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Power drop outs from Kickr18 to Garmin 945

8305383
over 4 years ago

I have my kickr 18 setup to Apple TV to use Zwift which is saving my work out perfectly. I also use my Garmin 945 at the same time which is also connected to my kickr 18 to record my workout. I have noticed on my Garmin 945 that the speed and power numbers drop off continuously for a second. They come back but then keep dropping off. I am not sure why this has started happening as it has never done it before. Are you able to help with solving this issue? I have attached the two files from my workout yesterday. The .fit file shows the power drops recorded to my Garmin 945 and the .gpx shows no drops recorded to the Apple TV using Zwift. Any thoughts why there are power drops to the Garmin 945 would be great.

Power drops .fit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ey_gSEwDu_0q4qSUZ0RHTbt78zLh0eAx/view?usp=sharing

No power drops .gpx

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15qZAiJTjK89SMP4y5qmYZ1vlpQVW409I/view?usp=sharing

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Probably due to BLE vs ANT+.  I know that Wahoo recommends using a BLE connection if it's available as it tends to be more reliable.  I've noticed a similar issue to what you're experiencing as well (though not quite that bad and not consistently).  I typically mount my 945 on my handlebars and I suspect that my body is partially blocking the signal from my Kickr to the 945.  I have a theory that if I leave my 945 on my wrist that I'll have fewer dropout issues, but haven't tested that.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I get massive power drop outs between my Kickr Core and my Garmin 945 - I do not get any power dropouts between The kickr and trainerroad 

    Its annoying when following a set as the watch constantly complains about being out of the target zone

    Recording from Kickr Core to Garmin 945 (In Trainer mode)

    Recording from Kickr Core to TrainerRoad:

  • +1 over 4 years ago in reply to rbf2000

    Good point. I will try reposition my watch so that it is closer to the Kickr18. I dont keep it on my wrist because of the sweat etc. I will look into the BLE vs ANT+ more as on my 945 I think I am connecting via ANT+. For Zwift my understanding is that it is bluetooth (and that connection is all good).

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to francis.yates

    Ye, I think we are in the same boat here as far as drop outs to devices that are connected via ANT+. Appears your trainer road is on a smart device? so I assume that is connected via bluetooth as therefore behaving fine. As the other comment suggested have you tried repositioning the 945 so that it is closer to the Core or is in direct line of sight at least?

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 8305383

    The watch is on my wrist, its pretty close to the kick core.. I would be surprised that the Garmin 945 ANT+ antenna is that weak 

  • +1 over 4 years ago in reply to francis.yates

    It's less about the antenna on the 945 and more about interference from other wireless signals.  

  • +1 over 4 years ago in reply to rbf2000

    I've used ANT+ from the Kickr code to a Mac PC running on Sufferfest and it works perfectly with no drops.. so its not an interference issue.. with Sufferfest you can pick between a Bluetooth connection or a ANT+ connection to the Wahoo Kickr Core and it has no drop outs on either.. so its definitely a garmin issue and not interference.. if it was interference the mac (ANT+ USB stick) would have the same dropouts

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to francis.yates

    Your options are: 1) Try to figure out if there is some sort of wireless interference that can be mitigated in multiple ways (e.g., moving/removing the source of the interference or changing the location of the 945) or 2) accept the fact that you're always going to have dropouts on your 945.  It's not like there is some secret setting in the 945 or the Kickr that will impact the ANT+ broadcast/reception.  It's possible, though unlikely, that your unit is defective, so the chances that a replacement unit will resolve the issue are slim to none.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I see the same thing with my KickrSnap.  But I don't see much (if any) difference in average power compared with parallel Zwift/Strava recordings.  (I'd paste a picture but lack the technical skill.)

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to francis.yates

    Agree with RBF2000, likely interference, DCRainmaker has went into it a little bit i think on some reviews/posts.  I get lots of ANT+ sensor drop out indoor on my fluid trainer, speed and cadence, but almost never my HRM-Dual.  Outside... never any drop out.  I am right next to a treadmill on wifi and bluetooth searching constantly... and a wifi smart tv... near router... etc.  

    I believe there is a wifi channel that is pretty close to the ANT+ frequency, worth looking at I think.  can manually set your channel to a further away band