Tickr Timeout?

What are the stay awake/sleep parameters for the Tickr HRM when it’s not connected to an Elemnt Roam, smart phone or similar?

I ask, because, Winter time, it takes me a while to get dressed and ready for cycling. Obviously, the Tickr gets strapped across the chest first and it then can be some time before I start my ride. By the time I do, I’m finding that the Tickr has gone to sleep and isn’t detected by my Roam or the Kickr Bike/Fulgaz app. I have to stop, disconnect and re-connect one side of the Tickr, then everything is fine.

Is this expected behaviour? Can the time before the Tickr goes to sleep be extended? Also, it would be nice if there was some indication of the state of the coin cell in the TIckr to eliminate that uncertainty.

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Hi Fausto, welcome to the Forum!

I also use the Tickr HRM, and have the same issue. I however never realised this could be due to the Tickr going to sleep mode. I usually notice with every HR strap I have, that it needs some moist/sweat to start giving a good signal. Only restarting the Tickr by re-connecting one side is usually not enough for me.

Either way, following this thread.

I’ve had the same experience. I reach under my shirt and put a little water on the electrodes and it wakens. Spit works too.

Stopping to reach under your base layer, shirt and gilet PLUS taking your gloves off to lick your finger is not what I want to do when it’s cold!

There must be a better way…

You can buy electrode gel really cheap from Amazon and put that on when you’re getting ready. Unlike water, it won’t dry out before you get going. And no licking involved

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Good idea. Thanks.

Following this thread with interest as I have the same problem AND I bought the electrode gel (but that did not solve the problem :frowning: )

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Well that pretty well confirms my suspicion that it times out and goes to sleep if not connected to a device like the Elemnt or an iPhone. Maybe a Wahoo engineer could chip in here?

I’d agree it’s the lack of recording device connections, not body conductivity.
When mine fails to connect, I unclip one sensor then reclip, that normally triggers the wake up.
Can do that through 1-2 layers but it’s not ideal.

Also battery life is much shorter than previous Garmin. Assume it’s because it wakes up every time it’s moved after being stationary?
I move mine around alot (to from work etc). Wondering if it’s wasting battery seeking connections even though it’s not against a conductive surface

Perhaps not helpful to others but I found my Tickr (transmitting both BT and ANT+) became significantly easier to connect and not “go to sleep” when I started using only the ANT+ connection.

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Is ANT+ an option for connection between a Tickr and an Elemnt Roam?

No idea. I don’t have a Roam.

A little out of context, I admit, but I was discussing connection between Tickr and SYSTM and perhaps it could be applicable to other connections.

Should be able to, yes.

Could you be a bit more specific? I don’t see anything online or in the Roam app about selection of ANT+ versus Bluetooth.

Not to get this thread too far off track, but…

Yes, your Tickr supports both BT and Ant+. You should have one channel for each (so you could potentially connect it to two devices at the same time, one thru BT, the other thru Ant+). The TickrX has more channels, I think 2 or 3 BT connections at a time and at least one Ant+.

For SYSTM, it’s easy to pick BLTE or Ant+ because they show up separately and you can easily pick which one to add and your device will connect only through the connection you select.

Your Roam works a little different and tries to pick the “preferred” connection automagically and you don’t get as much of a choice when pairing directly on the device. Although, when you are pairing a device you can see which connection it is using. You can also pair it through the ELEMNT app. See the link above for directions. On that sensors page in the app you will see all your currently paired sensors and how they are currently paired (ant/bt).

Since the Tickr only has one BT and one Ant+ connection, if you are already using one to connect to SYSTM and then try to connect it to your Roam while already connected to SYSTM, you’ll only see the one that’s available and not in use. So if you connect to SYSTM using Ant+, only the BT will be show as available to your Roam.

I hope this helps. If you need more detailed help on this, you can contact Wahoo support directly and they’re always great and very helpful.

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I don’t use SYSTM at all.

I normally put the Tickr on first, get into cycling clothing, collect drinks, food, etc then after anything up to 20min I get on a bike fitted with my ROAM and go for a real ride or setup Fulgaz via Apple TV in the garage with my Kickr Bike for a virtual ride.

In both cases I often have to restart the Tickr. Fulgaz definitely uses BT only via Apple TV. I’m not aware of how the connection is made to the Roam.

Got this reply from Wahoo Support
"The unit will go into standby after 30 seconds with no connection so we recommend having your computer on when you put the hrm on so it can make a connection and not turn off.

Unfortunately we cannot extend this time period and it is the same for all of our tickrs in an effort to save on battery. Due to the Bluetooth low energy connection the unit cannot share battery level also but it should last for roughly 6 months - 1 year unless you are using it a lot."

Going into standby is not the issue here (as long as it becomes active when requested by a device).