Heart Rate Monitor

[Boris1956]

Can anyone help me with a problem I have regarding my heart rate monitor? I have a Model D with a PM3 monitor and I have problems getting my heart rate to display. I have a polar chest belt (wearlink). Usually when I start rowing the heart rate displays for a few seconds then the signal drops out immediately I start rowing, thereafter I do not get a signal until I have been rowing for about 15' when I am properly warmed up and sweating freely. I wet the belt before starting but the connection on this set up just does not seem to connect and I seem to get a display for about 3 seconds before the signal drops out and then have to wait for the belt to connect again. I did not have this problem on my earlier concept rower and polar chest belt. I should add that I have changed the battery on the chest belt and it connects first time when I use the Wattbike at my gym. Any answers gratefully received.

[jackarabit]

I have never understood why C2 recommended placing the HR transceiver under the seat beam. Radio waves travel best line of sight, not bounced off one obstacle to avoid another. I brought the cable down the u-channel and attached the doohickey with velcro to the plastic hand latch between the heel cups. Worked continuously with a good battery but did have occasional signal dropouts. May have worked for me because I'm short, have corresponding short stroke, and didn't get my chest beyond the signal range. I used an old Polar standard Sigma Sport belt. I recently got a used PM4 and a Garmin ANT+ belt and the old heart rate umbilicus now lies in a box with the PM3. In other words, I'm happier without it. As you have noticed the older way requires a lot of spit and patience.

[Edward4492]

I actually use an over-sized safety pin and clip the receiver to my shorts so it's always line of sight. Only way I could get consistent performance.

[Carl Watts]

Okay the problems with the Polar include a limited range of about 6ft to the receiver.

Firstly the battery in the transmitter if replaceable needs to be in good shape.

Secondly the receiver ideally needs to be halfway between where you chest is on the catch and the end of the drive. I run mine under the slide but at best you do need patience with it.

Mine is also a Wearlink, what you need to do is soak the strap in water before you put it on. The transmitter is looking at the impedance between the pads to determine if it should be on or off and water creates a short or low resistance which tells it to turn on. The reason yours comes on after 15min is the sweat has finally made it start working properly.

I recently moved to the Garmin ANT+ with the PM4 and this is a superior set-up with better connectivity. For some reason now and again the PM4 looses the belt from memory and I have to connect it again but otherwise it never looses the connection during the row due to the vastly improved range of the transmitter.

[Boris1956]

Thanks for the advice everyone - I will try moving the receiver to the space between the footrests before pinning it to my shorts. I do ensure the belt is wet before I put it on but I still have to wait about 15 minutes to get a signal. As I said I use a wattbike at my gym and the polar monitor works perfectly on one of the bikes but on the other I get the exact same problem i.e. it takes a while to get a signal and then it is intermittent. Does anyone know where the receiver is on the Wattbike? I am quite tall about 6'5" allowing for age related shrinkage so distance may have something to do with it.

[Draggon]

Thanks for the advice everyone - I will try moving the receiver to the space between the footrests before pinning it to my shorts. I do ensure the belt is wet before I put it on but I still have to wait about 15 minutes to get a signal. As I said I use a wattbike at my gym and the polar monitor works perfectly on one of the bikes but on the other I get the exact same problem i.e. it takes a while to get a signal and then it is intermittent. Does anyone know where the receiver is on the Wattbike? I am quite tall about 6'5" allowing for age related shrinkage so distance may have something to do with it.

Do you have soft water? If so, soft water contains very little in the way of electrolytes - i.e. it doesn't make a good conductor. You can use spit (yeah, but it works) or you could try some ultrasound gel such as: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00THE ... 1_5&sr=8-5 at Amazon. I bought a bottle back in 2012 for mountain biking, and I've still got plenty left. It doesn't take much, but it makes a solid contact between the monitor strap and your chest; eliminating that annoying "need-to-sweat-a-bit" before it works issue.

[Bob S.]

Do you have soft water? If so, soft water contains very little in the way of electrolytes - i.e. it doesn't make a good conductor. You can use spit (yeah, but it works) or you could try some ultrasound gel such as: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00THE ... 1_5&sr=8-5 at Amazon. I bought a bottle back in 2012 for mountain biking, and I've still got plenty left. It doesn't take much, but it makes a solid contact between the monitor strap and your chest; eliminating that annoying "need-to-sweat-a-bit" before it works issue.

You can also just add a little plain table salt to the water used, or bicarb is even more convenient, since it comes as a quick dissolving powder. I figured that soap should do the trick and it was handy since I was putting the chest strap on in front of the bathroom sink. Sure enough, a little soap worked quite well. The gels used for electrocardiograms are probably the ideal contact medium, but I have no idea how to get them.

[rowbike]

Amazon sells a number of electrode gels. I read that Aloe Vera gel works almost as well, but have been successful with just warm water myself.

[Boris1956]

Thanks again for the advice. I live in a hard water area but have a water softener fitted, I think I may have to go with pinning the monitor to my t shirt as everything I tried still gave me patchy readings.

[rowbike]

I don't think softened water should be an issue. Naturally soft water would have few minerals or electrolytes, but hard water run through a water softener has calcium and magnesium replaced with salt. I have a water softener and use that water with my chest strap with no problem. If softened water doesn't work, it may not be a conductivity issue.

You probably found the best solution for your situation by pinning to your shirt.