CooSpo HR Sensor and PM5 inaccurate

[Marco]

So, just a few days ago I updated my Model D PM5 to the newset Firmware 171 in hope for improvements with my HR sensor.
Sensor is a CooSpo HW706 strapped to my left Arm, just a bit above the biceps.
Pairing with the PM5 worked just fine, but during the workout, the PM5 shows (I think exactly) half my heartrate.
HR was displayed around 80, but was higher for sure.
That got somewhat confirmed the moment the workout was done, at that point the PM5 HR jumped straight to around 150.

Any ideas how to fix that or what I'm doing wrong?

[Citroen]

Write an email to rowing@concept2.com with details of your PM5 hardware version, PM5 firmware version and the exact model of HR sensor.

[Carl Watts]

Yeah you need to get the HR from both arms or just one will be half.

Get a decent chest strap, its actually pretty hard to get consistent decent readings even with one of these. You need just the right level of moisture on the strap before you start and if you do a decent amount of rowing the battery doesn't last a year. Pretty hard not to be constantly fiddling with them to be honest for your entire 30 min row not to have wrong or no readings or else dropouts.

You only need to look at some peoples logbooks to see what a mess the HR graph is.

[smokersteve]

I have tried 3 different arm heart rate bands, one being coospoo, and they were all inaccurate with spotty readings.
Chest strap is the way to go. I have been using the COOSPO H808S chest strap for a while now and it works great for cycling, rowing, treadmill, and my elliptical. It was $30 on Amazon

[jamesg]

Would seem movement is what causes the problem. Without buying a chest belt or waiting for April 1st, you could try putting the sensor on your ankle, which usually doesn't travel far. Or just watch Watts; HR is a proxy for intensity, but Watts IS intensity.

[Dangerscouse]

Chest strap is the way to go. I have been using the COOSPO H808S chest strap for a while now and it works great for cycling, rowing, treadmill, and my elliptical. It was $30 on Amazon

Same here, and until recently when the battery needed changing I've never had an issue

[chipman650]

While most personal HR monitors are really inaccurate, a chest strap is the most accurate of all the other types.

[Tsnor]

... when the battery needed changing ...

really good thought. Sometimes the device's app can read the power level. If you can't get a good power level from your CooSpo HW706 I'd just replace the battery and see if it gets better.

[mromero680]

There are a lot of reviews on the Coospo that complain about it chewing through batteries. Any similar experience?

[Dangerscouse]

There are a lot of reviews on the Coospo that complain about it chewing through batteries. Any similar experience?

Not for me. I use it everytime I row and don't think I have changed the battery for about a year, so that's circa four million metres, and probably 5 or 6 hours a week.

The batteries are really cheap as well. I bought a pack of batteries (two of the correct ones, and four others) for £1.

[Carl Watts]

There are a lot of reviews on the Coospo that complain about it chewing through batteries. Any similar experience?

Unfortunately any brand of chest strap can fail by not going to "Sleep" in standby and essentially its turned on all the time.

You do of course need to remove it from the wet strap or dry the strap or it will stay "On"

I bought a second hand Polar one and it has this fault, works fine but the battery only lasts a couple of months because its effectively on 24/7.

If its ripping through batteries its faulty. I don't think some factories test the units very well for the standby current, Concept 2 didn't with the PM2+ I got in 2000, the standby current was to high and it ate the batteries in 6 months and I had to fix it. Just unlucky, should have clicked when I took it out of the box and the monitor batteries were flat.

[smokersteve]

There are a lot of reviews on the Coospo that complain about it chewing through batteries. Any similar experience?

The newest coospoo h808s beeps twice when it connects and beeps once when it disconnects. Within a few seconds after taking the chest strap off I hear it beep. No battery issues for me.

[Marco]

What I've found so far.
Strapping the sensor to my ankle or even just above the calve doesn't help.
Data remains inaccurate, but it looks like data/connection only gets lost when starting to move.
At the beginning of a workout it shows (mostly) correct heartrate and at the end too.
To reconfirm this, I connected the CooSpo to a PC, using an ASUS BT USB Dongle and monitored my HR for around 10 minutes.
HR was strapped to my lower arm, close to the elbow, distance between CooSpo and BT USB was about 1m/3foot and I sat somewhat still, wasn't moving that much.
HR got monitored perfectly without an Issue.

So, my guess is that whilst moving/rowing, the connection just gets unstable or maybe, the ConceptD is building up some static electric load that interferes with the connection, but this is somewhat beyond my capabilities or tools.

*edit*
Writing this, I wonder if the Rower and HR sensor do actually connect via BT or ANT+

[mict450]

There are a lot of reviews on the Coospo that complain about it chewing through batteries. Any similar experience?

No problem with batteries for me.

[Tsnor]

So, my guess is that whilst moving/rowing, the connection just gets unstable or maybe, the ConceptD is building up some static electric load that interferes with the connection, but this is somewhat beyond my capabilities or tools.

Another guess -- When you start moving the optical sensor in the band can't read the pulse correctly because you are moving. Nothing to do with the bluetooth connection.

You can check this by connecting the HR monitor to your PHONE instead of the PM5 and rowing. If you have a steady accurate HR on the phone then it's a connection to PM5 problem. If you have the same drops/errors going to your phone then its an optical sensor problem.

If you try this please post results.

Aside: i love my polar h10 belt. It's considered industry best. And it STILL has a few drops rowing. My fitbit watch never reports drops, it just makes up data to cover the gaps. A belt that never shows a drop is either better than an h10 or is making up data. Having the reported heart rate almost exactly 1/2 what is should be sounds like the belt guessed wrong when it was covering over missed readings. (and no data is perfect, so the belt making its best guess is not a bad thing - but it is an indicator that the HR sensor is struggling to get valid readings).

edit: "Writing this, I wonder if the Rower and HR sensor do actually connect via BT or ANT+" you can check this by looking at the PM5 connect menu when you are connecting to the belt. It will tell you when you make the connection. If your HRM sends both signals (like my h10) you can select which one you want to use - your belt shows up twice once for each protocol.