Poor ANT Connectivity

Just went for my first short bike ride with my f5, with the following ANT devices paired:

Stages Power Meter
Garmin HRM Run
Garmin Speed Sensor
Garmin Varia Rear Radar Light
Garmin Tempe Sensor

All of which I'd previously paired and set-up with my f5 without any problems. All of these devices (apart from the Tempe) were also paired with my Edge 1000 mounted on my handlebars.

Previously, I had all of these (except the Varia) paired with my f3 and the only connection problems I'd encounter during rides would be the Tempe (mounted under my saddle) would sometimes drop out for a single 1-minute reading.

However, with my f5 it's a different (and not good) story - Even before I started the ride, my Stages PM kept disconnecting and reconnecting, and at the end of the ride there's no power recorded at all. During the ride I kept getting messages come up on the f5 that the Varia light had disconnected and reconnected several times. Connection with the Tempe seems to have been lost for about 80% of the time as the temperature shows long blocks clearly taken from the f5's internal sensor (where it's much warmer as it's picking up skin temperature). The heart rate trace also shows a point where it's dropped the connection with the chest strap.

As I said, my setup is the same as I've been using with my f3 for the last 2+ years and apart from lots of very short Tempe drops, I never experienced anything like this. I've also checked the activity as recorded on my Edge 1000, and everything's fine on there.

Is anyone else experiencing similar?

FIT file can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eei3y3sfcj8151d/73JD2214.FIT?dl=0

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Not sure if this is useful but I did pair my Foot Pod with the Fenix 5 without much problem .... cheers

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

I paired a Tempe and a Foot Pod quite easily. (we'll there was an issue with the footpod - the battery was dead, and my other watch couldn't see it either so I knew, and it meant a quick trip to get a new battery! :) )

0 Bit over 8 years ago

I had a quick look but can't be of much help here.. don't have the device.

The Stages power meter isn't in your FIT file at all, these are the ANT+ sensors that were connected (a tempe is never listed, it is a bit of a special case):
ANT+device type : 123 : BIKE_SPEED
ANT+device type : 30, 120: HRM_RUN
ANT+device type : 35: BIKE_LIGHT_MAIN
ANT+device type : 40: BIKE_RADAR

The number of Tempe dropouts is excessive (over 50% of readings missing).

I guess this is a case for Garmin support.. they'll probably advice to reboot, master reset, and/or update. You could try if it works better without the power meter (it would be interesting to know if that causes this behavior - although it is not a solution of course).

0 NeilJonesOnline over 8 years ago

Not sure if this is useful but I did pair my Foot Pod with the Fenix 5 without much problem .... cheers

I paired a Tempe and a Foot Pod quite easily. (we'll there was an issue with the footpod - the battery was dead, and my other watch couldn't see it either so I knew, and it meant a quick trip to get a new battery! :) )

Thanks - just to be clear, I had no problem initially pairing my devices, the problem was with them connecting at the start of, and during, my activity.

I had a quick look but can't be of much help here.. don't have the device.

The Stages power meter isn't in your FIT file at all, these are the ANT+ sensors that were connected (a tempe is never listed, it is a bit of a special case):
ANT+device type : 123 : BIKE_SPEED
ANT+device type : 30, 120: HRM_RUN
ANT+device type : 35: BIKE_LIGHT_MAIN
ANT+device type : 40: BIKE_RADAR

The number of Tempe dropouts is excessive (over 50% of readings missing).

I guess this is a case for Garmin support.. they'll probably advice to reboot, master reset, and/or update. You could try if it works better without the power meter (it would be interesting to know if that causes this behavior - although it is not a solution of course).

Thanks for taking the time to dig into my FIT file. I decided to change the battery in my power meter and try a quick indoor workout on my Tacx Neo trainer (taking the power from the Stages PM, not from the Tacx). So the only devices this time were my Wahoo TICKR HRM, the Tempe and the Stages PM. The connectivity of the Tempe was still dire, the PM was at least connected through most of the 30 minute activity, but it still suffered an unacceptable number of extended drop-outs (as did cadence, but this also comes from the PM) - again something I never experienced with my f3. I wear my f5 on my left wrist, which is the same side as the PM crank arm so there's clear line of sight between PM and f5.

I guess some improvement may have been down to this session being indoor, with some of the ANT signal bouncing back of walls.

Not looking forward to having to take this up with Garmin - as you say I'll no doubt get the "do a master reset" instructions which will be very annoying after spending 2 days setting the whole thing up.

FIT file for indoor cycling here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dhq6vwpg1hav68g/1629189850.fit?dl=0

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

I did go out this morning with both the foodpad and Tempe, and they connected fine, and the data looks normal. (on the watch as well as in Garmin Connect)

0 Chris.J.Hart over 8 years ago

Only one activity (~30 minutes) so far but both Tempe and HRM-RUN connectivity were rock solid. No drops or glitches at all.

0 JensenB9 over 8 years ago

Only one activity (~30 minutes) so far but both Tempe and HRM-RUN connectivity were rock solid. No drops or glitches at all.

How can you tell if the HRM Run drops out? I just got it yesterday for use with my F5. Also, can someone explain to me how it's turned on and off? Does it turn itself on when it first is put on and detects it's being worn? And then turn itself off when it's not reading HR for a certain amount of time?

0 Chris.J.Hart over 8 years ago

How can you tell if the HRM Run drops out? I just got it yesterday for use with my F5.

In your activity on Garmin Connect you will see the drop out in the Heart Rate plot.

Also, can someone explain to me how it's turned on and off? Does it turn itself on when it first is put on and detects it's being worn? And then turn itself off when it's not reading HR for a certain amount of time?

Once you have paired it with your watch and start wearing it, it will come out of standby and connect automatically once you select an activity (the heart symbol will stop flashing and you get a connection message). After you take it off it will go back into standby on it's own.

0 Bit over 8 years ago

With a different set of sensors (except for the Tempe - which works OK with other devices) a similar result - this does point to the common factor being the Fenix 5 I'm afraid. The bright side of doing a master reset now, is that you only have the device for some days.. no VO2Max, LTHR lost yet (probably).

0 Chris.J.Hart over 8 years ago

The first FR230 my wife got wouldn't connect to any ANT+ sensors at all. The replacement was fine. You may have just been unlucky.

Do you even need to go though Garmin? Contact the place you bought it from and see if they can swap it out.