Polar S710 Timeout Clarification

[ultrarunner]

I recently bought a Polar s710 on Ebay and I'm hoping someone can clarify the timeout issue for me. I don't do a lot of cycling but I do ultradistance running and I sometimes do runs that require me to stop for food, etc in the middle of the run ... My understanding of the 5 minute timeout thing was that it was more related to inactivity on a bike. Now I'm reading that it's not really related to the bike and it's just a matter of pausing the recording, which may be problematic for me.

Thus, can someone clarify exactly how this works? And is there a way around it (i.e. before the 5 min is up, unpause it for a few seconds and then pause again)? Can't Polar do a firmware upgrade for the watch?

Thanks in advance,
hb

 

[tourdelivermore]

I had a live chat with Polar on this subject.

The timeout fuction on a Polar S720 (same as 710 with the different face) is 30 min. The 5 minute timeout is a software feature on a different/earlier version.

Polar was clear...there is NO software feature that allows you to extend/change this limit.

The trick is to keep the watch close to you. If the HRM picks up your heart beat, it won't time out. When I am on century rides, I stop for lunch and bring the watch with me to avoid this problem.

Alternatively, I asked Polar if I could merge exercises to get around the timeout. They sent me a long convoluted procedure that I wouldn't even attempt.

I hope they address this in the future. I don't see any requirement for a timeout when the HRM is paused, either manually or on the bike.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thanks for the info. Are you saying that as long as the hrm is getting a signal, it will not time out, even if I hit pause? Or are you saying that I just have to leave it running during the break, i.e. the clock has to keep running?

Thanks, again.

Originally posted by tourdelivermore
I had a live chat with Polar on this subject.

The timeout fuction on a Polar S720 (same as 710 with the different face) is 30 min. The 5 minute timeout is a software feature on a different/earlier version.

Polar was clear...there is NO software feature that allows you to extend/change this limit.

The trick is to keep the watch close to you. If the HRM picks up your heart beat, it won't time out. When I am on century rides, I stop for lunch and bring the watch with me to avoid this problem.

Alternatively, I asked Polar if I could merge exercises to get around the timeout. They sent me a long convoluted procedure that I wouldn't even attempt.

I hope they address this in the future. I don't see any requirement for a timeout when the HRM is paused, either manually or on the bike.

 

[rek]

S710 (no i) is 5 minutes
S710i and S720i is 30 minutes

They time out after this long if they don't hear from any sensor. You don't have to keep the timer running, you just have to keep at least one sensor ticking away (the most convenient of which is the HRM strap, by taking the watch with you..)

As far as merging files, there is a small utility called HRMMerge that someone wrote (attached)

What you do is you take the .hrm files out of the PolarHRM directory, remove the split-up exercise records on your calendar thingy, run this utility on them, and then add a new exercise with the "total.hrm" file this utility spits out.

Be warned though, it seems to keep only the lap splits of the most recent split file. You can record the laps manually and add them in later, though (but it's still a bit of a pain.)

 

[tourdelivermore]

rek,

I tried the hrmmerge program without success. I tried running from both windows and the cmd prompt. After looking at the source, it appeared to need parameters...just a guess.

I would greatly appriciate more detail on how to execute the program.

Thanks in advance.

 

[byron27]

i have the s520 and was having the same problems. All i do when i stop for any period of time is pause the recording, put the watch on my wrist.
works a charm

 

[rek]

It's a command line tool; you need to give it the names of the .hrm files you want it to merge.

I usually copy the split .hrm files into their own directory, and then run "hrmmerge *.hrm" from a command prompt inside the directory .. it'll sort out the order of which one goes where by itself by the exercise start times.