This discussion has been locked.

You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Varia Rearview Radar - Light Network Disconnects And Re-connects

[There are other threads with similar issues. But but some specifics are different, so starting a new thread here.]

My Varia light network (which really consists of only a Varia Rearview Radar), regularly disconnects from my Edge 520, and then reconnects again after a few seconds, with the "Light Network Found" message. When it disconnects, all other sensors (including power meter, speed/cadence sensor and HRM) also disconnect. The display data fields for these other sensors on the Edge 520 show blank during the disconnect period. The other sensors also re-connect when the light network re-connects.

The disconnect/re-connect seems to happen every few minutes, and the disconnect lasts only for a few seconds before re-connecting.

Initially, I was unsure if this is a Varia issue or an Edge 520 issue. To test, I disabled both "Lights" and the radar sensor. With that, the problem went away - no more disconnects. Which leads to the conclusion that this is a Varia issue.

My setup and configuration:

Edge 520 (fw ver 3.10)
Varia Rearview Radar (fw ver 3.00)
Vector power meter (fw ver 3.90)
Bontrager speed/cadence sensor
Garmin HRM
iPhone 6 (Bluetooth)

Light/Radar Config:

Light Mode - Auto
Radar Light Mode - Overdrive

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

I've only had one disconnect on mine and that was day one with it. It said something like 'disconnect 1 of 2 error' message on the Edge 520. Since then, I've not had any issues at all with my radar tail light.

I can't be of much help but maybe try a reset of the Edge 520. I know it's a pain but it can't hurt to try. If you still keep getting disconnects after that then I'd contact Garmin and get it replaced as it may just be a faulty unit..

0 Krectr over 8 years ago

Some further investigation leads me to think that the issue may be the Edge 520 searching for unused sensors. I think what may be happening is that the Edge searching for non-present sensors causes the light network to get dropped and re-formed, which in turn causes other ANT+ sensors to disconnect and then re-connect.

I can't be sure that this is the explanation, but my additional observation is consistent with this theory. I also have a Wahoo Fitness RPM speed/cadence sensor paired to my Edge 520, which I use for indoor cycling. When this sensor isn't with me when riding outdoors, the Edge is still looking for it. When I disabled this sensor as a test, the disconnect/re-connect problem seemed to go away.

I'm going to continue to test to see if this gets confirmed.

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

Interesting. The only issue I have are Bluetooth phone disconnects. I have magnetless speed, Di2 and a Garmin remote paired in addition to the radar..

When I asked if my phone BT disconnects could be a result of the radar I was told the new radar and Edge updates put the radar on it's own data channel..

0 PhilipmThomas over 1 year ago in reply to Krectr

This is a problem as I start riding and the garmin finds and asks to connect to other peoples radar during a ride. If I dont notice and stop it then it will connect to the other riders radar and disconnect from mine. Would like to stop this but can't find a system function that deals with it??