Have you updated the trainer’s firmware to unlock FE-C?
(You gotta use an iOS device…the android app won’t do it)
I have a 910, but its not an FE-C device so it won’t work. I don’t know about the 920.
hello,
yes, the vortex has the latest firmware ;-). i’m a happy zwift user and also pretty happy with the current setup. anyway - i’ll try your method in a few minutes again 
edit - i might have wanted to calibrate the trainer paired not as a fe-c device but as power meter device (zwift is fe-c, edge is power from the vortex + speed & cad from gsc10), and not even tried calibrating it on fe-c as fe-c is connected in zwift only…
thanks for your input,
tudor
Yup, you nailed it.
It would be cool if Zwift includes a utility to calibrate while connected with FE-C.
Until then, you’ll have to calibrate it externally.
it worked ;-). basically i’m happy but it sorta sucks 
since first you connect the vortex using fec to the edge, calibrate it, disconnect it, connect it with the power profile, etc…
thanks again,
tudor
first you connect the vortex using fec to the edge, calibrate it, disconnect it
I would suggest using the Tacx Utility app to calibrate instead of the Edge. The Android version of the Tacx Utility app is now available on Google Play.
I’m having another question for you Slowtwitch users:
I have a smart Vortex indoor trainer, Polar 800 watch, Polar heart rate strap, Polar cadence sensor and a Sony Z3 compact (with built in ANT+) android phone (Polar uses bluetooth connection between the devices).
I want to be able to control the Vortex with my phone, but still get heart rate, cadence and power data on my watch.
Since the Vortex has both ANT+ and bluetooth technology my thought was to:
Connect the phone to the Vortex using ANT+ and then connect my watch to the Vortex (and heart rate and cadence) with bluetooth. I’ve been emailing with Tacx support, but they’ve been far from helpful. Do anyone of you have any good advices how this can be done?
By the way, I’ve been doing quite a lot of treshold test on very accurate bikes from the national Olympic Committee, and the power from my Tacx Flow trainer was pretty close to those test, but the Vortex seems to be way off (more than 20%!!!)
Kristian
Hey ,
Idont know if you can help me . i just bought a smart vortex and im having problem . Do i require absolutely ant+ to run on erg mode ?( im on trainerroad )
I thought i could control it with bluetooth . Im using an ipad air 4 and all update done .
Thanks for your reply
Yes, it absolutely needs to communicate using ANT+ with trainerroad or Zwift (…etc) to have the software control the trainer.
Tacx gave developers access to bluetooth control at the end of September, it’s up to Trainerroad to implement it. I would expect that to happen quite soon.
Quick check with those with Bushido, how does the power generator works for Bushido?
Do you need to keep pedaling in order to get the machine and connection run?
Once you stop, say 1 or 5 min your system will all shut down with all data lost?
And when you do paring, setting up programs on PC etc, you need to non-stop pedaling as well?
Sound a bit crazy if this is how it works 
(But I’m interested)
I’m having another question for you Slowtwitch users:
I have a smart Vortex indoor trainer, Polar 800 watch, Polar heart rate strap, Polar cadence sensor and a Sony Z3 compact (with built in ANT+) android phone (Polar uses bluetooth connection between the devices).
I want to be able to control the Vortex with my phone, but still get heart rate, cadence and power data on my watch.
Since the Vortex has both ANT+ and bluetooth technology my thought was to:
Connect the phone to the Vortex using ANT+ and then connect my watch to the Vortex (and heart rate and cadence) with bluetooth. I’ve been emailing with Tacx support, but they’ve been far from helpful. Do anyone of you have any good advices how this can be done?
By the way, I’ve been doing quite a lot of treshold test on very accurate bikes from the national Olympic Committee, and the power from my Tacx Flow trainer was pretty close to those test, but the Vortex seems to be way off (more than 20%!!!)
Kristian
Everything sounds straightforward except controlling via ANT+ from your phone. I do not think the app has Ant+ FE-C control support (since Ant+ phones are so rare and BT is so prevalent). The other question is whether the vortex is happy pairing with a BT computer (your watch) and accepting control commands via ANT+ FE-C. I believe it is, but cannot test it…only Garmin stuff here, so no BT to worry about.
