I just bought a Polar 725x, I’m very pleased with it but there’s been one issue which has been bothering me since I bought it. In order to upload your workouts to the Polar training software you need to use an IRDA USB, so I went out and bought one of those for around $5 (ebay) and tried to upload my latest workout
At the beginning when plugging in the IRDA USB my computer asks me for a software to instal the new hardware found by the machine (which I don’t have since the IRDA USB is similar to a memory stick which doesn’t come with an installation software). Then, Polar’s procedure is to put the watch in front of the IRDA USB in order for the infrared signal to be recognized (showing a small icon in the task bar on the left corner of the screen); when doing this, nothing shows on my computer so there’s no signal going from the watch to the IRDA USB.
My question is: Is the IRDA USB not beign recognized by the computer hence the lack of communication between the IRDA USB and the Polar watch? Is there a special set up in order to sync the IRDA USB with Polar’s software (as far as I can tell from their website there isn’t)? Has any one had this issue before either with the 725x or 625x models?
I know there was a Polar representative posting here before Christmas, so it’d be really helpful if him or anybody else could give me a hand with this since I’d like to keep track of my workout through the Polar software.
I’m not sure if I’m capable of helping much, but I’ll take a shot.
First, I know Polar makes and recommends their own brand of IRDA USB. People have told me that they’ve used other brands without a problem, so I’m not sure whether that’s a possible issue. I use the polar brand one and don’t know about compatibility with any others.
Second, it is possible that the IRDA USB you bought should have came with software. I know a lot of hardware still requires software installation.
Finally, the 725 has a connectivity setting that you can get to by pushing the top righthand button and then clicking the red button to initiate it. It’s not clear from your post if you were using that setting or just placing the watch near the port.
Hopefully, some of that helps. If not, hopefully someone else can provide more insight.
You should check the settings in the ProTrainer software (Options → Preferences → Hardware) to make sure the right port/interface is being used. I think it should be set to IrDA. If changing the port doesn’t work, then you’ll need to install the correct drivers for the device. Here’s a link to Polar’s Support document, it’s for an RS800 but the software configuration is the same: http://support.polar.fi/PKBSupport.nsf/ALLDOCS/42256C2B001E0F6AC22571FD00423DA5?OpenDocument
I don’t know the specific details of your configuration. In my situation, I purchased a USB-IRDA adapter from NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com/...Item=N82E16833328201). It required drivers to be installed with Windows XP, which were included with the device. If this is the device that you have, you can download the drivers at http://it.us.syba.com/.../42/01/06/index.html. Once the device was installed with the correct drivers, the Polar ProTrainer software was able to download workouts from my S625X.
If you are using Windows Vista, I recall there being some issues with the ProTrainer software and downloads. I don’t know the specifics, but if you search on the Polar-RS_SD_X Yahoo Group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Polar-RS_SD_X/) you can read them yourself. The Polar Support Library has information on Vista too.
I guess the biggest point is there is nothing special or proprietary about the Polar USB-IRDA adapter. I routinely download workouts to my PDA with MySportTraining. I also have the MySportTraining software running on my PC and can download workout files with the PC software too. I’ve also used the Polar WebLink software to upload to polarpersonaltrainer.com from my laptop. Polar publishes the specifications for downloading workouts from their monitors. I believe there are even some open-source projects that can download the workout files.