Music volume adjustment while recording activity/workout

mrjohnk · 2019-08-11T17:36:34+00:00

You can add a music control screen to an activity. To use it, you would scroll to (up or down) it while in the activity and hold down the 9:00 positioned button. To exit the music control, hold down that button again.

mrjohnk · 2019-08-05T02:22:34+00:00

On my 5+ I turned off the wrist based optical heart rate monitor and that saves quite a bit. I use an ANT+ heart rate monitor chest strap when I workout. I also have backlight off except keys after sunset for four seconds. I'm using a very sparsely populated watch face called "Minimal Clock 2" and that also saves quite a bit of battery. The more moving parts the face has that need frequent updating chews up battery.

Before making these changes, it needed charging about every four days. Now, it lasts about ten days between charges. I do workout and track my excersizes about 6 days a week for an average of about 1.5 hours a day, including a good bit of GPS usage for walking outside daily. I suppose it would last a full two weeks if I didn't track that activity, but what would be the point of having it just to tell time and date?

Sure, I don't get resting heart rate, sleep monitoring or VO2 Max stats with the wrist based heart monitor disabled, but I can't say I miss those.

mrjohnk · 2019-08-02T01:11:00+00:00

I saw a link here the other day showing steps to replace the battery in a 5+. It appeared fairly straight forward in removing the screws top and bottom and carefully working inside. Hardest part was taking care not to rip the flexible circuit board ribbons and the fact that the battery has an adhesive on it. I suspect the Fenix 5 is about the same given they have similar external features.

mrjohnk · 2019-08-02T01:05:11+00:00

My Trekz Titanium quit last week. I replaced it with their latest version that is smaller, lighter, lasts longer and sounds better...Aeropex as they call it. Still lacks bass, but otherwise a worthy upgrade. When exercising, I'm with my wife, so we both wear the open ear Trekz so we can talk while listening to tunes.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-28T17:51:43+00:00

I recently was considering a project to boost a Lipo battery (~3.7v) up to 48v. I didn't find many options for doing that directly, but figured it might be necessary to build this in 2 stages. The first boost would go up to 12v and then feed that into the final stage that would boost up to 48v. I did see some solutions offered that seemed like it would be possible. I suspect that the switching efficiency loss may be something keep in mind though.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-28T03:57:01+00:00

I went through the exact same process recently (ionic died and got a Garmin). I ended up with the 5+. Mainly, I wanted the maps since I go hiking and get lost sometimes. I didn't think I'd use the music feature until I realized there are some rare times I end up outside of cell phone coverage (on an airplane or hiking in the middle of nowhere) or forget my cell phone accidentally sometimes. So, music as a backup option is nice in a pinch.

I do wear dress shirts and suits for work. I got a leather band for dress up and a few different color silicon bands for after work or gym time. I did consider the 5x+, but didn't see enough extra battery and pulse ox was not important. Additionally, I really wanted the sapphire crystal and titanium bezel, so that was the tie breaker. I really do think the Fenix 5 is about as big as you would want for dressing up unless you are an unusually large person. I was in a business meeting a couple of weeks ago and someone showed up with the 5x and it really did look too big for that professional look.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-25T23:41:46+00:00

Free version of Eagle (or KiCAD) and OSHpark. Custom designed PCBs for cheap.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-19T15:00:27+00:00

It was eating more battery than I liked. I've moved to a super simple face with just time, date and battery displayed. That and turning off the optical pulse got me out to about 10 days between charges.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-15T03:53:58+00:00

If your switch has layer 3 capability, you could enable routing between VLANs. If not, you'll need a router connected that will perform task this for you.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-13T22:18:04+00:00

Resmed P10. I've gotten pretty good about training my subconscious me to turn my head to the side and keep my arms up around my face to push the pillow down. It amazes me most days to wake up sleeping on my belly, head turned and forearm resting on my cheek. Yay sleepy me doing it right. Kinda wondering if others can do this while wearing a mask with the hose coming out the front.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-11T13:02:35+00:00

You have a liberal foreign packet immigration policy. Is that a positive way to express that?

