Training & Nutrition - HRM problems - is this normal or should I return it?

I purchased a Sports Instruments Pro 9 HRM about a week ago. I chose it for its wide range of features, which, I have to admit are pretty impressive (i.e. Five HR zones, time spent in each zone, average HR, dual timers, memory, etc.) Problem is reception. If I hold the watch in front of me, it picks up the signal just fine. If I hold the watch 90 degrees to my side or even just on my wrist at my side, it completely loses the signal. I've replaced the batteries in the sensor and the watch to no avail.

Is this normal, or do other brands have issues like this too? This pretty much means I can't even jog with it. Are there other units with 5 zones?

Your HRM is either defective or a poorly designed. I would take it back where you bought it and exchange it for a Polar HRM.

I agree. I've used a Polar for 5 years and have never had that experience. Sometimes a battery is defective, but if you've already replaced it I would give a Polar a try.

When I run in the neighborhood the only time it shows interference is when I run past an electric dog fence for a block, but if I run on the street instead of the sidewalk there is no interference.

Are the Polar's with 5 settable zones? Well, I guess that's not too big of a deal. The one thing I don't get about Polar is their battery replacement deal.

Are the Polar's with 5 settable zones?

The Polar unit I own (S210) affords the owner the ability to set 3 h/r zones, but also has a "over/under" feature for each zone. In other words, this unit tracks 3 h/r zones that the owner sets. It also tracks the amount of time both over, and under each zone. Therefore, if you use the "under" number with your lowest zone, and the "over" number with your highest zone, you can get 5 h/r zones to track. This is what I do.

Also I agree with others regarding your HRM. It's either not working properly, or the design is crap.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I ended up sending back my HRM today for hopefully a full refund, if not minus 15 percent, unfortunatly.
Looking around online I think I picked out the Polar s210 to try next.

I have an S610 with similar features. What I really love is I can set a high and low, so it beeps. My favorite feature is it shows the average and the high at the end of a workout, so I know how high I actually went.

You can't go wrong with Polar. They've set the standard that other companies try to copy.

You had a defective Pro 9; I had one...ummm... before I went back to the Polar S710i, & I didn't have any such problems. Sometimes you can find good buys on the 710's on ebay. I got mine with speed,cadence, & usb transfer for about $100.