GPS - 3D not working correctly with PC TDA

[CapeRider65]

Hi there

Upfront I will admit to not being very savvy with GPS - and I am hoping somebody will help clarify my understanding of what I can expect to see on a GPS ride.

Using Garmin Connect I created GPS routes for rides in Newcastle, Australia which I saved as GPX files and I uploaded to the TDA. They work perfectly. What I mean by "work" is that I get the 3D views I was expecting. I did the same thing with routes I created for the Cape Town Cycle Tour and a couple in Durban, but I only get the normal flattened images - no 3D.

If I look on Google Earth I can see that Cape Town and Durban do have a 3D views so I am a bit confused as to why, with the TDA, some GPS rides are in 3D and others are not. What is also strange is I get 3D for all of these GPS rides on my iPad - but not for all of them with the TDA on my laptop. So there is obviously nothing wrong with the GPX files.

Maybe I am misunderstanding what is or isn't possible with the TDA, but it seems odd that only some of the GPS rides should have 3D when they were all created in the same way. I did contact Tacx support with this question and all they did was reply with a very nice email telling me that the TDA lets me do GPS ride while viewing it on a 3D map. Well, not on mine it doesn't. They never even bothered to read the question, it seems.

I am new to this whole indoor trainer thing so any explanation or advice would be most welcome.

[mcorn]

Certain physical locations do not display in 3D. I am assuming that the satellite data used for 3D is not available in some areas. I have experienced the loss of 3D within a ride as well. I think urban areas are more likely to have 3D.