Heart Monitor won't work with empeg

My empeg is now installed on my bicycle (pictures to come in a day or so) and so far I only have two problems: the display is unreadable outdoors (see here) and my heart rate monitor quits working as soon as it gets within five inches of the empeg. (At first I thought I must be dead, since my heart rate was showing as Zero!) Since the monitor is installed less than an inch from the front panel of the empeg, this is problematical. Interestingly, when the empeg is put in standby, the heart rate monitor immediately starts working.

The heart rate monitor receives its data from a chest-mounted transmitter belt of very low power -- the maximum range is in the neighborhood of three to five feet.

I know this is going to be a very serious problem for the thousands of empeg owners who wish to mount both their empegs and their heart rate monitors on their bicycles. Do you think this problem will be solved in V1.1?

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Same thing as the keyless-entry problems, only your heart monitor is even shorter range (weaker) than the keyless devices. What did you expect?

On the bright side, your work around could be to run version 1.1 with the "Casualty" visual.

___________
Tony Fabris

Sounds like the same problem some people were having with their central locking/alarm remote controls. No, I don't think 1.1 or any other software upgrade will be able to fix this.

(list 6284, Mk1 S/N 00299 4GB blue [for sale]. Mk2 S/N 080000094 6GB blue)

Perhaps a little shielding would help?

Another thought - since it only happens while playing (works in standby mode), you may be too close to the audio cable / signal path, not the empeg itself. The CPU and most of the other components are still live even in standby mode, so you can eliminate them as your noise source. You might also want to turn off the display (I think that is one of the visuals) to see if that eliminates the noise.

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Clear)

Edited by pgrzelak on 19/06/01 12:47 AM.

On the bright side, your work around could be to run version 1.1 with the "Casualty" visual.

ROFL!

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I've got the same problem with my Polar; the problem is not the empeg, it's the transmitter from the pickup on the chest belt. The empeg complies with current EMI legislation, and in the last three years there have been major changes in spectrum utilisation world-wide to get some sort of harmonisation of usage. This has mainly been driven by the increased use of mobile phones.

Shielding won't help you much, since riding around inside a large sheet of crinkly aluminium foil on a daily basis will cause problems with both body heat and your wallet, plus having to install a remote observation camera on the front and back of the bike with a monitor (and power supply to drive it) kind of defeats the object of the exercise (if you will excuse the excrutiating pun ).

For those of you genuinely worried about the copious quantities of dangerous radiation being emitted by this vile empeg contraption, I would suggest you use one of these to ensure your continued health. Oh, apparently it works with telephones, too

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

riding around inside a large sheet of crinkly aluminium foil.

All you need now is the foil hat, to deflect the CIA's mind control satellites .


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

I'd be interested to know what frequency the HRM works on; our emissions are within the legal limits, but I suspect the HRM is very low power and can get swamped easily.

Hugo

Hey, don't knock it, that works.

___________
Tony Fabris

Doug,

Might I suggest that you drive you bicycle at night in a T-shirt and shorts.

This will ensure that you have no problem reading the display on the empeg.

And as a side bonus, it will probably be cold enough for you to feel very alive, dismissing need for the heart monitor.

Thank you for your cooperation. :-)


Lars

Might I suggest that you drive you bicycle at night in a T-shirt and shorts. This will ensure that you have no problem reading the display on the empeg. And as a side bonus, it will probably be cold enough for you to feel very alive, dismissing need for the heart monitor.

Well, not quite, Lars! It is summertime in Alaska, and at 10 O'Clock at night the sun is still shining brightly, and the temperature is in the mid 70's Fahrenheit.

And being the wimp that I am, once winter comes around and the roads get icy, I park the recumbent and ride my mountain bike instead, and there isn't any good way to put the empeg on the mountain bike.

Hopefully later this week I'll have a picture or two of the recumbent with the empeg installed...

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"