Concept2 Forum

If I use a USB memory stick on the C2 PM5 what does it get me?

Does it keep me from having to turn on the ANT setting for my Garmin HR monitor?

Are there other advantages? Today without it, I use ERG App and find it works great to sync to my log.

If you're using the ergdata app then your USB stick isn't doing anything useful except storing your ANT device ids.

A headache unless your monitor is plugged into a PC using RowPro or a mains power adapter all the time because the USB stick draws alot of current and it will just kill your batteries.

I have a USB stick permanently attached to my PM5 for backups. ErgData has been working great since the June update on the app but has crashed once. PM5 has just received a new firmware 24 that includes wireless fixes, but I'm keeping the USB there just in case.

Monitor memory is my ErgData backup.

FRiC wrote:I have a USB stick permanently attached to my PM5 for backups. ErgData has been working great since the June update on the app but has crashed once. PM5 has just received a new firmware 24 that includes wireless fixes, but I'm keeping the USB there just in case.

I wouldn't update to V24 right now, we still don't know if that's a poisonous update.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=160305

Citroen wrote:

FRiC wrote:I have a USB stick permanently attached to my PM5 for backups. ErgData has been working great since the June update on the app but has crashed once. PM5 has just received a new firmware 24 that includes wireless fixes, but I'm keeping the USB there just in case.

I wouldn't update to V24 right now, we still don't know if that's a poisonous update.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=160305

Yah I saw that thread too, and I just looked on the firmware page and it now says V25 is latest.

Carl Watts wrote:A headache unless your monitor is plugged into a PC using RowPro or a mains power adapter all the time because the USB stick draws alot of current and it will just kill your batteries.

This precisely is why i recently migrated to using the ErgData app.

I was a longtime user of C2 memory cards on my older rowers (PM3/PM4). When I purchased my new Model D with PM5 early last year the "upgraded" USB storage had a certain 'coolness' factor.
Using the PM5 with the C2 provided USB drive rapidly became a millstone for me. Repeated error messages, crashes, loss of data, duplicate workouts, deleted workouts, random increases in my life-time meters and problems with uploading workouts to my on-line log have finally forced me to forgo using the C2 USB thumb drive entirely.

So far ErgData has been far simpler and totally trouble free.

Of course YMMV.

Stumbled across this while on E-Bay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Detector-C ... SwAKxWXakJ

Would show you how much current your USB Memory stick is using.

I don't use the ergData app. I just use an old 1mb USB stick to record my rowing data and then upload it to C2 Logbook via the C2 Utility Program on my PC.

Have had a few problems w/the stick only once when the battery that came w/the PM5 was low but don't think the stick drains the battery. This only happened once in 1.5 years and haven't replaced the battery since. Stopped using the Garmin HR strap; don't really need to record my HR and I had more problems w/the strap synching w/the PM5 than I have w/the USB stick.

swingshiftworker wrote: Have had a few problems w/the stick only once when the battery that came w/the PM5 was low but don't think the stick drains the battery.

It does draw power, you should have felt the temp of my SanDisk USB stick after it was in my laptop for a couple of hours yesterday.