Forums >Gears and Wears>Garmin Foot Pod
Has anyone had trouble getting their foot pod to work? Mine spaces out when I hop on the treadmill. The pace goes blank and then gives me a reading of anywhere between 30-50. I tested it off the treadmill and it seems to be accurate. Hop back on and the pace, after going blank again, gives me the same kind of reading. I've changed the battery, used it in my shoe, out of my shoe, tied it tight to my laces to prevent maybe any extra movement my foot makes on the treadmill vs. floor. One suggestion by the Garmin rep was that there may be some wireless interference going on from the treadmill (though my treadmill's about 20 years old) so I tried it on another new model (more likely to have wireless interference) and it did the same exact thing.
Are you turning off the GPS while on the treadmill ?
Yes, it is turned off.
Is the treadmill ANT+ equipt? Just wondering if the signal from the footpod is getting interference from the treadmill.
Sounds like you need to contact Garmin support or go on the Garmin forums and do a little searching.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
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The interference theory is easy enough to test. Run next to the treadmill with the treadmill on and see if you get the proper reading. If not, turn off the treadmill and see if that makes a difference. Although all electronic devices have some label saying they do not interfere with other devices, most of them do.
Is the treadmill ANT+ equipt? Just wondering if the signal from the footpod is getting interference from the treadmill. Sounds like you need to contact Garmin support or go on the Garmin forums and do a little searching.
Well, it's a really basic treadmill and very old (almost 20 yrs). There's nothing on the treadmill itself or in the manual that says "ANT+". I did just learn (from a call to my local store that sells treadmills) that the older models like mine used to have warnings for people with pacemakers as they would cause interference.
I have contacted Garmin a couple of times but they have no further suggestions. I've also scoured the forums as well as searched the forums here. Sometimes, though, the savvy folks here can tell you more than the company can.
jackalope, when I ran right next to the treadmill (less than a foot away), it worked, but as soon as I took a step onto the belt the pace blanked out and then went to high numbers. I'll probably keel over soon from ~20 years of whatever's been emitting from my treadmill! :P
Electromagnetic interference is why I switched to a gas-powered treadmill.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
I'll keep this in mind as I'll probably be shopping for a new treadmill sooner than later!