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RTL510 initital thoughts

I got my RTL510 yesterday, charged it up, and went for a ride.

This is an upgrade from an RTL500.

Here are some initial thoughts...

I like the new form factor a lot.
I like the brighter light & blink patterns.
It took a LONG time to pair. Not sure exactly why. The radar part would pair & connect, but the light part woudln't. Had to un-pair & re-pair a few times before it would work.
I like the fact that it will update it's firmware over the air using my Edge 1030.
When I first started riding, the radar got a false positive that took a little while to clear.
Once the false positive cleared, the rest of my ride went very smoothly. Picked up cars as I would expect.
I was riding alone, so I couldn't see if it picked up other cyclists. I'll be testing that this weekend.

I'll update this as I use the unit more.

david

0 fallingrock over 7 years ago

Update after a long ride (74 miles in the western 'burbs of Chicago) ...

No problems with the 510 connecting to my 1030.
Short distance sensitivity is WAY up ... it routinely picked up solo cyclists behind me.
This may be an anomaly, because of the roads & hills I was riding on, but long distance sensitivity seems to be somewhat down ... I seemed to get less notification that a car was behind me than I got with my 1st gen radar. I was riding on rollers, so cars could have been blocked by the hills.
A friend told me that the light was much more noticeable than the previous radar.

Although I'm hoping they will add an option to adjust the sensitivity, I'm not disappointed.

david

0 fallingrock over 7 years ago

I've opened a case with Garmin support regarding the sensitivity.

They had me collect diagnostics from both the Edge & RTL510 to send to engineering.

0 patrice76 over 7 years ago

Hi, No problem yr side with strava segments's ?
When I use my egde 820 without RTL510 : strava segments's are working without pbs. When I use it with RTL510 connected no strava segments's indication...

0 fallingrock over 7 years ago

I don't use strava segments much ... and I really don't see how the radar could interfere with strava.

0 MWHendrix over 7 years ago

I’m hearing impaired and not able to hear the audio alert when an approaching vehicle comes into the radar signal.
How about a firmware modification in the head unit to pair with an ear bud to receive the audio alert?

0 fallingrock over 7 years ago

That’s has nothing to do with the radar.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I took a ride yesterday with my new RTL510. I got comments on how bright it was. Paired with the UT800 up front and using the light network setup, it's a great system. It did pick up the other riders around me whereas the RTL500 usually didn't, but that's ok with me. I like having the extra awareness when someone starts coming up beside me. The Varia Vision does vibrate when the radar detects something, but the buzz is so weak that I can't feel it unless I'm standing still. I still feel that Garmin dropped the ball on this by not incorporating a stronger audio alert somehow. Nonetheless, the overall system is impressive.

0 overridex over 7 years ago

I just upgraded from an original Radar to the RTL510, and experience how much more sensitive it is, picking up other riders in my group rather than just cars like the original had.

What did Garmin support end up saying about that? Can it be adjusted in some way?

-Dan

0 Garmin-Shawn over 7 years ago

We are aware the new radar is more sensitive. We appreciate the feedback and discussion. We do not offer a control of the sensitivity of the radar on the device currently.

0 Chris.J.Hart over 7 years ago

3. It took a LONG time to pair. Not sure exactly why. The radar part would pair & connect, but the light part woudln't. Had to un-pair & re-pair a few times before it would work.

Mine was just delivered tonight and I had much the same problem. The radar would pair no problem but I couldn't get the light to pair at all, it just wasn't showing in the list list when I did "Search All", just the Radar.

However, I watched a video on youtube which gave me the clue I needed. After "Search All" you get two Tick boxes "Select All" and "Radar ID:xxxxxx". If you only select the Radar that is all you get. If you tick select "Select All" and "Radar ID:xxxxxx" the light gets paired too. Not particularly intuitive but it's all working fine now.