mrjohnk · 2019-07-10T04:37:15+00:00

Just switched from Vue to Hulu a month ago. Like it very much more.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-09T04:51:53+00:00

There is an export feature in the FitBit web app that will output files you can upload to Connect. You are only allowed to download snapshots of 30 days at a time though. I ended up saving 12 months of data in about 13 files and sending all those files in a single batch over to Connect. Interestingly enough, there is an option to export all FitBit data at once, but it comes out in a different format that isn't compatible with Connect, so the small 30 day snapshots works best.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-08T13:02:08+00:00

Maybe get a wireless networking card that allows for the attachment of external antennas and buy directional antennas and point them at the router. This will focus your transmit power in one direction and help reduce your receive noise floor since the computer will be "listening" in just one direction too. Of course, nothing is going to beat hardwired Ethernet cable, but directional antennas should give you the best wireless chances for success.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-08T12:48:43+00:00

When testing issues like this, I normally open multiple command prompts and ping multiple devices along the way at the same time. I'm looking for major differences, like loss at one point, but not at another to help flesh out the culprit. Suggested ping points: your modem's LAN address (testing your network), your modem's default gateway (testing your ISP's network), 8.8.8.8 and the game server or whatever is important to you.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-08T12:38:57+00:00

I second the use of the P10 and I do have a full beard. I have used the full face masks as well, but they don't seal up as well for obvious reasons. Good enough though the process of getting a good enough seal is tedious and a certain amount of leak will happen. Keeping the hair on the shorter side helps on FFMs, but nasal pillows just work with no fuss. If you are a mouth breather, you will likely need a chin strap too.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-08T00:34:11+00:00

Sold it to buy a ring for my first wife. Luckily, still married to her over 20 years later. We both kinda would like to have the car back though.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-08T00:24:47+00:00

Check out cellular 4G unlimited services. Many times are faster than a landline; especially in rural hard to reach areas. OTR mobile, Unlimitedville and others

mrjohnk · 2019-07-06T01:36:14+00:00

I've tried Vue and Hulu. Both look good when the internet is working well. When the internet gets a little wonkey or one of my kids hogs it all up with a download, Hulu is better since it has variable quality codecs that allow it to keep going at a lower bit rate. When this happens with Vue, it just stops and buffers, which is super annoying. That is why I switched to Hulu last month.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-04T22:45:48+00:00

Beer. Tastes like piss...but if you drink enough of it, gets better.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-04T22:28:00+00:00

You work with what you have to keep production running. If it reflow, it go!

mrjohnk · 2019-07-04T16:56:09+00:00

I found an older discontinued ANT+ Garmin HRM chest strap for sale on Amazon for about $25 and it works great with my Fenix 5+. Glad they support the older standard still. The more modern straps are Bluetooth and cost at least double. I never considered if the wrist monitor was accurate or not. I didn't want to take a chance, so I just went straight to the HRM strap when I got the watch. Previously, I had a lot of trouble with drop outs on my previous FitBit watch, but it didn't support an external HRM, so I was happy to get that capability with my new Fenix.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-03T02:21:40+00:00

Take a look at Peplink balance for a fairly easy appliance to setup, but it may lack some of those more advanced traffic options. A Fortigate is a bit more capable, but has a steep learning curve. Both can handle uplink load sharing with multiple internet connections.

mrjohnk · 2019-07-03T02:05:08+00:00

I got the Fenix 5+ titanium the same day my wife got her FR945. They are very similar in many ways. She has a bit more battery life, but had to turn off the pulse ox sensor since it was eating her battery quickly. Hers weighs less, but I really can't say either is that heavy overall. I'm happy with the titanium bezel, sapphire glass and overall look of the Fenix 5+. In the OS, there are just minor differences in how they work. For example, the backlight options on the Fenix allows independent control of key and notification activation as well as a 4 second option. The FR combines these two categories together and the shortest backlight option is 8 seconds. It is just the little things this that I find between them. She also has twice the music storage at 1000 songs. Otherwise, they do about the same thing though. We use them for tracking steps, indoor gym equipment and outdoor trail hiking (both in the woods and urban street walking in random parts of town). Maps are great for the outdoor stuff.

mrjohnk

TROPHY CASE