Heart rate monitor woes/help

[samcrx3]

I've got a Scientific Oregon Smart Trainer monitor which is giving me the pip badly. I use it just to gauge my training zone level on the road and on the indoor trainer. I ride recreationally but seriously.
My current HRM is not able to achieve a good contact easily. It is positioned correctly and a little contact gel is applied, but it takes ages for it to pick up a signal. Yesterday it picked up the signal but went silly buggers the whole ride, jumping from 191 (which was impossible at the time) to 96 and then back to 0 and the cycle started all over again jumping everywhere. I had put in a new battery.
I think it is time to give that one the boot and get a new one. I've been looking at the Polar HRM perhaps the F6 or F11. Are these HRM better for contact and transmitting the signal to the watch?
Any recommendations? I don't need a fancy one with all the functions you can imagine, just a RELIABLE one.
Also, I find I can't get my heart rate over 160 (I am 40yrs) and I'm finding that my HR climbs slowly and comes down faster. As I'm getting fitter, is it normal to find getting to a target HR harder?
Thanks, I appreciate your ideas.
Sam

 

[violette]

I'm 39 (female) and have the Polar F2. This is my third monitor. I had a LifeSource monitor that I bought that worked fine for about 2yrs, then the watch stopped picking up the signal. I called the company, they didn't know what to tell me.

I bought the Polar 1 month ago and it works fine. It won't pickup the singal well until the chest strap is very moist. It can take up to 10 minutes. It will go from 50, jump to 210, then back to 90 within 5 seconds. I can't find a gell anywere so I have to use my saliva (yawk).

 

[pwebster]

I'm 39 (female) and have the Polar F2. This is my third monitor. I had a LifeSource monitor that I bought that worked fine for about 2yrs, then the watch stopped picking up the signal. I called the company, they didn't know what to tell me.

I bought the Polar 1 month ago and it works fine. It won't pickup the singal well until the chest strap is very moist. It can take up to 10 minutes. It will go from 50, jump to 210, then back to 90 within 5 seconds. I can't find a gell anywere so I have to use my saliva (yawk).

Hello,

If you're in the US and you want HRM gel you can contact -

Chattanooga Group
Hixson, TN 37343
phone 1-423-870-2281
phone 1-800-592-7329

The product is called Conductor Transmission gel ref 4248 (its the same stuff used with ultrasound machines). They are a drug wholesaler so they cannot sell direct to you but they will be able to give you the name of a pharmacy that carries their product. I had the pharmacy ship a big jug of the stuff (> gallon) and the price was very reasonable (especially considering how expensive it is to buy small tubes of the stuff). Your HRM should pick up a signal much quicker with the gel.

best regards.

PW

 

[RelevantAaron]

I had (well I still have it) a Polar CS200. I found some quality issues with the unit itself and definitely prone to interference from high power lines. And the signal didn't just go out - it erased all my ride data. The last time that happened it was at the end of a 55 miles very hill and hard effort

Just an FYI that there are some known Polar issues. I use a Garmin 305 now and it has been flawless, but probably overkill for what you want feature wise.