Help with Tempe Sensor & Fenix 5XP

Added a Tempe sensor this week. My primary use for the sensor and the watch as backcountry backpacking and I want to have details overnight temps and accurate hiking temps.

I had not problem adding the Temperature widget and pairing the sensor

If I understand correctly, the sensor will disconnect once the temp widget closes after the two minute widget window. When it is connected it will update the temp every minute. If any of this is incorrect, please feel free to chime in.

I've also added a temperature app.. not sure I need it, but it stays connected to the sensor as long as the app is running, and doesn't have the two minute issue of the widget.

My question are focused on connectivity between sensor and watch.

Once the sensor disconnects, it seems I need to go through all the reconnect steps to pair the two. That's a lot of button presses just to see the temp. It was my expectation that once I launch the widget with the sensor within range the two would pair. If it that is correct, it seems to take a long time for this to happen and s far I haven't had it happen. If I do have to actively pair them, I am hoping I can shortcut it somehow. I hoped I could use a Hot Key but that doesn't work.

Is there a way to speed up the process required to get temperature info using the Tempe?

Top Replies

All Replies

0 ronand over 4 years ago

I haven't used one of these but my experience with external sensors is that the fenix will only connect to it during an activity which is fine for hiking but probably not what you want at night time.

0 CMA-CPH over 4 years ago

I have paired my sensor once.

After pairing I just open the temp widget and wait. The same goes for an activity like walking. Start the activity and wait. In both cases it can take a looong time, so be patient.

0 MikekiM12 over 4 years ago in reply to CMA-CPH

Thank you... Doesn't the widget time out in two minutes? Do you have to launch it more than once or is the connect successful on the first try?

edit------

Just tried it. Took the Fenix 5X+ one minute thirty eight seconds to find the Tempe and shortly there after, the widget timed out. That's good. Not as good is the you have the minute and a half wait every time you launch the widget. That's a pain. You do get an audible alert when the sensor connects.

0 ilracer over 4 years ago

The Tempe sensor often conflicts with CIQ apps/widgets using temperature data. Clean your device off from third party apps and Tempe will work. Adding temperature data field to hiking/walking activities should be useful.

0 CMA-CPH over 4 years ago

I have ordered this little guy out of curiosity. It comes with apps for IOS and android. It looks like it has a build in buffer so it can work independently. It’s on its way in the mail.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08238DFWL/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_WVWTJFHED0TW3QAFNBT4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

0 docau over 4 years ago

First some basics on how the Tempe works. The watch and the Tempe never actually "connect" to each other in any real sense of the word.

Instead, the Tempe simply broadcasts it's data (current/min/max temp) to anyone that's bothering to listen every minute or so. When you first "connect" the Fenix to the Tempe, all it's actually doing is waiting/listening until it hears a new Tempe broadcasting, and then remember the serial number of the Tempe to use next time. When you go into the Tempe widget (or start an activity) it just starts listening for broadcasts from the Tempe it knows, and the moment it hears it it'll say it's "connected" to it.

So all you're actually experiencing is that delay, which will occur every time you bring up the widget. Once it gets a reading, and whilst the widget is still active, it'll remember that last reading and display it. But once the widget stops running it forgets the last reading and needs to wait until it gets a new one.

"Reconnecting" the two actually does absolutely nothing. It's easy to think that it's doing something, but it really isn't.

There's nothing you can do to change/fix this. It's just how the Tempe (and most ANT devices) work. It's also why the Tempe can continue to work for years and years on a single small battery...

0 MikekiM12 over 4 years ago in reply to docau

This helps tremendously. Thank you.

Am I correct that the tempe holds the low for the prior rolling 24 hours? Curious if I need to cognizant of when the low temp would reset.

0 -- over 4 years ago in reply to MikekiM12

Correct, low and high for the last 24 hours, I have one out in the garden just to be able to check the lowest/highest temperatures. The Tempe even keeps a file with temperatures over the last 24 hours, but there is no software available to download it as far as I know. It is documented how to retrieve that data (thisisant.com). I never got around to writing software for it myself (yet).

0 docau over 4 years ago in reply to --

-- said:
The Tempe even keeps a file with temperatures over the last 24 hours, but there is no software available to download it as far as I know. It is documented how to retrieve that data (thisisant.com).

Are you sure of that? That would imply that the Tempe is NOT a broadcast-only device but also has the ability to receive data (or in this case, instructions to send data), which as I understand it is not the case. The "Environment" ANT+ profile does support data storage/collection, but there's no need for a device to support it and afaik the Tempe does not.

0 -- over 4 years ago in reply to docau

I'm not sure I understand your last remark, there's no need -maybe-, but do you mean it is not implemented in the Tempe? The device profile describes it (free registration required to download it) and DC Rainmaker wrote about it. If it is not implemented, it's a waste of time to develop software to download the data (ANT+ stick). Just dug up the stick, contemplating restarting this as a hobby project.

Found this on DC Rainmakers page from 2012: "It [Tempe] can store min/max data for up to a year, and do 20-minute interval temperature data for up to two weeks at a time. For example, you could attach it out in the wilderness and take temperature readings every few weeks (again, not with today’s firmware, but down the road)"

Would be too awesome to not give it a try to develop something.