[RowPro] Worst software experience I have ever encountered..

[badocter]

Glad it worked out for you.

Perhaps a change in this thread's title is warranted

[smpward]

Glad Pete sorted your problem out. Have been using RowPro for 2 yrs now and believe its the best product out there for the money you pay. There are a few occations when the product fails but on balance good services and a great motivational tool to keep you at it.

[Hennie Martini]

A good product (sometimes some errors but always great service from Pete)...I use it now for a number of years almost every day.

(maybe it's time to change the title)

Hennie

[john_n]

Reading this thread, I also echo the sentiments that I'm glad you got it working. My wife and I use RowPro all the time. My favorite feature is the online rowing. I set up sessions in advance or join ones which are already scheduled. When I manage to be in a session where there are one or more people whose pace matches mine until near the end, and then we sprint to see who can finish first, that is enough fun to keep me coming back. There are other ways to do rowing sessions of course.

My wife has never rowed online. Her favorite feature, which keeps her coming back to it about 5 days/week, is the training plan it sets up for her. With the combination of weightwatchers.com and the RowPro training plans for weight control, she is back to the weight she was when we first got married nearly 30 years ago.

[sledgehammer]

I agree that the title should be changed. Its a bit unfair to Pete & RowPro as some folks may not dive into the details and read the thread.

Can one change the title of an exiting thread?

[Bob S.]

I agree that the title should be changed. Its a bit unfair to Pete & RowPro as some folks may not dive into the details and read the thread.

Can one change the title of an exiting thread?

I believe that it must be done by the originator of the thread. Perhaps a PM to that member might help. I don't use it, so I don't have the motivation to send such a PM.

Bob S.

[RowtheRockies]

I am interested in online rowing and might give this a try. Is there a site available or link that shows scheduled races so I can see how often they occur and at what times? I have a narrow band of time in which I can row each day.

Thanks,

Rich

[michaelb]

yes, here you go:

http://www.digitalrowing.com/default.aspx?ItemId=268

that only shows upcoming online rows using the "old" version, not the new beta. But for now most people are using the old version again or still, even though the switch to the new beta is supposed to be happening "soon". In the RP world of software, "soon" may mean sometime this year.

You should definitely try RP, actually you should buy it. People do seem to have more problems as demo users than after they buy it. Rowing online is great. If you have tight window of time, put up your own row. If you do that regularly someone will notice and may join in, somewhere in the world. The weekends in the middle of the day for the US, 12 GMT-22 GMT are pretty popular generally.

[RowtheRockies]

Michael,

Thanks! Looks like there are indeed some scheduled rows around my lunch hour. Very cool.

Rich

[BrianStaff]

I too, am thinking about getting RowPro, but I have a question. If I wanted to set up a session with a friend across town, do I have to publish the session for everybody to see, or can we keep the row session private?

The reason I ask is this: if my daughter (17) wants a training session with her OTW teammate, they sure don't want any big bruiser coming in to spoil the training session.

Brian

[michaelb]

I too, am thinking about getting RowPro, but I have a question. If I wanted to set up a session with a friend across town, do I have to publish the session for everybody to see, or can we keep the row session private?

Yes you can set up a private session and invite someone to the row. I have never done that though. I am sure your daughter and her teammate could hold their own online.

[HammerHead Sk8r]

Hey Guys...I am using the trial version of RowPro and am planning on purchasing the full version by the end of the trial but have a couple of questions one of you may be able to answer:

1. I have noticed that when using the Pace Boat QPB setting the pace I set for the rower turns out to be slower than what I requested. For example if I set the Pace Boat at 2:10 and am racing it over say 30 minutes my final time per 500 may be 2:13 but I am way ahead of the pace boat...Any thoughts?

2. When using the paceboat feature over a long row is there anyway to set the program to have the paceboat pick up the pace say in the last 5000m? For example, over a 20,000m row can you set the paceboat up to start out slower and then "kick" at the end?

I am finding the paceboat feature a good starting point for me with this software...I am not sure online racing is of interest to me because of my schedule and well, the fact I am slow as crap is a de-motivator...ha ha

[john_n]

With regard to your question #1. I've never experienced that with RowPro. I did experience it, early on, with the PM paceboat feature until I discovered I was entering the total time target instead of the pace/500m for the pace boat.

The QPB setting always works for me, as designed. I'm using both the current version of RowPro and the Beta version and have been using RowPro for several years.

When I first started using RowPro, I had problems with it which were related to a computer that was running Windows 2000. I upgraded to a computer running Windows XP and it has been working fine ever since. I have not heard of any problems related to computers with Vista, if that is what you have.

