How to use Polar T31 coded hrm in TTS4

[Devilbike]

Hi all,

I was just wondering is there any thing you need to do in the TTS4 software to register the Polar T31 coded hrm unit?
Also does anyone know how to create new training workouts , I have tried but the button for start training remains greyed out no matter what.
Many thanks in advance.

[wilf]

I was just wondering is there any thing you need to do in the TTS4 software to register the Polar T31 coded hrm unit?

You need a Tacx interface T1925 or T1932 for iMagic or FORTIUS. If you are using a smart trainer with bluetooth or ANT+ no way.

[ms6073]

Also does anyone know how to create new training workouts , I have tried but the button for start training remains greyed out no matter what.

The button remains disabled until a trainer has been paired via the TTS Device Manager and the trainer is powered on. What trainer are you using with TTS? If it is a legacy Bushido, Genius, or other trainer that does not need to be plugged into the mains, then you will need to pedal the bike in order to 'wake up' the trainer.

[mcorn]

If it is a legacy Bushido, Genius, or other trainer that does not need to be plugged into the mains, then you will need to pedal the bike in order to 'wake up' the trainer.

Maybe I have forgotten something, but the only Tacx legacy trainer that I am aware of that is self-powered is the Bushido. I think all the others require external power.

By the way, I thought the self-power only Bushido design (I have one) was a terrible design choice. It made calibrating , firmware updating, and connecting a total PITA. If having self-power was seen as being a useful feature in some circumstances (I could never figure out what they were), there should have always been an additional plug-in option, like the Neo. Having a plug-in power cord would have been a very small additional manufacturing cost.

This was one of a number of very poor design choices by Tacx over the years. The worst was the Fortius power supply which sent electrical energy created by the brake back into the grid. Some marketing genius thought this would be a wonderful green "Eco" feature (nonsense, by the way). Besides releasing 110 volt units in the US that had a fatal self-destruct flaw, these power supply designs were typically not in compliance with electrical utility regulations, which generally are quite stringent about proper certification of equipment that puts power back into the grid.

[ms6073]

While I never owned a Vortex, pretty sure the Vortex, like the Bushido, and Genius legacy trainers were all able to be used without being plugged into an external power source. Additionally, the Genius supposedly had the ability to return power back to the 'grid' when plugged in. So why was an un-powered trainer useful? In my case, before I retired from racing cyclocross, I would pack the Bushido in a Tacx' carrying case and take it to the races, which allowed me to warmup with a pre-programmed routine before the race. Although these days pros warmup on the Neo and Flux, I recall in 2012/2013 during television coverage of the Grand Tours, seeing Tacx sponsored pro teams riding Bushido's during warmup for time trial events.

[mcorn]

While I never owned a Vortex, pretty sure the Vortex, like the Bushido, and Genius legacy trainers were all able to be used without being plugged into an external power source. Additionally, the Genius supposedly had the ability to return power back to the 'grid' when plugged in. So why was an un-powered trainer useful? In my case, before I retired from racing cyclocross, I would pack the Bushido in a Tacx' carrying case and take it to the races, which allowed me to warmup with a pre-programmed routine before the race. Although these days pros warmup on the Neo and Flux, I recall in 2012/2013 during television coverage of the Grand Tours, seeing Tacx sponsored pro teams riding Bushido's during warmup for time trial events.

I think the only other computer trainer that could be used without being plugged in was the Imagic/Flow because it was an eddy current design with both fixed and electro magnets. Without being plugged in, it produced a non-variable resistance from the fixed magnets. I always had to plug in my Vortex and Genius to make it work. Maybe you had a different model.

You are right that the Genius was advertised as having the "powerback" feature, but I believe it too was a non-compliant device pumping power (and maybe EMI) back into the grid.

I think there were a number of users like you who appreciated having a race day unit like the Bushido for warmup, which was part of the marketing angle. But my sense is this was a very limited niche racing market product. Never understood why this limited use is any better than an inexpensive resistance trainer like a Satori for that purpose. I seem to recall seeing quite a few TDF racers warming up and cooling down with a Satori.

[ms6073]

Never understood why this limited use is any better than an inexpensive resistance trainer like a Satori for that purpose.

The advantage of the Bushido was that I could create the workouts in TTS, export them to the Bushido head unit, then come race day, setup the bike, turn on the head unit and start the workout, then pedal until finished. While I never owned/used a Satori, judging by the images, it had a simple resistance lever thus you had to both pay attention to elapsed time and manually change resistance which was far from the 5-watt increments of using pre-programmed workouts on the Bushido.

[mcorn]

I think you are totally correct. The Satori is a manually switched device, so if you wanted pre-programmed workouts for warm-ups, the Bushido would be better.