I have the Garmin headlight which turns on automatically when the Edge 1000 is switched on. However, I have to manually hold down the radar button and turn it on to connect it with my Edge each time. Why won't the radar automatically connect to the Edge 1000 once I turn the Edge unit on (like the headlight).
I recently bought the front-light and radar. They seem to behave differently when you turn them off via the Edge (mine is a 520). Both switch off immediately and go to a state where the activity led blinks blue. I take this to mean the unit is in a state where is it listening for the Edge to wake it up. After a couple of minutes the blue light goes off on the radar. If you turn the edge off before that happens, the radar comes on. If you turn it on after the blue light has gone out, then you have to wake the radar up via its power button. In comparison, the blue led on the front-light continues blinking for much longer. In fact, I've not seen it go off yet even after leaving the unit for an hour after it was turned off by the edge. With the blue led blinking, the headlight can always be woken by the Edge.
So the above mimics what you have seen.
My issue is not that the radar turns itself off after a few minutes and goes into a deep sleep, more that the headlight never does. So it just sits their blinking indefinitely. The only way to stop the blue light blinking is to cycle the power button. When you do this then you can do a hard turn off, but in doing so the headlight now isn't in a state it can be woken automatically by the Edge. That is fine and what I'd expect (and what the radar does). The trouble is that unlike the radar, it doesn't seamlessly glue itself back in a way that you manually wake it from a deep sleep.
So my annoyance is the inverse of yours! I dislike the fact the headlight never shuts down fully ... and when you do that manually you put it in a state where it wont wake and rejoin the Edges pre-exsting lighting ring. It feels like a different set of people developed the radar and the headlight, hence why they behave differently when turned off from an Edge device and exhibit different partially shutdown behaviour.
Does it matter if the headlight is left in a state where the LED is blinking permanently? No idea, but it seems like it will drain the battery to me! If that inst the case, why does the radar behave differently? The only logic I can come up with is that it has a lower battery capacity so they feel it needs to shut down fully.
Yeah, I recently added a headlight to my rear radar light and I'm getting more and more frustrated trying to get the lights to work or even understand how they're meant to be working. Yesterday it took me 10 minutes to get them properly working!
The first time I added the front light, everything worked fine and I switched the lights off manually at the end of the ride. However, next ride I struggled to get the front light to come on (is it still off, or on but not lit because it's light?) and ended up somehow disconnecting the front light from my Edge 1000 and having to repair. The next ride, both lights were working but my Edge just treated the rear light as if it had no radar - no radar icon or tracking on screen, no error messages. Even removing and repairing it several times didn't fix this so I had to ride without any radar.
Next ride I discovered that the headlight must have turned itself on when I'd plugged in my Edge to charge in the house, but not turned itself off, so it was flat. The next day, the Edge was only showing the rear light, but again no radar. It took ages and lots of pairing/removing and wondering if the front light was on or not to finally get them working.
It doesn't help that the manual for the front light is basically crap - there's more info on attaching the light to your bike than actually using it, and it's so vague and confusing. It took my a long time to realise that the "key" the keep referring to on the side of the lights is actually the power switch. Why don't they just call it that?
My rear light on it's own worked a treat - I'm really annoyed and frustrated that adding a front light has messed things up so much.
I completley agree re: the manual. Focuses on the bit that is easy to work out (how to attach it to your bike), but gives you zero detail on how the head-light operates, what the settings do etc!
I just installed the latest updates on both the head-light and radar and one of the things it allegedly fixes is the light network formation, so maybe give it a try? My network formed properly, but when I switch off the radar still sits in a half off state for a couple of mins before properly turning off, whilst the head-light sits in the half off state (blue led flashing) indefinitely. I cant believe that wont drain the battery if you leave it like that permanently? :confused:
The lack of reviews, technical info, feedback is most odd given the head-light is freely available to purchase! It's like there's a ban on discussing them!
Thanks for the replies, guys. Jweedon has pretty much answered my question. I ordered another radar from wiggle after speaking to Garmin on the phone, who claimed that as they had not heard about this issue my radar must be faulty. And they believe it should wake up by the Edge like the front light. I'll test the second radar I get and let you know if this is the case.
As for battery life, I charge often so am not fussed about the front light being in standby mode. I haven't
Noticed much depreciation from this.
I should add that I was a little unimpressed with the radar. Especially in traffic where it was a hit and miss with picking up cars. In fact on one ride it was t working from the get-go, so I had to pause my ride and reconnect.
That will be interesting. My expectation is that it will do the same - i.e. go into suspended state for a couple of minutes then fully shutdown. After which the edge wont be able to wake it.
TBH, I dont really mind which way they work. Just seems mad that they work differently and that you have to sit there for hours turning everything on and off using trial and error to figure out how they work! It's the same with most Garmin products though. The difference here is that people like DCRainmaker haven't done the donkey work on the headlight for us!
UPDATE: So the replacement radar is exhibiting the same issues as the first. Running the latest firmware. A little annoyed that it is not working as it should be (i.e. as the front light does). I envisioned just getting on my bike and turning on the Edge to have the entire light network turn-on, too. It is not that much of an inconvenience to press another button, but that's missing the point. I would expect a £160 bike light to perform perfectly, without compromises, no matter how insignificant. Am highly thinking about returning both units now and just getting the normal Varia rear light for £52 (from Wiggle).
PS: Cannot believe no one else has made a fuss about this. Or maybe it is just people who own both the from light AND radar who will know there is an issue...
The fact i think the radar exhibits the right behaviour and the headlight is wrong and you think the opposite shows this isnt simple!
I have zero issue having to press one button on either unit if it then forms the light network correctly. I have more issues with the fact the headlight never truely turns off. I did 11 miles to work yesterday with the light active but the headlight off, i peesume because it was daylight. I left the bike from 8:30 til 5:00pm and did 11 miles home in the dark. Half way home it said low battery. I think having it sat on standy for 8.5 hours is daft. Id rather it shutdown and i pressed one button to wake it up - like the radar!!!
Id rather it shutdown and i pressed one button to wake it up - like the radar!!!
I completely understand your point. When I spoke to the guys at Garmin, he suggested that the radar should be-able to wake-up, and not power down after 60 seconds. He was even inclined for me to send them the 'faulty' unit so they could investigate (although I chose to return to Wiggle for the quick turn-over). But admittedly even he wasn't too sure, and had to put me on hold a couple of times whilst he went to ask the tech team.
Ideally, there should be a firmware update, which allows the user to choose whether or not they want the units to remain in standby or not, which would solve both of our frustrations(?)/mild inconveniences at the present time. Having one unit do one thing, and the other unit do another is odd, as they should be in sync (whichever way around).
PS: I keep a USB charging hub on my desk at work. Couldn't live without one! Allows me to charge my phone/other gadgets, so that could be an option for you with the front light.
