HR Strap Frequency compatibility
1210
Member
1340 days
UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
You have 4 straps? Can I buy one or two? I lost my Nike strap last week.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
5318
Member
1999 days
kylie posted 1 year ago.
I don't think so -- my understanding is that they use different encodings. If no one knows for sure, send me a message and I can test it out to be sure.
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
195
Member
705 days
GGehrke posted 1 year ago.
I want to say that Polar and Garmin ARE compatible. I had a cheap polar watch based HRM and I am pretty sure it would pick up my Garmin strap and vice versa, but it's been a while since I used that. I know my Garmin and PowerTap straps are not compatible, though (boo!)
118
Member
670 days
gshuldes posted 1 year ago.
They are not compatible. Garmin uses ANT protocol, which operates at 2.4Ghz. Polar's system operates at 5khz. I have a Garmin 305 that I use for everything outdoors, and a basic Polar unit that I use with the "Polar compatible" machines at the Gym. I have tried interchanging the straps, and it does not work.
81
Member
679 days
M posted 1 year ago.
Our gym has machines that do not work with Polar but do seem to work with Garmin (at least until I had to send my 301 in for warranty work--btw they were willing to honor it even though it was about a month over time).
Anyway, I'm just curious about what you'd be looking to do with the compatibility. As far as I know, buying the 305 = buying the computer + chest strap (+USB cord, wall charger, etc), so it wouldn't save you money. Also, I think my 301 strap wouldn't work with a 305 anyway, so they wouldn't have a 'customer loyalty' reason to sell the unit separately. If you're just looking to not have 4 unused straps around, I can totally understand that motivation, too.
--M
Does any know if a Polar HR transmitter will work with the Garmin and visa-versa? I have 4 polar compatible straps and I'm considering switching to a Garmin 305.