Heart Rate Monitors

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

Teddy Lancaster wrote:
> 
> It does not matter that Roger no longer uses Polar.  he has done extensive
> research and found companies with less "hype" and just a much "product".  He
> still stand by the performance of V-Max and they are still the BEST Equine
> adapted heart monitors on the market.
>

Pardon me, but did I say he didn't?

As I remember what he told me, Polar's patent ran out and they
now face competition.  Other manufacturers are now producing
better products (both transmitters and receivers) at lower prices
than the Polars.  The chief advantages of the lines he uses now
(he uses more than one, and when I last spoke with him at ECTRA,
he was switching again) are:

 - The transmitters transmit their signal at a more frequent
   interval.  Thus, you don't get the big delay between the
   time when your horse changes gait up or down and the time
   the receiver unit begins to display the new heart rate.

   This can also help with the problems people (like me) have
   where their signal is a bit iffy at faster gaits due to factors
   like electrode movement.  The receiver has a better chance
   of deducing a heartrate to display when it gets more frequent
   data.

 - The batteries are user-replaceable.  You used to have to
   mail your Polar to Roger when the battery ran out and he would
   replace the battery.  He continued to service the old Polars
   he had sold for customers even after he went to the new brands,
   but at ECTRA he told me he was going to stop doing even that,
   and gave me the instructions for sending the stuff to Denmark
   (or is it the Netherlands?) where Polar actually is.

tivers@aol.com wrote:

> Last one I got from him, a few months ago, was a Polar. What's he using now? 
> The key was his electrode setup--not necessarily the Polar watch.

To not-answer Ivers, I don't know what brands or transmitters
and receivbers he is using now.  (Whatever might be marked on the
unit is covered with the V-Max brand name.) Roger, alas, no longer
posts on Ridecamp.  If you are really curious--and I can see that
you might be, as I recall it was you who first found Polars to be
effective for measuring horse heartbeats and actually started the
company and then sold it to Roger--contact him directly
at:  info@vmaxept.com

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA


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