HAC4 / Hactronic Help?



JDClubSi said:
Expensive junk, hardly...

Sorry Joji, didn't mean to offend something you like, but this thread does not speak well for either the watch or the software that are meant to be productivity tools for cyclists.

Maybe expensive junk was an exaggeration, but at that price, it ought to be user friendly and come with decent documentation. From what I have read, it is lacking in all of those critical areas.
 
ScubaD said:
I have two questions in regards to the HAC4.

1) Can anyone see their cadence info from within CicloTour? I can see it within Hactronic and havne't loaded Ciclotrainer yet.

2) I want to use the HAC4 with my trainer, any suggestions? It was noted that a rear mount would be too far away from the head unit.

Thanks.

ScubaD

Ciclotour will not show you cadence. What I do is download and save individual rides via hactronic. Then import the rides to ciclotour and ciclotrainer. If I need to analyize my cadence, I use hactronic. If i want to review previous rides throughout the year, I use Ciclotour, then hactronic for dissecting.

BTW, I find the 2004 HAC4 to be quite an awesome computer. The display of the data is large and very visible (much more so than the Polar). I really like the mount on the stem (supposed improvement over previous versions), and I have had few power line interferances (which I used to have on older model Polar).

The only negative that I have found is that my first set of batteries only lasted about 4 months. It could be that they were old to begin with. We'll see how long this next set lasts.
 
gruppo said:
Sorry Joji, didn't mean to offend something you like, but this thread does not speak well for either the watch or the software that are meant to be productivity tools for cyclists.

Maybe expensive junk was an exaggeration, but at that price, it ought to be user friendly and come with decent documentation. From what I have read, it is lacking in all of those critical areas.

Hey Gruppo, I agree with Joji in that the HAC4 is far from being an expensive junk. The documentation may be far from perfect (I think they lost a bit in the translation), but the engineers did a very nice job designing and contructing this computer to suit the needs of cyclists. It has been rock solid for me riding in rain, snow, +100 degree weather. The software (again they seemed to have lost some in translation) is quite powerful once you get used to it.

I purchased this computer for long term. Although short term it has take a bit to get used to, once you learn it, its like riding your bike. Never have to think about it.
 
No offense taken,, I was just rebutting a point in your post. As with most new technology the first few generations can be lacking, and usually the consumer is left to figure out the details kind of like the early days of computing. Microsoft XP is finally a user friendly OS (as I type this from my Mac)
 
pablo_gg said:
BTW, I find the 2004 HAC4 to be quite an awesome computer. The display of the data is large and very visible (much more so than the Polar). I really like the mount on the stem (supposed improvement over previous versions), and I have had few power line interferances (which I used to have on older model Polar).

For awhile I was trading back and forth between the HAC4 and a Polar 725. Personally I don't think you could go wrong with either computer. I prefer the HAC4 computer but the polar software is easier to use. I have been using my HAC4 for 3 weeks now and only use the polar when I travel to do HRM stuff only.

Question, How does the stem mounting work? I don't think either of my mounts can do that. I have the one mount with the rubber bands and then a cadence mount with the rubber bands. Is their another one?

One other note, I really like the countdown timers. I just started doing intervals and like how you start it and it will countdown the first timer and then automatically start the next timer. So I can do 3 min intervals with a 5 min recovery.

BTW, been back riding since June 1 and have lost 35 pounds so far. :)

ScubaD
 
ScubaD said:
Question, How does the stem mounting work? I don't think either of my mounts can do that. I have the one mount with the rubber bands and then a cadence mount with the rubber bands. Is their another one?
ScubaD

We may have different versions of the HAC4. I have the 2004 USB HAC4 Plus [uses USB rather than serial port for data communication]. The mount simply straps on to the stem via the rubber bands. It then allows the computer receiving dock to be mounted on it sideways (relative to if were mounted on the handlebar). The HAC4 computer then clicks into the receiving dock.
 
i got one a couple days ago and i do like it. i haven't had a HRM before and i find it really useful (plus the info that is in the software like stuff on max heart rate and certain zones which exercise you in different kinds of ways - fat burning, aerobic, etc.)

i think you have to mess about with it and the software a lot to understand it.

it seems that ciclosport aren't the biggest of manufacturers and have to do their best with instruction booklets - i think the translations are funny if a bit annoying when your stuck!

