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Broadcast HR from ANT+ HRM over Bluetooth

BeneGi
over 4 years ago

Hi!
Im new to zwifting and found something "strange" but cool.

My setup: Kickr Core, Edge 830, FR945, HRM-Run (dissolving strap), Zwift on iPad.


My settings:

-Edge 830 in Indoor training mode, free riding, collecting data from Kickr and HRM via ANT+ (for Recovery etc on the Garmin Connect Ecosystem)
-FR945 broadcasting HR via BT to iPad. It is also listening to the HRM via ANT+ because I use that for running.
-Zwift on iPad connected to Kickr for Control and to FR945 for HR via Bluetooth

My findings: The FR945 seems to broadcast the HR-Data from the HRM-Run. If no HRM is used but oHR, it will show the HR data in broadcast mode. If you use a HRM via ANT+, the watch will only show "--" and that it is broadcasting to another device via bt, but no numbers. In Zwift, there was 1:1 the same HR numbers like on the Edge.
Was that documented somewhere? I think its a cool change of behavior because usually HRMs are more accurate and less prone to errors than oHR. Mine not, its dissolving because of a lot of sweat over the years :-D

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Not sure about docs, but this is a known behavior that OHR turns off as soon as external HRM is connected. The broadcast function only does the wrist OHR and not any external HR connected. I think it is less about accuracy and more about saving battery by turning off unused sensors.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Mahdi

    I haven't tried yet, but under the FAQ section of this link (https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/01/garmin-adds-bluetooth-heart-rate-running-data-broadcasting-for-fr245-fr945.html), Ray says an external ANT+ HR strap can be re-broadcast via the 945 BT.

    "

    Does it still broadcast my heart rate via ANT+?

    Yes, that remains unchanged. Virtually every Garmin wearable supports heart rate broadcasting over ANT+. You can enable this in the settings of your watch, generally near/in the sensors menu. You’ve got basically two choices: The option to just broadcast your HR right now (like turning on a light), or the ability to always broadcast it when in sport modes. Note that as of right now, this is just broadcasting via ANT+, and not via dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart. Hopefully that changes."

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I have kind of similar setup, no Edge and I want 945 to be the recording device (to get real metrics), but it would be nice that Zwift would get the HR also, but my tablet doesn't seem to find anything via ANT+.

    So how to broadcast HRM-Tri ANT+ data to Zwift and record the activity on 945? Doesn't seem to be possible, WHR has setting during activity, but does not specify protocol and I don't want to broadcast WHR.

    So how do you broadcast it over BT and record activity or is that just impossible? As there is no Virtual Bike, just the Indoor Bike.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to jmto
    jmto said:
    So how do you broadcast it over BT and record activity or is that just impossible? As there is no Virtual Bike, just the Indoor Bike.

    I don't really understand why they didn't also create a "Virtual Bike" activity, especially since there are many many more Zwift users that cycle than run.

    Right now, the only workaround is to use the Run activity to connect to Zwift, and then either discard the Garmin activity or change it post "run."

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to badbri

    Or just give ability to broadcast HR with BT in the Indoor Bike profile, or just do it always. It won't probably much hurt the battery usage as it's indoor (aka, no gps) sport.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to jmto

    Agreed, as this is not possible with anything other than onboard OHR, which is garbage.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to badbri

    Actually what the poster reported works perfectly for me with 6.20 and solves my issue with android 11 and ant+.

    Under Indoor bike I enable broadcast "ohr" as he describes while using my HRM-tri. It gives dashes instead of the heart rate on the broadcast screen. Then I start an indoor bike activity as per normal and I can clearly see the OHR is off as the light at the back of the watch is off. Still I'm getting perfectly correct heart rate data in the watch recoded activity and on my phone over bluetooth. This topic should be made sticky by Garmin in my opinion as it clearly solves a big issue that occurred with android 11 and ant+ on many phones.