To keep things running right, I periodically run the Windows update and download all the patches for XP. Also, it seems to help that I run the defragmentation program nearly every day on the hard drive.

With regard to your question 2., I don't think there is any way to set a pace boat to do that. But you can accomplish it yourself by rowing at the pace and with the variances you desire, save the strokes at the end of that session, then the next time you row that time or distance row against that rowfile, using your past performance as your competition.

If you row with others online (it doesn't have to be a race) you can ask some of the others if they would be willing to row a session with you in the style & pace you are looking for, and email their rowfile of that session to you. I've done that for a few others, and a few others have done that for me. You get a row file that you import into RowPro and which RP stores in its competitors log.

You can also try downloading rowfiles from the C2 rankings, if they were done with RowPro. Find someone who rowed his or her session with RowPro, in the event you are interested in, as close to the pace you would like as possible, click on it and it will be emailed to you for you to import.

I'm always looking for things to do to make rowing more interesting, and many others are the same way, so many who use both the C2 website and RowPro would probably also welcome communication from you, if you wanted to ask them if they would be interested to row a session in a particular style & assortment of paces and then email the rowfile to you.

Once the rowfile is downloaded and imported by you, you can row against it at the time when it is convenient for you, as many times as you like.

There are also rowing sessions scheduled online on the digitalrowing.com "oarbits" site. If you would like some friendly competition, schedule a session well in advance at a time/day which is good for you, and in the remarks area describe what your desired pace will be. You may find that when the time arrives, others who are interested will show up to row with you.

Happy rowing.

Hey Guys...I am using the trial version of RowPro and am planning on purchasing the full version by the end of the trial but have a couple of questions one of you may be able to answer:

1. I have noticed that when using the Pace Boat QPB setting the pace I set for the rower turns out to be slower than what I requested. For example if I set the Pace Boat at 2:10 and am racing it over say 30 minutes my final time per 500 may be 2:13 but I am way ahead of the pace boat...Any thoughts?

2. When using the paceboat feature over a long row is there anyway to set the program to have the paceboat pick up the pace say in the last 5000m? For example, over a 20,000m row can you set the paceboat up to start out slower and then "kick" at the end?

I am finding the paceboat feature a good starting point for me with this software...I am not sure online racing is of interest to me because of my schedule and well, the fact I am slow as crap is a de-motivator...ha ha

[Nosmo]

Hey Guys...I am using the trial version of RowPro and am planning on purchasing the full version by the end of the trial but have a couple of questions one of you may be able to answer:

2. When using the paceboat feature over a long row is there anyway to set the program to have the paceboat pick up the pace say in the last 5000m? For example, over a 20,000m row can you set the paceboat up to start out slower and then "kick" at the end?

I've never used Row Pro but...
I just downloaded a row file from the C2 web site and took a look at it. It is in a straight forward plan text format that can easily be modified by any text editor. It looks like you can specify the pace for each 500m independently. Make sure the total values are consistent with the set of values you put in for all the 500m splits. Probably the only thing that maters for the pace boat is the time distance and average pace, but I would make sure the time and distance are consitent with pace, and watts and Cals. Time is in thousands of a second. Average pace is in seconds per meter. I doubt Calories matter for the pace boat but It looks like calories burned per 500m.

Try and see what happens. Let me know if you need more help.

[john_n]

I seriously doubt that modifying the ASCII text portion of a rowfile would result in something usable.

What makes the rowfile usable after it is downloaded and imported into RowPro is whether the person who rowed the session that generated the rowfile put a check mark in the box to save the strokes. When the strokes are saved, then it is usable as a file to row against, and it is about twice as large a file as it is if the strokes are not saved. There is more to a complete rowfile than the ASCII text.

Hey Guys...I am using the trial version of RowPro and am planning on purchasing the full version by the end of the trial but have a couple of questions one of you may be able to answer:

2. When using the paceboat feature over a long row is there anyway to set the program to have the paceboat pick up the pace say in the last 5000m? For example, over a 20,000m row can you set the paceboat up to start out slower and then "kick" at the end?

I've never used Row Pro but...
I just downloaded a row file from the C2 web site and took a look at it. It is in a straight forward plan text format that can easily be modified by any text editor. It looks like you can specify the pace for each 500m independently. Make sure the total values are consistent with the set of values you put in for all the 500m splits. Probably the only thing that maters for the pace boat is the time distance and average pace, but I would make sure the time and distance are consitent with pace, and watts and Cals. Time is in thousands of a second. Average pace is in seconds per meter. I doubt Calories matter for the pace boat but It looks like calories burned per 500m.

Try and see what happens. Let me know if you need more help.