The other question is whether the vortex is happy pairing with a BT computer (your watch) and accepting control commands via ANT+ FE-C.
Unfortunately with the current firmware for the trainer, it will be one or the other, not both. Once a BT connection is made with a Tacx Bushido, Genius, Neo, or Vortex Smart trainer, until the BT connection is released, the trainer is unable to pair or accept ANT+ inputs.
The other question is whether the vortex is happy pairing with a BT computer (your watch) and accepting control commands via ANT+ FE-C.
Unfortunately with the current firmware for the trainer, it will be one or the other, not both. Once a BT connection is made with a Tacx Bushido, Genius, Neo, or Vortex Smart trainer, until the BT connection is released, the trainer is unable to pair or accept ANT+ inputs.
My exeperience is opposite. I have Polar V800 and I laptop with ANT dongle. No problem whatsoever with getting full reading on the watch and being able to control trainer with FE-C (trainer road).
My exeperience is opposite.
Although I was referring to controling trainer resistance being either BT or ANT+, I do stand corrected.
+1, works fine with this setup.
I’ve been using the Vortex for a few weeks now, mostly with Zwift. The power reading seems to be very high comparing to Stages, with variants as much as 50% (e.g. average power on Stages of 130 vs 190 on Vortex). I have calibrated both the Vortex and Stages several times, but the big difference is still there. Anyone has similar issues?
The other question is whether the vortex is happy pairing with a BT computer (your watch) and accepting control commands via ANT+ FE-C.
Unfortunately with the current firmware for the trainer, it will be one or the other, not both. Once a BT connection is made with a Tacx Bushido, Genius, Neo, or Vortex Smart trainer, until the BT connection is released, the trainer is unable to pair or accept ANT+ inputs.
I have a new Vortex Smart, and was unable to get it to send power data to my 920xt watch. It was paired to the Tacx Training app on my iPhone, and once I shut the app, I was able to pair the trainer to the watch and, reopening the app, also control the trainer via the app. So that’s consistent with what you wrote, i.e. the trainer-app BT connection prevented a trainer-watch ANT+ connection, but both were possible as long as I made the ANT+ connection first and then the BT connection.
I have a Vortex and Stages. I too had to make adjustments, but with a little tweaking, the power number are now very close to one another. So much so, that I usually just pair my vortex smart as the powermeter because there are less fluctuations in power (i.e., the vortex has a smoother output).
My advice: Forget using the tacx calibration app for now, you want to calibrate tire contact so that the power readings on the vortex are consistent with the stages. If your Vortex is reading high (higher than the stages), my first suggestion would be to add more contact pressure between the tire and the roller. This ‘should’ bring the predicted power readings from the Vortex down and more in-line with your stages.
I have a Vortex and Stages. I too had to make adjustments, but with a little tweaking, the power number are now very close to one another. So much so, that I usually just pair my vortex smart as the powermeter because there are less fluctuations in power (i.e., the vortex has a smoother output).
My advice: Forget using the tacx calibration app for now, you want to calibrate tire contact so that the power readings on the vortex are consistent with the stages. If your Vortex is reading high (higher than the stages), my first suggestion would be to add more contact pressure between the tire and the roller. This ‘should’ bring the predicted power readings from the Vortex down and more in-line with your stages.
I’ve been playing around with the tightness of the contact between the roller and the tire, but the reading still seem to be off. I may have to be a little more aggressive. How tight do you go? Right now, the Tacx app says it’s too tight already, and when I flip up the lever, the roller makes like 5mm of a dent into the tire. Do I have do more than that?
My case was actually the opposite. I had to loosen the tension down to ‘too loose’ to bring my Vortex numbers ‘up’ to match my Stages.
I actually stopped using the tacx calibration app all together. 5mm of deflection doesn’t seem to be too crazy, so perhaps a little more tension could be added (within reason). Trainers like the KK road machine recommend a whole lot of tire deflection for proper contact (like 4 full rotations of the contact knob after initial contact).
The other way to approach this is to not worry about the power output of the Vortex at all! Set up Zwift to control resistance of your trainer using the Stages meter. Doing so will make any power output readings from the Vortex irrelevant.