Wireless computers and invisible fences
 

After 2 computers malfunctioned I discovered the invisible fence for my dogs interferes with a wireless computer.

Apparently the radio frequency is the problem.

It's either the frequency the fence works on or a spur that the system puts out incidentally. But you don't spend much time riding near it, do you?

At the Sobey's grocery store my Schwinn wireless computer would read 99.9 kph/mph when the bicycle was stopped or when I had the computer in my hand inside the store. I think it was somethinfg to do with the auto-doors. I also had times way out in the country when the computer would start registering arratic very high speeds.

Something else that might cause erratic behaviour is 1, a weakening transmitter battery, and 2 too much distance between the transmitter and computer.

Cheers

Any time my HID light was on, my wireless computer wouldn't work at all. No adjusting or moving things around would fix it.

I eventually switched to a 10W LED, and it was instantly solved. Makes sense, because the HID had a high voltage ballast that the LED lacks.

For a long time I've used wired computers because they just don't have these issues. Battery (for me) last effectively forever. There's never any interference - no electric fences, electric wires, bike lights, etc. They just work and are accurate.

Recently someone I know had a bike that broke apart in the middle so it could be put in a case and taken as luggage on an airplane (that's what they do, they don't get to much hassle if they fly first class). So I bought an expensive wireless computer thinking maybe here was a situation that called for one - a Bontrager Trip 300. It was $120, 2.4ghz, supposed to be interference free.

First trip out, my wired computer says 10.1 miles, their computer says 95 miles. :-/ I looked on the internet, others had the same issue. Piece of junk.

Was the issue due to interference or something else?

I think it damaged the unit because even when the bike was far away from the fence, it would keep running when stopped. I keep the bike inside my house one would think the fence wouldn't go that far but one morning my computer read 38 hours of riding and was still running.

The thing is it can also muck up the trip distance reading and that's not god if you're relying on the computer to know where you are on your route or how far it is to your next reference point.

Cheers

I assume it's interference because what else would it be?

I double checked that the tire size was entered correctly, and it was, but even if it wasn't there's no tire size that would make that big of a difference. It's either interference or buggy software, I assume it's interference.

R.F. is a menace that is hidden and proliferating. Check to see how close your home or work is to one of these high-powered transmitters: AntennaSearch - Search for Cell Towers, Cell Reception, Hidden Antennas and more.

It could, conceivably, throw a wireless computer's settings off. (A microwave oven uses R.F., and it will upset a pacemaker.) R.F.'s from high-tension lines, over the street, have effected my heart rate monitor.

The cheaper wireless computers are analog. The more-expensive ones are digital. Those are less prone to interference. I routinely use a digital wireless computer and a Garmin Edge at the same time. The wireless computer seems very reliable.

There are two places that interference can occur: at the sensor and between the sensor and the head unit.

Digital wireless can have interference between the sensor and the head unit but that can't really cause values to be larger than real. That is, the digital transmission can loose data but it can't create it.

If you are getting values that are larger than real, then it's an issue with the data being measured by the sensor (which is then transmitting bad data).

HR monitors have to be sensitive, which means they are especially sensitive to data measurement interference.