HR102 Heart Rate Monitor by Oregon Scientific

SUMMARY: The heart rate monitor works great. It is a great no-frills unit for the price. The manual is a little weak.

I have been using this heart rate monitor for a few weeks now, and for the most part I am happy with it. I chose it for price (less than $30 from Amazon.com) and because I own another piece of electrnics from Oregon Scientific that I am pleased with. When I first got it, I strapped it on, and start working out, and it worked great. The next time I went to using it, it didn’t register my heart rate right away but then soon did. The third time I tried I couldn’t get it to register my heart rate. I began to think I got a bum model. But after I worked up a sweat, I tried it again, and it worked. I began thinking the batteries were low, and it would only register my HR after it really got pumping. Then I read the manual. Lo and behold, I wanted to strap it UNDER my pecks, though one of the drawings looks like it goes over the pecks. Also, I wanted to dampen it, so it would make good contact. So once I started strapping it below my pecks, and dampening it first, it has worked great.

I tried to set it up to beep if my heart rate rose above 151, but I didn’t hear it beep. Maybe it was drowned out by the TV.

One thing I am concerned about is whether it uses a coded signal. I would like to use it when I run a marathon, and would hate to have it rendered useless from cross feed. To be able to store data, and download it into my computer would be cool, but I don’t know if I would get much use from it.

I may look at buying Polar with a few more features. But for now the Oregon Scientific HR102 Heart Rate Monitor works great!
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Posted by Rob in Reviews on August 29th, 2006 |