Bluetooth Problem

[thesaint]

I have purchased a Polar heart rate monitor (chest-band). It transmits "smart" bluetooth.
My Windows 7 only receives "classic" bluetooth.
So, I've ordered from Amazon a usb bluetooth receiver which will receive "Classic" or "Smart" signals.
This may solve half the problem but part 2 is that I cannot find a heatbeat application which will load onto W7.
I do also have a chromebook which can pair with the Polar device - but being a Chromebook I cannot load an application onto that either.
I also have a 2012 asus Nexus 7. It can install a suitable application - but its bluetooth is only "Classic".
Will I find a solution before my suspect heart wears out!

 

[Britton30]

It would seem the vendor of the heart monitor is lacking in support if it won't work on modern devices. Have you contacted them for new firmware/software?

 

[thesaint]

Thanks for trying to help "Britton 30".
However; you have misunderstood my problem. The Polar device is up to date as it transmits on the "Smart" bluetooth system - but my W7 & N7 only receive Bluetooth on the old "Classic" bluetooth system.

 

[Britton30]

I got that part, but you also say the programs won't load, or there is none?

 

[thesaint]

The heart-rate system is intended to work in the following manner:- Wear the monitor belt in front of your heart. This monitor sends out a "Smart" bluetooth signal. When a computer equipped with a "Smart" Bluetooth receiver picks up that signal, it pairs the Computer and remote monitor belt. Then you use an application you have had to install on the computer. This application collects the heartbeat information and displays and stores it within its program. It seems that these applications can only be installed on newer Smartphones or tablets. Not on older systems such as W7 or my N7

 

[Britton30]

Oh, OK. It may be designed that way since Bluetooth has a very short range? I mean, I don't they would anticipate a user just sitting with a monitor nor carrying a PC, of course.
It kind of makes sense one would want a portable device to see the results.

 

[thesaint]

Yes; you are probably correct that a larger computer would not usually be available whilst using a heart rate monitor. However it is disappointing that I cannot use my tablet with it.
I have just realised that you seem to have been very tolerant to my query; you could have said "You do not need all that equipment to just check your heartrate, you could just manually take your pulse".
Well, I get an irregular heartbeat and the appropriate equipment picks up and displays that occurrence.

 

[carwiz]

You need a Bluetooth adaptor that conforms to BT-4.0 or above. Preferably BT-4.1. This is relatively new so I doubt that you'll see the 4.0 adaptor installed in devices prior to last year or this year for 4.1. Just browsing the Polar site reveals they support numerous monitors and some have software available. You might try the support area and see what they have.

Polar Support.

 

[carwiz]

Digging a little deeper in that site makes me think you purchased the wrong product. The monitors seem to all be designed for mobile use. Polar even supplies the mobile app for some devices while suggesting others that are available. The problem is the device I looked at (Wearlink+) was designed for smart phone use. And I'm confused about the Bluetooth requirement. It's says it's BT-2.0 compatible.

 

[Britton30]

Yes; you are probably correct that a larger computer would not usually be available whilst using a heart rate monitor. However it is disappointing that I cannot use my tablet with it.
I have just realised that you seem to have been very tolerant to my query; you could have said "You do not need all that equipment to just check your heartrate, you could just manually take your pulse".
Well, I get an irregular heartbeat and the appropriate equipment picks up and displays that occurrence.

Not at all, I have heart issues myself but no monitoring.

It should have been made so the Bluetooth is backwards compatible with earlier versions.

 

[thesaint]

Good Evening Britton 30 and Carwiz,
I have ordered a USB 4.0 Bluetooth Receiver which should provide me with a "smart" receiver on the Windows 7 laptop. Thus the W7 will be able to detect the heart-rate chest monitor. But, as you have noticed "Carwiz"; a compatible app has not yet been found which loads onto a laptop.
However; a desired app ("Heart Tracker Pro") will install on my old Nexus 7.
So one thing I am going to try is to see if I can use the new 4.0 bluetooth adaptor on to the "USB" socket of the N7. I know that the problem with that is that the socket on a N7 tablet is much smaller than the standard USB which will be fitted to the new 4.0 adaptor. I will overcome that because I have ordered a Female to Female USB joiner. I will then use the standard power cable for the N7, plug one end into the N7 and the other end into the new joiner. At the other end of the joiner I will plug in the new 4.0 unit. It,s all good fun and will probably fail because the N7 may not be happy to have the 4.0 plugged into it!
Sorry; I prattle on more than my wife!
Regards from Ron

 

[Britton30]

Good luck Ron, we hope it will work for you.

 

[thesaint]

Update on Bluetooth problem.
I have now fitted a USB emulater and thus allowed my Windows 7 to operate with "Bluetooth 4.0" ("Smart" or "BLE"). So now I have paired my " Smart" Polar H6 heart monitor with my W7. Then I installed "Bluestacks" - which allows you install android apps onto a Windows computer. Next I installed Android's "Heart Tracker". Sadly, currently, the app will not play correctly as when I click " Start"; instead of starting the app the screen reverts to the home page of "Bluestacks". I have written to " Bluestacks" & "Heart Tracker". No replies yet!

 

[carwiz]

+1 on the Rep for reporting back. This is good information to know; However, it is Beta and the links use a Bitly link which I block so I couldn't review it. Being beta, there may not be much support for it other than to report problems.

Be careful what information you share with Bluestacks. Their agreement allows them to use anything you provide, including system specs, and share it with others. It also states they will track what you download. Not just downloaded with Bluestacks software but also any download to your system. This sounds to me like a serious invasion of privacy. It also sounds like the software includes some hidden logger with a backdoor link. I would check your system to see what's running.

Corrected link - apparently, this site blocks it too.

 

[thesaint]

Thanks for that "carwiz",
I have just checked my "task manager". I think it looks ok with 1 user (me); the only applications running are mail, google and this forum. I do notice however that most of the services have my name attached to them but there are about 7 that have no name against them. e.g. atieclxx.exe
As for anyone knowing what I download - I'm 77 and have almost lost interest in naughty things! However; I do bank on-line
Regards from Ron

 

[carwiz]

77 don't mean anything! I think atieclxx.exe is part of the ATI graphics support. If your PC doesn't have ATI graphics hardware, I'd be concerned but since it does you should be ok. The loggers and trackers would most likely be a Service. It wouldn't show up in the Processes list of task manager. Run your updated AV scanner just for grins.

 

[thesaint]

Good Evening "Carwiz",
Excuse my possible ignorance; but what is "grins".
Also, which Scanner are you suggesting - I have several possibilities:-
Ccleaner, TUU, Malwarebytes Pro, Eusing, Microsoft Security Essentials, Auslogics, Glary Utilites, Hitman Pro, ADW Cleaner, F Secure online scanner, and Mcfee Security scan plus.
Of course I dont need any of these on my "Chromebook"!

 

[carwiz]

Sorry. Grins is a US slang meaning to do something that produces amusement, glee or other pleasing emotion.

That's a lot of AV stuff running. Run Malwarebytes' full scan.

 

[thesaint]

Good Afternoon from the UK "carwiz",
Having just run "Malwarebytes" and not found any nastiness; I can report that my lips are spread out to their widest extent.
Regards from Ron

 

[Britton30]

Good to hear Ron.

"Grins" is also a shortened form of "Grins and Giggles" meaning more or less, let's do it for the fun of it.