Half Monty without HR and Old Polar HR Monitor messing up smart trainer connection?

SYSTM Software
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Brand new to Systm. Kind of a two part questions.

I tried the Half Monty test today, and during the warmup the screen prompts started talking about HR so decided to bust out an old Polar HR watch and monitor (H7, I think?) and perhaps manually watch my HR and see if I could take do the constrained effort portion. My Tacx Vortex smart trainer dropped from my Windows computer and wouldn’t reconnect, almost certainly due to the presence of the HR strap/watch

My phone wouldn’t connect until took off my HR monitor and placed it 10 feet away.

Did the Half Monty without my HR. I got results for MAP and FTP, though I think it said the HR was used to make the FTP more accurate. What did I miss?

Also, what HR straps are compatible with Systm, Iphone and Windows PC? I don’t know how often HR is used with the cycling programs. It seems mostly power based. Do I need one? I’m going to be doing 90% of my training indoors using a smart trainer. Plan will be one of the cycling race programs.

Thanks.

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To get the best out of Half Monty the app needs to have an input from a heart rate monitor, you can’t do it manually.

I imagine most heart rate monitors that broadcast over ant+ or BT would be compatible. The minions can help. FWIW I really love the TICKR!

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@Leozinho I use the Polar H10 and the Wahoo TICKR - both work well with the app and I am sure most Garmin straps will work as well. It is important to have an HRM for Half Monty and frankly I wear one for every workout as the app will record HR data along with power and cadence from the trainer.

The problem may relate to connecting to your watch. Instead connect the strap to the SYSTM app.

Here is an FAQ on sensor connections:

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For the iPhone, get a Bluetooth HRM. Many (most?) new ones support Bluetooth and Ant+. All PCs support Bluetooth and some support Ant+.

Seconding @TTDragon, I also like my TICKR.

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Hi @Leozinho it’s possible your Polar H7 might have needed a software update if it hadn’t been used in a while if it’s not the latest software some products can cause issues. I have a Tacx Neo 2 and a Polar H10 HR monitor and they both work flawlessly with SYSTM whether it’s on my iPad or my Mac but usually all HR Straps should work fine either through Bluetooth or Ant + just have to make sure most if not all of your products hardware and apps have the latest update.

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Also you say you were using Windows computer/phone HR Strap/watch ? Did you have all these connected at the same time ? If your using the Windows Computer you shouldn’t really need your phone on, if you had Bluetooth turned on for both Windows and the Phone both might have been trying to grab the Bluetooth signal. You also mention the Polar HR Strap/Watch did you have a watch on as well ? We’re you recording to it as well ? To stop the watch interfering you can take watch off and leave it in another room or you’ll need to connect the HR Strap and Tacx Flux to the watch and that should solve that issue.

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Good to know. I will try that. I know it’s never been updated.

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@Leozinho – The article @JSampson references on how to connect your sensors is spot on. Also @Shaned1972 's advice on turning off your bluetooth on your phone and not recording on your phone to reduce interference is also excellent advice. Let us know if that helps, welcome to SYSTM, and happy training!

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Alright, guys. Turns out it’s the H1 model, which isn’t Bluetooth compatible (but apparently the frequency it puts out was throwing off the trainer’s Bluetooth connection. )

I probably will put in on the 'bay and find a BT strap before my next ramp test.

Sorry for the confusion.

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At least you worked out what was causing the problem, hopefully when you get a new HR monitor you won’t have any problems Happy Suffering :rofl::rofl:

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