External optical HR not recognized

luca69x
luca69x Registered Users Posts: 36
Apprentice Traveler
edited January 24 in TomTom Sports
Hi all,
Yesterday I got a new external HR armband, the spark 3 does not recognize it while the phone is on, so the device works, the Tom Tom card works perfectly, is it perhaps a limitation of our watches to only TT accessories?

Comments

  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,949
     Superuser
    If it is connected to the phone then it will not connect to the watch, BT is a one-to-one relationship, the armband can only be connected to one device at a time. Depending on the brand, some devices will not connect to the watch (I believe Scosche made a firmware change which made theirs stop working). Try disconnecting it from all other devices and then try connecting to the watch after making sure it is set for external under Sensors>Heart. You can also try a factory reset of the watch which may help as well.

    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.
  • luca69x
    luca69x Registered Users Posts: 36
    Apprentice Traveler
    That the connection works one-to-one I know it, it's my job, I meant that with the phone works and with the clock, but not taken individually. All factory reset led only to delete data but no troubleshooting. What I could understand is that the TT sensor is recognized as HR, while the optical arm is a BT device and the Spark3 recognizes only HR
  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,949
     Superuser
    luca69x wrote:
    That the connection works one-to-one I know it, it's my job, I meant that with the phone works and with the clock, but not taken individually. All factory reset led only to delete data but no troubleshooting. What I could understand is that the TT sensor is recognized as HR, while the optical arm is a BT device and the Spark3 recognizes only HR
    When you say the Spark recognizes only HR, do you mean the internal HR? Do you have a Cardio model? If so, do you have it set for an external monitor under Sensors>Heart? Is your strap one that does advanced metrics, in which case all the Spark will use is the HR data stream?
  • luca69x
    luca69x Registered Users Posts: 36
    Apprentice Traveler
    My spark is not HR but only music, I use chest strap
  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,949
     Superuser
    What brand strap is it? Is it BT+? An ANT+ strap like those made by Garmin or Polar will not work.
  • luca69x
    luca69x Registered Users Posts: 36
    Apprentice Traveler
    The sensor is BT, only Garmin uses ANT + and then I already wrote that with the phone and then BT works, that I know there are no ANT + phones.
    Polar has just answered me by mail, their sensor uses the BT smart protocol, but our Spark3 in release 1.7.64 is BT smart or other protocol?
    Thank you
  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,949
     Superuser
    luca69x wrote:
    The sensor is BT, only Garmin uses ANT + and then I already wrote that with the phone and then BT works, that I know there are no ANT + phones.
    Polar has just answered me by mail, their sensor uses the BT smart protocol, but our Spark3 in release 1.7.64 is BT smart or other protocol?
    Thank you
    It is BT+, but not every device will work with it. The BT standard is in such a way a 'standard' that it can be widely interpreted with different settings for buffer sizes, time outs, profiles, protocols, antenna configurations, etc.. TomTom cannot change their code every time a manufacturers messes with the BT coding. By the way, Polar also uses ANT+ as well as proprietary analog signals and there ae phones that will connect to ANT+.
  • luca69x
    luca69x Registered Users Posts: 36
    Apprentice Traveler
    tfarabaugh wrote:
    luca69x wrote:
    The sensor is BT, only Garmin uses ANT + and then I already wrote that with the phone and then BT works, that I know there are no ANT + phones.
    Polar has just answered me by mail, their sensor uses the BT smart protocol, but our Spark3 in release 1.7.64 is BT smart or other protocol?
    Thank you
    It is BT+, but not every device will work with it. The BT standard is in such a way a 'standard' that it can be widely interpreted with different settings for buffer sizes, time outs, profiles, protocols, antenna configurations, etc.. TomTom cannot change their code every time a manufacturers messes with the BT coding. By the way, Polar also uses ANT+ as well as proprietary analog signals and there ae phones that will connect to ANT+.

    I found out from your answer that there are mobile phones with ANT + but I confirm that the Polar HR sensors are only BT smart, ANT + is used for those of bicycle cadence.
    Probably Spark 3 uses a modified BT 4.0 and therefore limits the accessories, too bad, in any case my sensor is a Polar OH1 optical arm.
  • tfarabaugh
    tfarabaugh Posts: 16,949
     Superuser
    From the Polar website:

    "There is plenty of variation between how different Android devices handle the technologies used in our products and services, such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and different standards and protocols. Because of this, compatibility varies between phone manufacturers, and unfortunately Polar cannot guarantee that all features can be used with all devices"

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