one thing i can't get to work properly is ciclotrainer. i'm using a USB connection and it simply doesn't appear as a valid connection on the preferences- input tab. only coms 1-5.

and i can't get ciclotrainer to accept .dat data from hactronic.

and does anyone know how to get rid of the lap times in the stopwatch?

any help with this appreciated.

apart from a few hitches i really find it useful.
 
chisa1234 said:
i got one a couple days ago and i do like it. i haven't had a HRM before and i find it really useful (plus the info that is in the software like stuff on max heart rate and certain zones which exercise you in different kinds of ways - fat burning, aerobic, etc.)

i think you have to mess about with it and the software a lot to understand it.

it seems that ciclosport aren't the biggest of manufacturers and have to do their best with instruction booklets - i think the translations are funny if a bit annoying when your stuck!

one thing i can't get to work properly is ciclotrainer. i'm using a USB connection and it simply doesn't appear as a valid connection on the preferences- input tab. only coms 1-5.

and i can't get ciclotrainer to accept .dat data from hactronic.

and does anyone know how to get rid of the lap times in the stopwatch?

any help with this appreciated.

apart from a few hitches i really find it useful.
Make sure you go to their web site and download the latest versions of all three software packages (I have a feeling you are using an older version). I typically use Hactronic to download from the HAC4. Then import the saved .dat into ciclotrainer.
 
cheers, got all the software working now!

still wondering how to get rid of the lap times in the stopwatch function though
 
I just got my HAC4 last week. Every time that I try to download a ride I get what looks like a years worth of stuff when viewed in Ciclotrainer (I have mostly been using ciclotrainer to try to download).

Another problem that may be related to this is that even though the watch has the correct date set, when I download, it keeps telling me that it has stuff from the year 2024 to download.

I have turned off the record function before trying to download. I have also been trying to download only the lastest data set. I have also downloaded the latest software.
 
junkermeier said:
I just got my HAC4 last week. Every time that I try to download a ride I get what looks like a years worth of stuff when viewed in Ciclotrainer (I have mostly been using ciclotrainer to try to download).

Another problem that may be related to this is that even though the watch has the correct date set, when I download, it keeps telling me that it has stuff from the year 2024 to download.

I have turned off the record function before trying to download. I have also been trying to download only the lastest data set. I have also downloaded the latest software.

I had the same problem at first but only for altitude and total miles ridden. It looked like it had a bunch of test data that was not zeroed out before they shipped it. I looked at some of the data and it was clearly not real as you would have seen from a refurb.

The instructions for deleting all measurements is on page 8 of the manual. Here's the process in case you don't have it handy. Save any ride data that you want to see again to a PC first. From the main display, press and hold the UR (upper right) key for 2 -3 seconds, this puts it into the mode which lets you change the basic settings, click through as if you are going to the "PC" mode that you have to be in to do a download but stop one earlier at the little symbol that comes up just after the "Cc" (it's one vertical bar with a horizontal bar coming off to the right from the top of it), at this screen it'll say "tot" in the bottom left, now you want to press and hold the UL and LL keys simultaneously, you get a little beep and then they are gone forever.

It's quirky to set up but it's a great cycle computer once you get it dialed.
 
junkermeier said:
...Another problem that may be related to this is that even though the watch has the correct date set, when I download, it keeps telling me that it has stuff from the year 2024 to download.

On the CicloTrainer, you'll need to reset the date occationally in the program after you download to your computer. For instance, if the date says 10/4/2024, it's probably 10/24/2004. This seems to only happen when the day part of the date is 2 digits (so 10/1/2004 will show up as 10/1/2004 but 10/24/2004 will show up as 10/4/2024)

This doesn't happen with the HACtronic nor the CicloTour. If you look in the datafile itself, the date is correct there as well.
 
JSCORNO said:
On the CicloTrainer, you'll need to reset the date occationally in the program after you download to your computer. For instance, if the date says 10/4/2024, it's probably 10/24/2004. This seems to only happen when the day part of the date is 2 digits (so 10/1/2004 will show up as 10/1/2004 but 10/24/2004 will show up as 10/4/2024)

This doesn't happen with the HACtronic nor the CicloTour. If you look in the datafile itself, the date is correct there as well.

This problem that you are discribing has been fixed quite a while ago. You need to download the latest vefrsions of software. http://www.ciclosport.de/