Bluetooth Smart Adapter for PM3/4

[davidswi]

Dear fellow C2 users;

I am writing to gauge interest in and check on potential conflict with Concept 2 a wireless adapter for PM3/4 data sync using Bluetooth Smart (aka BLE) to support automatic wireless sync with iOS and Android devices. I am an experienced BLE developer, having just completed a major product launch for a well known brand. I am designing a keychain fob that will support several types of fitness equipment, and I hope to include the best piece of indoor training gear in the world. The retail price for the fob wil be in the $30US range and there will be both a sample/companion app as well as an SDK for other app developers to integrate with. I am targeting online availability Fall 2014.

What do y'all think of this product? Would you buy for $30?

Thanks for the feedback!

[Citroen]

PM4 doesn't need it, it's got ANT+ on the board.

Since PM3 is a DTE (not a DCE) how is it going to work?

[davidswi]

Good point and question. The key fob is a USB host and speaks CSAFE.

While ANT+ is established for high end performance monitoring users, BLE ships in millions of phones with no adapters required. Hence the motivation for this product.

[SDMat]

I'd love to connect the iPhone 5 to C2 E without a dongle!

[Citroen]

I'd love to connect the iPhone 5 to C2 E without a dongle!

You have zero chance of that working.

[juan-john]

If you could develop a Bluetooth Heart Rate Receiver similar to the Polar one (http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/a ... -equipment), THAT I would buy in a heartbeat (pun intended)!

That would allow exercisers to use products like UnderArmour's Armour39 (http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/armour39) and still be able to record heart rate info straight into the PM3/PM4 monitor LogCard.

[Carl Watts]

Probably to late, the PM4 needed Bluetooth years ago but stuck with ANT+ which has zero support in phones and laptops etc. An Bluetooth USB adapter now costs a few dollars for you PC. Bluetooth may not be the best protocol but it's become the default in consumer electronics.

The PM5 will have Bluetooth so anyone willing to upgrade their monitor will get it. The PM3 and PM4 are now essentially 10 year old designs and it shows, Very good at what it does but its become a little "standalone" in terms of evolving technology.

Where it is right now is the PM5 is a black data aquisition box with Bluetooth, your i-pad or smart phone like the galaxy S4 or S5 which just about everyone over here now owns even despite costing $1000 sits in a cradle where your PM3 used to sit and what the PM3 display is now is done with an an app with an upgrade to RowPro as an optional extra if you want far more than just numbers.

[Robgentile]

David,

It would be uber cool; I use a polar h7 with my iphone and love it. I'm thinking of getting c2's cable iphone interface, but Bluetooth would be cleaner. Need a beta tester?

Rob

[Techdiver]

What I would like to see is a wireless way to transmit the PM3/4 data to the pc to work in conjunction with RowPro, etc. Not having to use the long USB cable would be great.

[Citroen]

That's extremely unlikely to happen with the current PM3/4 hardware.

[Carl Watts]

What I would like to see is a wireless way to transmit the PM3/4 data to the pc to work in conjunction with RowPro, etc. Not having to use the long USB cable would be great.

Well I thought Bluetooth was great when pairing my handsfree to my mobile but I have just started a new job and pairing a bit of medical test equipment to a laptop has been hard work and I was left screaming for a USB connection that it did not have. Wireless is great but on the whole it is simply not as reliable as a hard wired connection. Also the "Chain" is getting pretty long with wireless to the PC and then Wi-Fi again to my ADSL modem. Potentially no end of trouble and I would not be able to help myself in trying the Polar Bluetooth HR transmitter !

Naturally the next version of PM monitor will have Bluetooth but I also hope they keep the USB connection, even if the majority of users only use it for Firmware upgrades

[Citroen]

Naturally the next version of PM monitor will have Bluetooth but I also hope they keep the USB connection, even if the majority of users only use it for Firmware upgrades

What's wrong with ANT+, it's as good as BTLE. (Apart from the adoption rate on Android smart phones is a bit low.)

[juan-john]

Stupid me just this week realized that the signal from my new Polar H7 chest belt can be picked up by both the Polar Beat app on my iPhone as well as Concept2's Polar heart rate receiver and cable hooked up to the PM3 monitor at the same time (Evidently the H7 has two emitters: one Bluetooth signal and the other the older signal). Glorious.

[bernd57]

Maybe it's a little of the topic at hand, but I want to comment on the last post. I too purchased a polar H7 heart rate belt. Before I purchased it, I contacted Polar to see if it would be compatible with some of the older exercise equipment that is Polar ready, but doesn't use Bluetooth technology. The tech support person was trying to explain it to me stating that older equipment should connect to the H7 IF it used an "encoded" signal. I have no idea what that means, but bottom line, without trying you really don't know whether the belt and the equipment can talk to each other.

Now, I have several pieces of equipment that use non Bluetooth Polar technology, including my Concept 2 model D with the PM 3 and so far, all of them are able to connect to the H7. So, the previous poster is correct in that it must send out 2 different signals.
Thus, you can use the H7 with the polar beat and other third party apps with IPhones (anything from 4s on up), in addition to allowing the rower to get HR INFO directly from the belt as well......I like it.

Hopefully I didn't confuse anyone.

[Robgentile]

And now, to make it even more confusing, the February 2014 update of ergdata on iOS means it now can hear the h7 via ble as well as talking to the erg via USB.

Works well for me.