# Garmin Oregon Auto Pause (or lack thereof) question



## Metaluna (Jul 11, 2006)

To those of you using an Oregon 400,500, or 600-series as their primary cycling computer/GPS, I have a question:

When in Fitness Mode, these units apparently lack the "Auto Pause Timer" function. I use this heavily on my current Edge 705, as there's simply no way I'm realistically going to remember to do this manually.

See this link, and scroll down to the bottom. It's in the table under the "Fitness" heading:

Garmin Oregon 600

I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what this means with regard to how the GPS tracks ride statistics. Specifically, does this mean that, if you don't manually pause the timer, your average speed will keep dropping with every second you are stopped, or can the GPS still distinguish moving average from overall average speed. Pretty much every GPS I've owned for the past 10 years, cycling-specific or not, has been able to do this, but maybe Garmin has artificially crippled the Fitness Mode?

Can anyone comment?

Also, if the Oregon does make a mess of the average speed, I assume this can still be extracted from the track information. Would uploading to a site like e.g. Garmin Connect be able to restore the moving average statistic?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

The gps does not auto pause, so every second you are stopped reduces average speed. The Oregon series does have a manual pause button on the fitness dashboard. It does not work exactly the same as on fitness receivers but it is close. It will allow you to maintain average speed numbers in your trip computer though

Yes, software can still calculate stopped time and moving time from the track. The way that happens depends on the algorithm used and some allow you to change the settings. I have not seen a website that will allow you to adjust the threshhold to be considered stopped though.


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## Metaluna (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to weigh this against other considerations as I'm currently trying to decide between an Edge 810 and an Oregon 600. I realize I can start and stop manually, it's just that I'm so absent-minded that I'm sure I'll forget to stop the timer half the time. And the other half of the time I'll probably forget to manually restart it again which is even worse as I'll lose part of the track.

Of course, there is a valid argument to be made that stopping time _should_ count against your average speed, since you are resting during that time which would tend to skew the moving average speed higher than it would otherwise be. For recreational riding I guess it doesn't really matter, other than being accustomed to seeing it.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Metaluna said:


> Of course, there is a valid argument to be made that stopping time _should_ count against your average speed, since you are resting during that time which would tend to skew the moving average speed higher than it would otherwise be. For recreational riding I guess it doesn't really matter, other than being accustomed to seeing it.


That is very true, and how I see the issue. Frankly, when I DID have an Edge, I turned autopause off because it would activate when I didn't want, and it would occasionally not activate when I did. It was better for me to just see Topofusion's time breakdowns for moving vs. stopped time as well as climbing time, descending time, and flat time.


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## OpenLight (Oct 17, 2011)

There is nothing quite as demoralizing as riding up a steep hill around a switchback and have the auto pause kick in because it thinks that you are stopped. One ride with it turned on and I decided it was a worthless feature for the trails in Montana.


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## Ian_C (Sep 27, 2012)

The earlier model Oregons definatley don't do autopause, but I think the 600 series does. The Autopause=NO note in the table at GPS City a little odd, and doesn't jive with the review noted below.

This review of the Oregon 650 over at GPS Tracklog extoles the virtues of autopause. He wasn't looking at it from the Fitness point of view, but it seems unlikely that the feature would not be unavailable when using fitness features. While he is specifically reviewing the 650, I'm sure the 600 acts the same.

Since the Garmin hand held models don't use the Wheel Speed part of a Speed/Cadence sensor, and only use GPS speed, I don't think that would affect autopause. Though it is certainly possible that when using the heart rate strap, recording your pulse in the tracklog might overide autopause. The same might be true if you set the record method to use time

For the record, the "Fitness" features of the hand helds are limited to recording heart rate and cadence. No heart rate zones, cadence/speed/distance/heart rate alarms, autolap, virtual partner etc. If those more Roady kind of features are important, you're better off with one of the bike specific models.

Lets face it, the Oregon 600 series is new. Until we have some hands on/bike on reviews, we may not know the answer.

Also, a guy at GPS city suggested that the price on the 600s may come down after the "new - got to have it now" rush is over (specifically after Black Friday 2013).


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Good reference with the GPS Tracklog review. Garmin's website is mum about auto pause on these new Oregons. Though honestly if I cannot adjust a lower threshhold for it, I don't think I would use it out of annoyance of it tripping on slow uphill hiking or riding


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## Pedalfaraway (Jan 19, 2004)

OpenLight said:


> There is nothing quite as demoralizing as riding up a steep hill around a switchback and have the auto pause kick in because it thinks that you are stopped. One ride with it turned on and I decided it was a worthless feature for the trails in Montana.


Kills me when I am struggling up a 20% grade and the computer beeps at me and pauses.


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## Metaluna (Jul 11, 2006)

Ian_C said:


> Lets face it, the Oregon 600 series is new. Until we have some hands on/bike on reviews, we may not know the answer.
> 
> Also, a guy at GPS city suggested that the price on the 600s may come down after the "new - got to have it now" rush is over (specifically after Black Friday 2013).


Yes, until I read that GPS Tracklog review, I didn't realize how different the firmware on the 6xx series was compared to the older units, so we really can't assume anything at this point.

I went ahead and ordered a 600 from REI (I'd like to wait until Black Friday, but I don't know if my Edge 705 is going to make it that far), so I'll see if I can figure it out.


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## Wherewolf (Jan 17, 2004)

Forget auto pause. I did many tests with both my 705 and 800 and it was always way off, no matter how I set it. If you want the truth run your file through Topofusion.


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