Replace treadmill's HRM?

[Kip Landin]

Hi,

I asked this a long time ago, but I'm hoping the answer
has changed!

I have an inexpensive folding treadmill that is supposed to
vary the intensity of the run in relation to your heartrate.
It's heartrate pickup consists of a foam rubber headband that
appears to have (photosensitive?) pickups that are pressed
against your forehead when you put it on.

My experience has been that 8 out of 10 times, it either fails
to pick up a good count, or loses the signal, so that the
treadmill thinks I have stopped running and am now on the
couch watching TV (or in a coma). The treadmill then proceeds
to try to kill me.

I'm hoping that some manufacturer makes a fairly reliable HRM
that will feed a signal to this treadmill. I've seen another
post here about a Polar HRM that supposedly works with at
least one brand of treadmill.

Thanks for any advice...

[Peter Webb]

Unlikely.

Polar originally devised specifications for the transfer of
info from pulse cheststraps to wristwatch displays. They have
then licensed the sensor technology used in their watches to
treadmill manufacturers. Almost every serious treadmill now
supports Polar and compatible brands.

The problem is that there are actually two completely
different technologies for reading pulse rates - an optical
device (used in the pulse rate thingies that go over your
finger, and apparently your headband) and a electrical sensor
technology which picks up and amplifies tiny changes in the
electrical potential on your chest. The optical stuff is
notoriously unreliable (as you have found). The Polar stuff
uses electrical signals. Further, the specifications used by
Polar for communicating between the sensor and the treadmill
would seem to assume that electrical sensor technology is
used, and couldn't be used for optical sensors. (I don't
actually know this is true, but I have strong technical
reasons for believeing it to be true). So if you have an
optical sensor in your treadmill, it is unlikely to be
compatible with the (electronic) sensors used by Polar.

"Kip Landingham" <gml@akunna.com> wrote in message
news:648bf903.0207301321.650a0579@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> I asked this a long time ago, but I'm hoping the answer has
> changed!
>
> I have an inexpensive folding treadmill that is supposed to
> vary the intensity of the run in relation to your heartrate.
> It's heartrate pickup consists of a foam rubber headband
> that appears to have (photosensitive?) pickups that are
> pressed against your forehead when you put it on.
>
> My experience has been that 8 out of 10 times, it either
> fails to pick up a good count, or loses the signal, so that
> the treadmill thinks I have stopped running and am now on
> the couch watching TV (or in a coma). The treadmill then
> proceeds to try to kill me.
>
> I'm hoping that some manufacturer makes a fairly reliable
> HRM that will feed a signal to this treadmill. I've seen
> another post here about a Polar HRM that supposedly works
> with at least one brand of treadmill.
>
> Thanks for any advice...

[Kip Landin]

"Peter Webb" <pwebb@REMOVESPAMopticon-aust.com.au> wrote in
message news:<3d478c85$0$821$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> Unlikely. ...

Drat. Oh, well...

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

[Art]

for what its worth: I've been using a TRUE HRM treadmill for
several years now. Nearby TV's or booting PC's disrupt the
signal badly. However, a running laptop on the treadmill (I
built a small table) or a distant TV are no problem.

I put a saline solution on the chest strap to assure a good
contact until I start sweating (OK, I lick the contacts before
I strap it on, which sounds gross, but works. (Just don't
share the chest strap ;) - but who would want to anyway? ....)

PS: These treadmills are not cheap... I'm down to about $.50 a
mile after 2+ years... but the workout is great!

gml@akunna.com (Kip Landingham) wrote in message
news:<648bf903.0208021020.3615b227@posting.google.com>...
> "Peter Webb" <pwebb@REMOVESPAMopticon-aust.com.au> wrote in
> message
> news:<3d478c85$0$821$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au>...
> > Unlikely. ...
>
> Drat. Oh, well...
>
> Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.