Install Polar Beat… Then in settings you’ll find it. I have Android and H10. Menu/settings/HR sensor…
These instructions are clear, however they don’t explain requirements and best practices.
Therefore I find them confusing and have two basic questions.
Questions:
- Does ConnectIQ have some requirement for using different radios for Garmin Edge (1050 in my case) and alphaHRV?
In other words, is it required to use ANT+ for alphaHRV and BLE for Garmin 1050?
Or vice-versa BLE for alphaHRV and ANT+ for Garmin 1050?
- Which radio is best practice for alphaHRV - ANT+ or BLE?
Garmin is replacing an HRM Dual with HRM 200, so I will be using the HRM 200 with Edge 1050.
The exact configuration depends on your devices, requirements and preferences. But there are some things you need to know to make an informed decision.
- Garmin devices do not allow multiple device connections over the same protocol. So you can’t use BLE for both or ANT+ for both.
- Garmin’s ANT+ protocol implementation has a flaw for logging RR intervals. The array to stock the RR intervals is limited to a size that is to small in certain conditions. This does not mean that HR over ANT+ on your Garmin is not correct because that is only a count of R-peaks. And that’s correct. The problem is the logging of RR intervals in an array like [242;246;234]. Garmin’s BLE protocol does not have that problem and is correct for the logging of RR intervals. If you have the ‘Record HRV’ option enabled on your Garmin device and are using the RR interval stream to do post-ride analysis of them, like Runalyze does for DFA-A1, you need to use BLE for Garmin-HRstrap connection.
- AlphaHRV works correctly with both ANT+ and BLE. It has it’s own ANT+ connection implementation to circumvent the Garmin flaw.
If you have no other limitations, best practice is to use BLE for Garmin and ANT+ for AlphaHRV. But if you’re not using the RR stream from Garmin, it doesn’t matter.
EDIT: The exact description of the Garmin flaw when using ANT+ is here:
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Thank you and much appreciated! Understood and I plan to start doing easy rides and exploring alphaHRV.
Hi,
I don’t understand why but for a race today with H10 on ANT+.
Garmin stored data during the warmup.
But during the race, nothing !
Even if the heart rate has been stored.
And again for the return after the race, data are OK ! Why ???
Could you clarify the context in which you started each activity profile on your Garmin device? I’m referring specifically to when the activity profile was activated, not when the physical activity began. One possible explanation is a cross-connection issue. Please check your app settings and confirm whether you’re using ID = 0 (which connects to any sensor). If so, it’s likely the app connected to your H10 during warmup or cool down, away from other riders, and worked correctly. However, during the race, it may have connected to another rider’s HRM close to you, failing to complete data collection once you moved away. This could explain the issue.
Also note that the heart rate chart you shared comes from Garmin’s native connection with the H10 and is unrelated to alphaHRV.
I choose the same activity, Running. Nothing more.
The H10 is paired with ANT+, AlphaHRV used Bluetooth and yes, ID=0 is selected (because i’ve several HRM).
Is it possible to write several ID (because i have three HRM, 1 optical, 2 bands as Garmin HRM+ and Polar H10) to lock them ?
In case of BLE mode you don’t set any ID. The options are closest or last sensor.
You can’t set a bunch of sensors
I believe that that got fixed by a recent firmware update by the way, finally.
Yes, it was mentioned here by someone else.
Firmware 3.3.1 fixed ble adressing change. I will edit the previous post
Hi Inigo,
after the recent Garmin Edge Firmware update, readiness doesn’t work anymore.
Did a ride last Friday > everything as always > firmware update in the evening > no readiness calculation the next day, neither during the ride nor on Garmin connect afterwards. Today the same.
Alpha HRV screen during the ride works fine.
Any ideas?
thanks
There was a similar report some weeks ago. Please check if the situation persists or it is solved after some activities.
One possible cause is that the firmware update has erased data saved by alphaHRV that is needed for this calculation. It shouldn’t occur, but if this is the cause all will work normally after 4 activities.
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Ok, I will track this and report here.
Thanks
update:
same behaviour today > i.e. no readiness
it was the 4th activity after the update, will check and report tomorrow
If this is the cause, 5th activity should be first one working fine again
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Inigo, as you said, readiness is back again after yesterday’s and today’s ride 5+6.
Don’t understand the (technical) logic behind this “back to normal working after exactly 4 rides” behaviour, but it works.
thanks
The logic is simple. Readiness calculation takes previous activities as reference. At least 4 activities in the last 21 days are needed.
For some reason the firmware update you applied erased all data kept by alphaHRV. I don’t know the reason, as it shouldn’t occur. Maybe, are you doing hard reset after firmware updates?
ah ok, that makes sense. Good to know for the next time.
As you said, must have been that something erased during the FW update as I haven’t done a hard reset.
cheers
ok, after my ride last night I finally got this working with Garmin HRM 200 and Edge 1050. Last night I updated the HRM 200 to latest firmware, I think it is 5.10. Deleted the hrm sensor from Edge 1050, then tried pairing it again. I was only able to pair using secure BLE. After playing around for 20 minutes, what finally worked was double pressing the HRM200 button twice, to switch from secure to open (blinks 3 times every 5 seconds), and then the HRM200 was sending HR data to 1050 using both secure (ride recording) and open (AlphaHRV app).
so it appears that with the HRM200 you:
- pair HRM200 using BLE-secure with the 1050 (I couldn’t pair open mode)
- switch (double press) the HRM200 to open mode
- and BLE-open is automatically available to AlphaHRV
I’m going to call that a multiple device connection with a single sensor connection. But someone can correct me.
The “can’t pair ANT+” and “can’t pair BLE open” caused me a lot of confusion and thinking back I probably spent 40 minutes fooling around last night before finding the solution.
Hope that helps someone.
I can only agree to that statement. I have no experience with the HRM200 and haven’t used secure BLE yet.
Do they both (secure and open) have the same BLE ID?