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

Bluetooth connection issues using Radar rear light

Former Member over 8 years ago

I have the Varia radar rear light connected to an Edge 1000, the problem I am having is that the radar unit causes the bluetooth connection between the 1000 and my phone to drop out. You get a beep from the 1000 saying 'Phone Disconnected' and then a few seconds later another beep and message saying 'Phone Connected'. When I first had the RTL then this did not happen but now it is happening all the time, I'm not sure if this a combination of different software versions, I am currently running the following:

RTL: v3.4
Edge 1000: v11.2
Phone: Sony Z5, Android 6.0.1

I have done some experiments and it is definitely the RTL that is causing the issue. I did an hour on the turbo trainer the other day, for the first 30 minutes I had the RTL on and had 15 bluetooth drop outs, I then switched the RTL off and had no issues for the next 30 minutes. I went out on the road yesterday and for the first 15 min or so I had the RTL on and had repeated bluetooth issues, I switched it off and then had no problems for the next 2 hours.

I've tried forgetting the pairing on the 1000 and phone and then re-paired them but this made no difference. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

Ian

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

The radar to Edge connection is via ANT so that's not the reason your BT is dropping on the Z5.

I have:

Edge 520
Varia Radar
Z5 Compact on 7.0

Android 7.0 is now rolling out for the Z5 and Z5 Compact. I'd try doing the update and see if that resolves the BT disconnects. I don't have any issues at all and didn't have any before I updated the Z5C to 7.0..

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Thanks, it does seem strange that ANT+ can cause Bluetooth problems but its rock solid with the Varia switched off.

I was looking online earlier about general Android Bluetooth issues as the phone does occasionally lose connection with my car as well. There were suggestions to clear the Bluetooth data and cache ( Settings, Apps, 'Show system' from menu in top right [3 dots], Bluetooth Share, Storage, Clear Data & Clear Cache ).

I've done this and have the 1000 and Varia fired up at the moment, it has dropped out five times in the last 15 minutes - no real improvement.

I've checked for updates on the phone ( Z5C actually ) and it says that it is up to date. I'll keep my eye open for the 7.0 update, which I assume it will automatically download in the near future.

Ian

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

On Sunday I did a 'factory reset' on the phone, still no change - Bluetooth dropping out with radar On but fine with it Off.

My phone updated itself to Android 7.0 this evening, I've tested the Bluetooth again and there has been no change. Drop-outs every 1-2 minutes with radar On but no drop-outs with it Off.

I've also just tried removing the radar from the Edge 1000 and re-paired, again no change.

Does anyone have any more ideas, is there any merit in going through the pain of a factory reset on the Edge 1000?

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

Well.... I updated my Edge and now I am seeing this problem as well... :mad:

Went on a 34 mile ride today after updating my Edge 520 to the new firmware.. 20 miles were in city (10 before the MUP and 10 after it) and 14 on MUP. The 1st 10 miles to the MUP I had radar on and BT connected and I had something like 40 BT disconnects...

Got on the MUP and turned off the radar... The BT connection never dropped during my 14 miles there..

Got off the MUP and back on city roads and turned radar back on... Yup... The next 10 miles I again had about 35-40 BT disconnects..

This is very odd... If BT alone is connected it does not drop. If radar only is connected, it does not drop. Connect them both and BT constantly disconnects and then instantly reconnects...

I think this is an issue with the Sony Z5C since we both have that phone and nobody else has mentioned the issue. I have a radar head unit so tomorrow I will use it and pair radar to it and then pair BT only to the Edge and see how it goes..

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

Since making my above test I've been running a test in my living room...

BT connected to Edge 520 and Radar connected to the radar head unit...

It's been 45 minutes now and not a single BT drop out on the Edge and no issues with the Radar connection to the radar head unit either..

This is really, really, really odd... The issue only rares it's head if both are connected to the Edge..

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I've tried a full factory reset on the 1000 with no effect. The 1000 was also updated to software level 12.0 yesterday and still have the problem.

I'm in the middle of an email exchange with Garmin support over this, I'm not too hopeful as they are asking very generic questions. I need to send them the software setup of the 1000 and they are also asking for a screenshot from the phone, however I'm not sure what they want to see!

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

It's very strange... I am now thinking it's not the Z5C since I was able to run both connections with no drop outs last night. BT connected to Edge and radar connected to it's head unit.. I had thought that maybe, strangely the ANT connection from the radar was somehow causing the Sony BT prblems thus causing the disconnects. Since I was able to run the ANT connection to the radar head unit with no issues, I guess we can rule that out.

Today I am going to ride with the radar head unit and see if I get any disconnects over an extended period of time.. If I don't get any I am going to roll the radar firmware back to 3.0 and see if that solves the problem..

Point them to this thread and let them know a Edge 520 user also has the same problem..

I'll report back if rolling radar back to v3 solves the issue..

Here is my setup incase they look:

Edge 520 (firmware 11.0)
Radar (firmware 3.4)
Sony Z5C (firmware 7.0)

0 KPSOUMA over 8 years ago

Quick update... Went 38 miles today with the Sony Z5C paired and connected to the Edge 520 and with the RTL paid to the RDU... No dropouts whatsoever... Got home from ride and paired the RTL to the Edge and within one minute the BT phone connection started the constant dropping out again..

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Its been over a week now since my last email from Garmin and I'm still awaiting a reply to the info I sent them.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

For what it's worth, I just got a new Varia RTL and tried it out with my Edge1000 this evening. I had no issues with Bluetooth dropouts or anything similar.

Everything worked nicely:-)