Yep, I got rid of the Stages and bought a real power meter.

ANT+ line of sight is easily 30 feet. Walking around the garage with the Zwift running and bike on the trainer continues to display my HR on the big screen.

The wireless issue is common to stages I believe. Besides isn't that the power meter that epoxies onto a crankarm with a special epoxy, and they have different models for different crankarms due to various crankarm materials plasticity? That method may output some values that can be calibrated in watts of power, but it'd be a real challenge getting accuracy and precision out of such a system.

Get a watch that reads the Bluetooth signal, that will solve the issue too.

I've herd a lot of folks have problems with Stages connecting to a watch. When I had a Stages, it always connected to my 510 just fine. No drop outs. I'm on a large Shiv with the 510 mounted just behind my wrists between the aero bars.

Do you have any hydration mounted on your aerobars?

My personal experience tells me it's not specific to Stages or the 920. If I wear my 910 on my left wrist, I get intermittent drop-outs from my Quarq Riken. I do have a BTA bottle. Right wrist seems to reduce drop-outs. 910 mounted via the quick release between the aero bar grips makes the drop-out go away completely. I solved the issue this year by picking up a used Garmin 500 for $50. I have both 910 (on left wrist) and 500 (on bars) running during races but rely on the 500 for good data during and post-race. The drop-outs to my 910 are pretty insignificant. During a typical 30-40 minute sprint tri ride, the difference in AP captured between the 910 and 500 is about 3 or 4 watts (910 being lower). So very intermittent drop-outs. I suppose projected out to a HIM or IM the lower AP shown on the wrist-mounted 910 would be an issue.

I used to have that problem with an older watch and my power meter being a PT in the hub waaaaay back there. Worked fine indoors because the signal could bounce off walls and get to the watch. But outdoors kept dropping out all the time. No solution from me except my sympathy - you aren't crazy. I've seen it happen.

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Thanks all. I hadn't thought of RH. I'll try that.

I use a PT and when I put my Garmin 500 on my wrist, it drops the powermeter all the time. I have a high hand position so the computer is pretty well shielded by body parts. I don't know about the differences in signal strength, but I am thinking of trying Bluetooth on the PT and upgrading the computer.

Fresh battery helps with signal strength too.

Tried that as well. Reception still stinks. Makes me wonder what f the newer Garmins might have a better antenna

I've heard of Stages units not picking up on Garmin 520/820 units mounted on 'out the front' mounts. The solution given was to mount their head units on the stem..... and that usually solved the problem... however both parties were not too impressed with the aesthetics as they'd chosen out the front mounts for a reason.

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My 910 cut out frequently. I had to hold the perfect position with my watch turned on the inside of my wrist. No issues with Fenix 3. I still turn the watch to the inside of my wrist, as I find it easier to read while in aero position.

500 mounted in front of BTA bottle never dropped a signal. 820 is the same.

This is partially due to the Garmin antenna and partially due to the weak transmit signal strength of the Stages power meter. I've used a 4iiii Precision power meter paired with a 920XT on my wrist without any dropout issues. Same result with the 910XT on my wrist when paired with a 4iiii Precision, no dropout issues.

No dropouts with a 520 on either an aerobar mount or on top of a BTA.

Same here (but with a 510).

I keep hearing...."I've heard". I just don't get why people won't listen to the people who have these pairings. I'm not hearing actual users complain.

Yep, I got rid of the Stages and bought a real power meter.[/quote]
+1

Iron Dukie wrote:

Yep, I got rid of the Stages and bought a real power meter.

+1[/quote]
What head unit were you using with the Stages?

I have 2 friends who purchased Stages PM this summer, for their TT bikes. They both had the constant, very frequent dropouts (at least every minutes).
Both used garmin watches. Bike shop replaced the batteries in the PM, then sold them Garmin 520 head units. Still didn,t work correctly.

I paired my polar V800 watch (Bluetooth) and got no dropouts while their Garmin 520 constantly got dropouts. We also tried with an IPhone and got no dropouts. So now, 1 is using her IPhone and the other bought a Polar headunit. So it seems like the Bluetooth signal of the Stages is good whilt the ANT signal is weak.

Edge 510, 910XT, Fenix 3, and Trainerroad, Zwift and Perfpro all had the same problems - none of them gave consistent, accurate power readings for more then a few weeks at a time very often. The Stages unit had to be serviced 6-8 times/year, regardless of whether it was ridden outdoors, indoors only, or not at all. It was replaced twice in 2 1/2 years and I still continued to have the same problems with the replacement units. After 2 1/2 years my LBS gave me a full refund because the device never worked properly from day one, and neither did any of the replacements.

Have you had issues with other PMs?

I've used a number of other PMs without any major issues, including multiple powertap hub-based units, a Quarq and a Pioneer. Yesterday I purchased some PT P1 pedals and had issues with the signal dropping briefly, but nothing like the problems I had with the Stages.