Sigma BC 14.16 STS Altitude setting
 

Hey all,


I typically use my phone and Strava to track my riding, but get sick of it draining my battery all of the time, so I thought I'd get a simple computer that had altitude capabilities since elevation gain is my most wanted statistic.


So I bought a 14.16 since it seemed like the most straight forward altitude capable computer I could find. However, setting the altitude is kind of confusing me.


It can be set to read 'actual altitude' or 'air pressure' both of which need to be manually entered. It's easy enough to get my elevation from my phone so I input my elevation and selected 'actual altitude'. What's really confusing me though, is there's also a 'home altitude 1' and 'home altitude 2'. I put the same reading for all 3 of these but, I'm not sure if that's right.


Anybody have one of these that can provide some info?


Thanks.

You can use GPS as an altimeter, but most people prefer not to, and it sounds like your computer doesn't, because GPS isn't a great altimeter.

The other option is to use a barometer, an air pressure sensor. This is one sensor with two different sets of numbers. One is for the air pressure, the other for the altitude. Because air gets thinner as you go up. But air also gets thinner and thicker as the weather changes. That's why you have to enter one or the other, so it can calibrate the two "dials."

I don't know what the home altitudes would mean.

The 14.16 head unit can be used on two different bikes (assuming you buy additional head mounts and transmitters). It automatically detects which bike by the transmitter.

The two home altitudes allow the two bikes to be housed in two different locations. For example, your road bike in your home by the beach and your mountain bike in your cabin in the mountains.

The correct home altitude is loaded when the unit wakes up from sleep. But suppose you start riding from a third location, like a trailhead somewhere. This is where the third Altitude setting comes in.

If I'm understanding this correctly, if you were on a tour, starting from a different point each day, you'd need to enter your altitude every morning? Correct?

Yes, but that's the case with any barometric altimeter. Because atmospheric pressure is likely to change overnight.

I just got a 14.0 (I guess 2020 vs 2016) but I assume the way that Altitude works hasn't changed since 14.16. I'm still confused what the home altitude does. Let's say my real altitude at my home is 100m, I set current altitude to 100m, and I leave home altitude set at default value at 300m.

Will the 300m factor into the measurement at some point in time, for example does the current altitude reset to 300m once per day or after the next wake from sleep when you complete a ride that starts and stops at 300m within some timeframe, or is home altitude there just for your own memory so that you can remember it and copy it over manually to the current altitude setting?

I tried asking sigma support but the answer was simply to set a home altitude for calibration, but no info on how this actually affects the calibration.

Well I think I figured it out. The home altitude didn't seem to affect the altitude reading after 24 hours.

But if I go into the altitude quick settings by pressing and holding the left B button, then move to the home altitude screen, and press the menu A button, then the home altitude value will be copied over to the current altitude.

So it seems to me like the home altitude setting is for memory and doesn't actually affect the reading?

Also, the option to enter barometric pressure is not available in the 2020 model, as I think that would really confuse people who don't know which settings actually affect the altitude reading. It also doesn't help to enter your own value for the barometric pressure as you still need an accurate elevation reference, so I think it's much simpler to enter only your own altitude and rely on the device's barometer for the barometric pressure.

I asked support again if they could explain if and how the home altitude affects calibration and measurement, and the reply was:
The explanation didn't make sense to me, and doesn't answer how it works.

Because, changing the actual altitude setting directly affects the measurement in realtime, so I'm not sure what it means to be an "add on".
And changing home altitude hasn't changed the altitude measurement for me.
So I still think home altitude is only for memory recall through the shortcut / quick menu.