Heart Rate Monitor

[skkipper]

love the control it allows me when running

Oops, that should say rowing. Knees are shot, can't run anymore. But I imagine it would be great when running too!

The Polar OH1 is also an excellent HR monitor during your sleep. It is able to save internally more than 10 hours, sampling about every heart beat. Fascinating records!

I was actually just wondering if that would be possible! Just in case the battery dies overnight, do you know if it will save the data it takes before it dies or if all the data it collected up to that point in the night would be lost?

[Nomath]

I cannot answer that question because so far it didn't happen. My sleep tracks were a maximum of 9 hours and the battery never ran out.
I remember Polar says somewhere that the battery lasts for at least 12 hours. I don't know whether that is in bluetooth combination with another device, like the Polar M460 or a smartphone, or as a stand-alone. During sleep I use it stand-alone and read and analyse the data with Polar Flow from the USB port of my desktop, where it is then automatically recharged.

[SumBigGuyRowing]

That's surprising. I thought that the chest-strap heart-rate monitors are the most reliable and accurate.

[Dangerscouse]

That's surprising. I thought that the chest-strap heart-rate monitors are the most reliable and accurate.

Same here.

[Allan Olesen]

That's surprising. I thought that the chest-strap heart-rate monitors are the most reliable and accurate.

Same here.

Me too. But not anymore.

I think I have almost any chest strap model, Garmin ever made. But a year ago I bought a Polar OH1 optical heart rate sensor, and now I use that one 90% of the time.

The optical sensor just works. No problems with static electricity or dry skin. No problems with the sensor staying on and sending false data after taking it off. And it is much more discrete and convenient.

I only see two downsides: It is a bit slower to pick up on a changed heart rate when doing sudden intensity changes. And the battery only lasts 6 hours, which is not enough for a full day's sea kayaking. But you can get Scosche (spelling?) models with 24 hours of battery time.

[Dangerscouse]

Me too. But not anymore.

I think I have almost any chest strap model, Garmin ever made. But a year ago I bought a Polar OH1 optical heart rate sensor, and now I use that one 90% of the time.

The optical sensor just works. No problems with static electricity or dry skin. No problems with the sensor staying on and sending false data after taking it off. And it is much more discrete and convenient.

I only see two downsides: It is a bit slower to pick up on a changed heart rate when doing sudden intensity changes. And the battery only lasts 6 hours, which is not enough for a full day's sea kayaking. But you can get Scosche (spelling?) models with 24 hours of battery time.

Well, that is interesting. I don't rely on it enough to invest in it, but that does sound like a big improvement

[mict450]

a year ago I bought a Polar OH1 optical heart rate sensor, and now I use that one 90% of the time.

Nice, but kind of pricey. Since I no longer do interval work, staying solidly in UT2 territory, RPE works just fine for me. If I can recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I'm right where I want to be.

If I really want to know HR, I'll use a Nonin Onyx finger pulse ox. It was over 4x's the polar's price, but I used it at work & it was dead nuts accurate. Needed to be tested by engineering every year to ensure it was up to spec.

Still new toys are always fun. And if I where in the market for buying one, the OH1 is what I would choose.

[Nomath]

The optical sensor just works. No problems with static electricity or dry skin. No problems with the sensor staying on and sending false data after taking it off. And it is much more discrete and convenient.

I only see two downsides: It is a bit slower to pick up on a changed heart rate when doing sudden intensity changes. And the battery only lasts 6 hours, which is not enough for a full day's sea kayaking. But you can get Scosche (spelling?) models with 24 hours of battery time.

Two comments on the 'downsides'.
First a note on the accuracy of the OH1 in picking up fast changes in heart rate. I have no knowledge about specifications, but I question that the OH1 is slow in picking up fast HR changes. Polar states that the OH1 is suitable for measuring Heart Rate Variability. HRV is determined from very small variations in the beat-to-beat intervals within a stable heart rate, usually at rest. Say a stable heart rate is 45 bpm (1.33 sec intervals), so it is not 44 (1.36 sec interval) or 46 bpm (1.30 sec interval). Hence the device must be capable of measuring successive beats with millisecond precision. I reckon that it cannot do this if it is not highly accurate also for fast changes. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate_variability

Regarding battery life: see an OH1 recording below of a night's sleep, lasting more than 8 hours. I remember reading somewhere that battery life is about 12 hours.

[Zuman]

I use the Wahoo Tickr X chest strap system. I've used it for about 180 hours over the past year with no problem and no dropouts (my rows typically range from 30 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, and I've never seen the HR drop out). I changed the battery once, right before the Marathon Challenge this past May, because I didn't want to risk losing it in the middle of the event.

[Allan Olesen]

Nice, but kind of pricey.

Not really. When I bought mine, the OH1 was cheap, and the OH1+ was somewhat more expensive. Which made absolutely no sense, since the OH1+ is the same hardware with a newer firmware. So the first time you do a firmware upgrade on an OH1, it turns into an OH1+.

Anyway, even if I had paid full price, it would still be cheaper than some of the Garmin chest straps I own.