. Lets hope my altimeter is accurately set to the current barometer pressure and the charts are correct. In this case I would climb to a higher altitude or divert my current heading to avoid the tower or maybe both. Proper preflight, I would have charted a course to avoid these kind of problems to start with. Not like getting in your car and setting the GPS to grandma's house.

Altitude is always based on Sea Level, but elevation can mean above the ground or from sea level.

I have actually flown over the Salton Sea at an altitude of 150' below sea level. The Salton Sea is 226' ft Below sea level. The lowest point below sea level in the North America is in Death Valley at 282' below sea level. (Elevation -282') Strangely enough this point is only 76 miles east of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

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Looking for a place to go this summer? Try Oshkosh, WI, July 20-26, 2015. The largest gathering of aircraft in the world. http://www.airventure.org/index.html

Topo

You could always do what i did. Bought the unit i wanted, and buy Topo maps. Put them on the sd card. I do a lot of fly fishing, so i'm in the bush going to remote lakes quite often. Elevation's are marked on the map. Keep in mind though, when the topo map is highlighted it could take you up a dirt road, or a path for that matter. smile

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Altitude

Well most of the units will give elevation. If you have a mobile unit like a nuvi all you have to do is tap the screen vehicle and it will give you the pertinent information you need like altitude etc.

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Legs

One more way

legatzke wrote:

Well most of the units will give elevation. If you have a mobile unit like a nuvi all you have to do is tap the screen vehicle and it will give you the pertinent information you need like altitude etc.

If you unit keeps track logs you can download them into Mapsource where it will display the elevations.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Different Ways to Calculate It

Just for reference, some of the hand held Garmins can measure air pressure, and of those, some use (or used) the barometer to calculate altitude. The auto versions use the satellites to calculate altitude. I've found neither to be particularly accurate and can be off by hundreds of feet.

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Tuckahoe Mike - Nuvi 3490LMT, Nuvi 260W, iPhone X, Mazda MX-5 Nav

Accuracy

Tuckahoemike wrote:

Just for reference, some of the hand held Garmins can measure air pressure, and of those, some use (or used) the barometer to calculate altitude. The auto versions use the satellites to calculate altitude. I've found neither to be particularly accurate and can be off by hundreds of feet.

In the past, I set my Nuvi 350 down and looked at the elevation. The elevation was constantly changing and has ranges from 50ft to 300ft over 5 minutes.

On the other hand, I Googled map the My Current Location coordinates and the Google Satellite view place the head of the green arrow seemingly exactly where I was sitting at that moment. It's a little freeky. Try it.

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Vince Nuvi 350

Altitude Does Jump Around

VinceCANuvi wrote:
Tuckahoemike wrote:

Just for reference, some of the hand held Garmins can measure air pressure, and of those, some use (or used) the barometer to calculate altitude. The auto versions use the satellites to calculate altitude. I've found neither to be particularly accurate and can be off by hundreds of feet.

In the past, I set my Nuvi 350 down and looked at the elevation. The elevation was constantly changing and has ranges from 50ft to 300ft over 5 minutes.

On the other hand, I Googled map the My Current Location coordinates and the Google Satellite view place the head of the green arrow seemingly exactly where I was sitting at that moment. It's a little freeky. Try it.

Yes, that's why I said it's not very accurate. The Lat/Long numbers also jump around, but not by very much, however the altitude numbers jump quite a lot.

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Tuckahoe Mike - Nuvi 3490LMT, Nuvi 260W, iPhone X, Mazda MX-5 Nav

1490T allows you to make the altitude always visible

One neat feature wit the 1490T (and like 1300/1400 series) is that you can choose what you want to see in the little data sections. You can set the altitude as one of your choices. This allows you to see it while viewing the map.

On my previous Garmin, you had to go to a special view where you could see the altitude. But you couldn't see it while viewing the map.

I think it cool to watch, but likely not much use East of the Mississippi River since there are no real mountains.