High artifact % with Polar H10 + Forerunner 965 via alphaHRV/BLE (Edge works fine)

General
1

Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out to see if anyone else using a Garmin Forerunner 965 with a Polar H10 strap has experienced a sudden increase in artifact percentage (often exceeding 20% even while sitting still) when recording DFA alpha-1 data via the alphaHRV Connect IQ app.

Here is what I’ve already isolated and tested:

The H10 sensor & strap are working fine: When connected to my Garmin Edge cycling computer using the exact same BLE / alphaHRV setup (even sitting down in the exact same position), artifacts are < 1.0%.

Battery: Fresh battery, contacts cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

Environment: Tested without carrying a smartphone to avoid BLE conflicts.

Troubleshooting done: Removed and re-paired the H10, rebooted the FR965, checked electrode contact and strap tightness.

Despite this, the FR965 consistently suffers from dropped packets / high artifact rates, both when running and when seated. This leads me to believe it might be a firmware-level BLE connection issue or RAM/processing bottleneck on the Forerunner 965 with Connect IQ data fields.

Has anyone else noticed a degradation in HRV/DFA alpha-1 data quality on recent Forerunner 965 software updates? Is there a known workaround or setting tweak?

Thanks for any insights!

2

I got the same Watch and strap but not using the connect IQ data field. Tried to remove the data field and see what happens then?

Hope you’ll figure it out.

3

Double check that it’s connected via BLE and not Ant+ and agree with @Jordi , try without the alphaHRV data field. You still get the full analysis from AIE, just loose real-time HRV/DFA a1 data.

There’s also a step by step instruction here: How to install real-time readiness in alphaHRV in Real-time readiness with alphaHRV and AI Endurance | AI Endurance

4

The strange thing is that it’s always worked fine. I’ve been having this problem for a few weeks now, and sometimes even with the BPM transmission. However, now I’ll try just changing the strap (maybe it’s a little damaged), although it works fine with the Edge on the bike. I’ll also try your advice, uninstalling the app and seeing if the post-analysis signal comes back clear.

Thanks :blush:

5

It was the strap! New one working fine again