PSA: Polar heart belt sensor orientation

[adouglas]

I use a Polar H9 chest strap heart monitor, which is the same as the H10 with slightly fewer features.

It was working just great until a few days ago, when I had major connectivity/dropout issues during my workout. I assumed this might be due to a low battery in the sensor so I replaced it.

The problem recurred, and was even worse the next day. I reached out to the Concept2 Community Facebook group and also did a little Googling. On the Polar troubleshooting web page, it mentions that the sensor unit should be worn with the logo right-way-up to ensure proper performance. This information is NOT in the user manual... there's a picture of the unit snapping onto the belt with the logo oriented right-way-up but there's no indication that this is important.

Given that the unit is symmetrical, it's easy to inadvertently snap it on upside down. I suspect I did this two days in a row (I remove it after every workout to rinse the belt and make sure the monitor isn't drawing power).

FWIW, one of the Facebook users also noted that he's experienced better connectivity by positioning the sensor over to the left a bit.

Hope this helps someone.

[jsarche]

I'm glad you found a solution!

I get similar drop-outs pretty much every workout with my H10, most often later in a session. I keep the logo upright (I didn't know that was necessary but it made sense to me since the unit's ID number is printed on top), and I installed a new battery within the last few weeks. I wear the unit slightly offset to the left, I've done the reset procedure multiple times, I rinse the strap after every workout, and still get dropouts and the PM5 sometimes even loses the connection completely. It's very annoying. I've replaced the strap three times since I bought the H10 about a year and a half ago, thinking that was the problem. Every time I've contacted Polar about it, customer support responds with an e-mail telling me to do the things I've already done. For my workouts, I connect my H10 to my PM5, and connect my Android phone via Bluetooth to my PM5. I also listen to music from my phone via Bluetooth earbuds. I don't think it's Bluetooth interference or overload because for 75 percent or so of each workout, the HRM seems to work perfectly. Anybody have any other tips that might work for me?

Here's the last interval from my workout yesterday:

[Carl Watts]

Overall the HR strap is quite hard work to get perfect results every row.

https://log.concept2.com/profile/863525/log/62598764

The battery needs to be good, the strap eventually degrades and the moisture level on the strap needs to be within a range.

ANT+ works very well, really wouldn't try and use the older technologies now, I can race to the bathroom upstairs just before the start of the row and comeback and still remain connected.

Reality is you need to bin it every few years and/or buy just a new strap. Pays to rise the strap in a sink full of water after every row to remove all the sweat from it or they get disgusting. Don't think I will bother to buy another used strap, not worth the headache just get a brand new one as I have had problems with both of my used ones.

The newer soft strap Garmin stuff looks good, still running their older versions here.

[adouglas]

FWIW I also connect the strap to two devices at once. In my case it's an Apple Watch and the PM5. Here's what works for me:

1) Moisten the Polar strap and put the monitor on.
2) Connect to the Apple Watch via Bluetooth.
3) Wake up the PM5 and wait for it to find the strap via ANT+ connection. This occasionally takes more than one try.
4) Connect to the PM5
5) Verify the connection to the watch.

And awaaaay we go....