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Garmin tempe sensor discontinued! Alternatives? Perhaps Ruuvi sensor?! Come on Garmin, give us the Tempe sensor back!!!

Volker
4 months ago

Because Garmin unfortunately discontinued the Garmin tempe sensor (bad move, Garmin!), I looked around what maybe could replace the tempe sensor. I stumpled about the Ruuvi Sensor (the sensor is using an bt connection), which is available with different functionalities (2in1 (temperature, motion), 3in1 (temperature, humidity, motion), 4in1 (temperature, humidity, pressure, motion): Ruuvi - Ruuvi and I found a widget from a iq developer for serveral Garmin devices: Connect IQ Store | Watch Faces and Apps | Garmin

In theorie the widget/app (not availabe to add to the widget list) should look like this on the wearables:

 

but it looks like this on my F8xAmoled:

I have already written to the developer, but there are some comments and this issue seems to exists longer (?). Although it was only recently added for use in the F8 series. He will try to fix it with the next build. Update (fixed): forums.garmin.com/.../1875256

The developer has provided the code, maybe someone can develop something, maybe even a data field (with all the data)?

The Ruuvi sensor is a real beast compared to the Tempe sensor and has 36 grams (Tempe about 9 grams)- but for attaching at a backpack, it would be ok for me. 


You have your own little personal weather station with you (if it would be displayed properly on the Garmin wearables).
Ruuvi has its own app for the iPhone, where you can even set alarm areas for the various sensor functions.
   
So I will use it while hiking connected to my Iphone (I have 2 Garmintempe sensor left for my wearables). The Ruuvi seems to be intended for stationary mounting (two screws for mounting are included), but I will give it a try while doing a hike etc. Why do they make the sensor cover also black? I have paid € 53 for the 4in1.
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Btw: Temperatur accuracy:
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Ruuvi : absolute accuracy ±0,1 °C, output resolution 0,01 °C (see specs in Ruuvi link above).
Garmin Tempe: within 1 to 2 degrees (https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?
faq=v8WiyDSY2w1VAkIf20sos9#:~:text=While%20the%20observed%20accuracy%20of,which%20it%20may%20be%20compared.)
.
For clarification: the Ruuvi sensor values aren’t integrated into the activity files. Therefore I think we need a iq data field with appropriate programming.
  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Tisztul_A_Visztula
    Tisztul_A_Visztula said:
    Thx a lot. I bought one, and the shipping cost to Hungary was quite fair, I mean EUR 5 is OK to me.

    I must confess a huge sin.

    Having seen that  @Volker could not buy the last piece due to a presumable IT error at AS Adventure (or their non-presumable teutonophobia), because 26 or 27 EU countries are properly listed by them as shipping targets, I bought that piece, too.

    If everything goes right in a couple of days I will have 5 Tempe and maybe I need to use some stickers to differentiate them.

    And a couple of days after my order somebody from the heavens have smitten me for my greed: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2025/01/the-begining-of-the-end-for-ant-wireless.html ;-)

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Tisztul_A_Visztula

    That DC Rainmaker article gives a good clue into why Tempe has been discontinued.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Bitti

    I don’t think so. Ambient temperature is no personal data. I would bet money that sales for the Tempe were always bad. 
    Also, the EU didn’t kill, ANT, Garmin did. They did nothing for the standard in the last decade and now people are pointing their fingers in the wrong direction. 

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to BeneGi

    What I meant is that if Garmin decided to stop developing ANT+, it would make sense that they decided to abandon less popular ANT+ accessories around the same time. Regardless of whether the new EU regulations directly affect those accessories.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Bitti

    Foot pods are also getting scarce.

    This debate about unencrypted data being sent wirelessly has gone on for a lomg time. Low power (IoT) devices generally did and many still do not have the resources or bandwidth to send encrypted data. 

    When the Nike/Apple foot pod and smart band came out, there were complaints that everyone could receive everyone's foot pod, get to know their unique number, and follow their footsteps.

    Same with 5KHz heart rate straps (still widely used, and Polar H10 still supports it), everyone can receive your heartbeat if they are near enough. Maybe some folks remember being in a crowded startbox and receiving someone elses heartrate on their watch.

