Adventurer will not connect to TomTom HRM

jbird60
jbird60 Registered Users Posts: 5
Neophyte Traveler
edited January 24 in TomTom Sports
Quite often when I'm at the gym, my Adventurer will completely fail to connect to my TomTom HRM strap. When I go to Sensors --> Heart --> External option, it will endlessly blink as it tries to connect to the sensor. I always make sure to wet the pads to insure an accurate reading. Other items I've tried to address that I know can affect accuracy or connectivity:
-Wearing a "technical" fiber shirt - I have tried to connect to the sensor while shirtless
-Having other devices connected via Bluetooth - I have disconnected the headphones and my phone from the watch
-HRM battery - recently replaced (roughly 1 month ago and it failed to work tonight; I imagine the battery should last much longer than that even with daily use for an hour a day).

The odd part is that once I leave the gym, it'll connect without issue. Is it possible that there's a large degree of interference affecting my watch's ability to connect to the HRM? If so, has anyone else found better luck with other HRMs?

Thanks!

Comments

  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,976
     Superuser
    More likely someone else's watch is picking up the strap before yours can. The straps are not uniquely tied to a device, they are picked up by whatever device happens to be closest. Try putting it on before you leave for the gym or going far away from other people and see if that helps.

    I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.
  • jbird60
    jbird60 Registered Users Posts: 5
    Neophyte Traveler
    tfarabaugh wrote:
    Try putting it on before you leave for the gym or going far away from other people and see if that helps.
    This is a feasible solution to get it to connect in that once it's connected, it doesn't lose the signal. However, this can be very inconvenient, especially if I'm doing multiple workouts within the same gym session. Once a workout is complete, the watch stops polling the sensor, so when I try to start a new workout, it has to reconnect.

    Additionally, after several failed attempts to connect while in the gym, once I leave, it may take a few minutes before it begins to function again.

    This appears to be a problem with signal strength which I imagine won't see a fix, so I'll mark this as a solution.
  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,976
     Superuser
    jbird60 wrote:
    tfarabaugh wrote:
    Try putting it on before you leave for the gym or going far away from other people and see if that helps.
    This is a feasible solution to get it to connect in that once it's connected, it doesn't lose the signal. However, this can be very inconvenient, especially if I'm doing multiple workouts within the same gym session. Once a workout is complete, the watch stops polling the sensor, so when I try to start a new workout, it has to reconnect.

    Additionally, after several failed attempts to connect while in the gym, once I leave, it may take a few minutes before it begins to function again.

    This appears to be a problem with signal strength which I imagine won't see a fix, so I'll mark this as a solution.
    It isn't a signal strength problem it is a device registration problem and is common to most watch brands. They simply pick up the nearest signal, they are not looking for a specific device. This could be fixed programmatically by registering the device to the watch (Garmin does it) but it is not going to happen now that TT has left the wearables market and is no longer producing new devices.

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