polar advice.

[Canaris]

My polar for some reason "overloads" and registers either 202 or 220 beats per minute. This is not a fair indication as the polar user test says that I have a max of 181.

 

 

 

Is it time for a service of the watch or the HR sensor?

[AndreZA]

Is this while you are riding? If it is it might be your shirt that flaps gainst the transmitter. I wear an Anotomic undershirt while riding and this minimises the errors.

 

 

[ewep]

Do you still have the old "hard" transmitter?  If so, the new cloth one does limit this a lot.  Another thing I have found is riding close to/under hi voltage power lines

[bikemonster]

KonaFan

 

First the obvious: is it a brief over-read, at the same point of your route?  In which case, it's prolly caused by high tension cables or some other electrical interference.

 

Slightly less obvious: my Polar has the 'Wear Link', fabric transmitter belt.  I rinse it thoroughly after each use.  Every three-six months I find that I get mysterious high readings.  When that happens I give the belt a proper hand wash.

 

Not obvious: If the elastic is stretching the contacts may not be making proper contact with your skin.

 

 

[Thug]

It isn't the watch itself, but rather the transmitter belt.

 

Make sure the metal clasps (if it is one of the new belts) are clean and wash your strap regularly.

 

 

 

[Daisy]

Do you use the Polar cycle computer or the heart rate monitor (wrist watch)?  I believe that the cycle computer is a bit more prone to interference from power lines and passing truck's 2-way radios. 

[Bateleur1]

I always make sure the transmitter is wet where it makes contact with the skin.  If you have a dry wind blowing then it is good to follow Mampara's advice of wearing an undershirt.  I normally have this problem during season changes when the air is dry and you are not sweating enough for the contact points on the transmitter to be wet.

[HomerSimpson]

Powerlines...I find that when there are power lines along the road (not passing overhead) that some interference occurs.  Saw this again yeserday near the start of the Simonsvlei funride when I had a HR of 228 for about 30 seconds....

[pbp2007]

So you mean to say that even a Polar occasionally has a little problem... ?

Minor fluctuations can be minimised but never truly eliminated, as other writers have pointed out. At times I even had to use conductive gel (stuff that ECG operators use - get it at your chemist) because of the erratic performance of my Garmin belt.

 

If you want to fix your HRM records and if the Polar software doesn't support editing/corrections, I'd suggest you take a look at SportTracks from Zonefivesoftware. It's freeware, supports data import from Polar, and allows editing of HRM points and GPS trackpoints.

 

Since I installed SportTracks last year it's become my default training software in preference to Garmin's Training Centre, which came bundled with my Forerunner 301.

 

(Disclaimer: no connection to developer, etc.)

 

 

 

 

[Canaris]

phb2007

 

 

 

my garmin 301 is on the blink, they have offered to replace it for R670, or use the difference (of the price of the 301) for an upgrade. THE wife is a bit miffed with the idea od blowing another R2400 on the 305 though. So I thought of the 205 with the polar HR overlayed (in the sportstrack environment). Talk about tough choices.