    In that Nike foot pod debate, argument was that it could be used to stalk someone. But when you are so close you can receive my foot pod, you can also see me. 

    On the other hand, many of the first cheap "fitness trackers" sent data over Bluetooth broadcast never got widespread attention.

    Are footsteps, cadence and heart rate personal data? Certainly not in isolation. Granted, if you use a phone with ANT+ that supports RSSI (relative signal strength) in a gym, you can see all ANT+ devices and with some difficulty find which belongs to who. 

    Suppose you know the device ID of a Tempe that belongs to someone who always has that Tempe with them, you can see if they are nearby by using a watch or phone to look for that Tempe. But Bluetooth scanning will probably be quicker to show their earbuds.

    I am far more worried about health and activity data stored in "the cloud". It may be very secure now, but it is literally "out of your hands" and you never know what can happen in the future.

    In any case, a Tempe does not send personal data, just as weather stations don't. 

    I have been a non-paying member of ANT+ for a very long time, and while the documentation that is there, is good, it was a long wait (or $$$$$) for the RD Pod docs, which was very frustrating and I lost interest due to that. I was able to write CIQ apps for ANT+ Geocache beacons and for Tempe based on the documentation only. It wasn't bad at all, but the feel of the site was as if no major new developments were to be expected. 

    ANT+ is a shining star in low power mobile wireless and reliable as a rock, but BLE is catching on with improvements to its low power performance. 

    I now adnittedly have four working Tempe's, two of them were broken and repaired and thus not waterproof anymore, so two for outdoor use and two for indoor use. I hope they will last my lifetime! 

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Data
    Data said:
    I now adnittedly have four working Tempe's, two of them were broken and repaired and thus not waterproof anymore

    Both had water inside? You mentioned that the one you repaired recently had water damage meaning it had not been waterproof before either.

    As regards my tests with the new shield. I can confirm it is the best so far, today I hung it on the terrace when there was a clear sunshine for 15-20 minutes and its error was less than 2  Celsius degrees. Unfortunately there was a sudden warm up measured by better thermometers placed in full shadow, and I can’t say how much exactly the bias is, but I can say it is between 1-2 degrees.

    I had wanted to test it properly between my surgery, now I am not ready to test it while moving when the error should be small.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Tisztul_A_Visztula
    Tisztul_A_Visztula said:
    thus not waterproof anymore

    Both had water inside?

    Only one had water damage, but I had to take the top part of the housing off on both and glue it back on, which I don't fully trust being waterproof.

    The one that was broken without water damage was an interesting case, it used up new batteries in a few hours. I openened it and found the charred remains of an SMD component on the PCB, and that black stuff must have been  conductive. After scraping it off the Tempe worked just fine. Never expected that, so a new one was already ordered. 10 years later now, and it still works fine. It is a bit more off than the others but that's OK. The sun warming up Tempes is far more annoying. Although I welcome each and every second that we get sun.

    Good result with your new shield design! I have found some white spray can caps to tinker with, but work gets in the way of doing something with them in the next few weeks.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Data
    Data said:
    *After* ordering the 40 euro Tempe, I opened the broken one, cleaned it (it had water damage) with alcohol and a toothbrush and it is working again.

    Case 1

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Data
    Data said:
    After scraping it off the Tempe worked just fine. Never expected that, so a new one was already ordered.

    Case 2.. 

    It  seems to be a perfect example for infinity circle in your life.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Tisztul_A_Visztula

    Layers:

    - some air channel  :-) as the core layer

    -  blister wrapped  twice forming a virtual duct and softly glued to the inside of a tube (that was the nightmare part of the story

    - L shaped white plastic tube cut from a special 40 mm / 50 mm tube used in plumbering for siphons

    - another layer of blister wrapped twice around the tube and glued to it

    - some soft plastic material cut to sizes and glued to the outer blister layer, its main function is not insulation, but a) protecting blisters from a kinda blowing up b) avoiding the slip of the Thing during running c) achieving a higher diameter to make the Thing clog better  after it is  mounted to the waist belt

    The technique to position Tempe within was to drill the tube softly, use  a plastic string, knotting the Tempe clip the string at two points, knotting the string to itself to create a loop, moving the loop to place Tempe within, and finally glueing the string  outside to avoid the unwanted repositioning.

    Weight is 118-119 g