How to pair a heart rate monitor to a Concept2 PM5
You pair a heart rate monitor with the PM5 itself, from the monitor's own menu, not in your phone's Bluetooth settings. Put the strap on, choose Connect → Connect Heart Rate on the PM5, pick your strap's ID from the list, and confirm. After that the monitor shows your heart rate, and any rowing app connected to the PM5 can read it.
What you need
- A PM5 monitor. Any Concept2 RowErg, or an older model fitted with a PM5.
- A strap that uses Bluetooth Smart or ANT+. Most current straps do both: Polar H10 and H9, Garmin HRM straps, Wahoo TICKR. Older Polar straps that use GymLink or W.I.N.D. don't work with the PM5. Not sure which to get? See heart rate monitors for rowing.
Pair your strap, step by step
These are Concept2's own steps:
- Put the strap on, and wet the contacts so it picks up your heart rate straight away.
- Wake the PM5 by pressing any button.
- On the Main Menu, choose Connect. On older PM5 firmware this is under More Options.
- Choose Connect Heart Rate. Within 5 to 10 seconds, the monitor lists the straps it can find.
- Pick your strap's ID. It's usually printed on the back of the strap's sensor, which helps in a gym with several straps nearby.
- Choose Confirm Selection. Your heart rate now shows on the PM5's screen.
Do you have to pair it every time?
Only if the monitor doesn't remember it. Concept2 gives two ways to save your strap so the PM5 finds it on its own next time:
- With a USB drive or LogCard in the monitor: insert it before you start, and choose Remember Belt instead of Confirm Selection.
- With Concept2's ErgData app connected: answer Yes when it asks "Remember Heart Rate Belt?"
Otherwise you pair again each time you row, which only takes a few seconds once you know the menu.
Bluetooth or ANT+?
If your strap does both, use ANT+. Concept2 recommends connecting a strap to the PM5 over ANT+ when it's available.
The reason is that many straps take only one Bluetooth connection at a time. A Bluetooth strap starts advertising when you put it on, and the first device to connect gets it. As Concept2 puts it, "the belt can only be connected to one device at a time." If your phone, or an app on it, has already connected to the strap, the PM5 can't. Apps can hold on to the strap even when you aren't using them. A phone can't use a strap's ANT+ channel, so pairing the PM5 over ANT+ sidesteps the problem.
If you have to use Bluetooth and the PM5 can't find your strap, Concept2's fix is to turn your phone's Bluetooth off (or turn the phone off), pair the strap to the PM5, then turn Bluetooth back on.
Some newer straps take more than one Bluetooth connection: the Polar H10 takes two and the Wahoo TICKR up to three. That makes this less likely, but ANT+ is still the simplest way to pair.
Does a Bluetooth strap get in the way of your rowing app?
No, as long as the strap is paired to the PM5 and not to your phone. The PM5 keeps two separate connections: one to your strap, and one to the app on your phone. The app never connects to the strap itself. It reads your heart rate from the monitor, along with your pace and stroke rate. That's how Concept2's ErgData works, and Streaks Strokes works the same way.
Two things can still cause trouble:
- The strap is paired to your phone or watch instead. Then the PM5 can't get it over Bluetooth. Close the other app, or pair the PM5 over ANT+.
- Two apps connected to the PM5. A PM5 works with one app at a time, and Concept2 suggests choosing only one app to record the workout. Close ErgData fully before rowing with Streaks Strokes, and vice versa.
Garmin HRM 200 and HRM 600: if the PM5 can't find one over Bluetooth, the strap may be in its "secure mode". Concept2's troubleshooting page suggests connecting over ANT+ instead, or following Garmin's steps to switch the strap to open mode.
When the PM5 doesn't find your strap
- The strap isn't picking up your heart rate. Most straps only switch on when they sense a heartbeat. Wet the contacts, tighten the strap, and make sure it sits just below your chest muscles.
- Something else has it. Close fitness apps on your phone or watch that might be connected to the strap over Bluetooth, or turn your phone's Bluetooth off while you pair.
- The battery is low. Coin-cell straps can fade slowly. Weak batteries cause dropouts that look like pairing problems.
- Old PM5 firmware. Look for the option under More Options instead of Connect, and consider updating the monitor with Concept2's free tools.
- The reading drops out. Concept2's troubleshooting page suggests checking the strap is snug and in the right place, warming up first, and trying electrode gel.
Can you use a watch instead?
- Garmin watches: many can broadcast heart rate, and the PM5 pairs with them the same way as a strap. Turn on heart rate broadcasting on the watch first.
- Apple Watch: it can't pair with the PM5 by itself. Streaks Strokes sends your Apple Watch's heart rate to the PM5 for you, so it shows on the monitor's screen as if you were wearing a strap. If a strap is also paired to the monitor, the PM5 uses the strap.
How Streaks Strokes reads your heart rate
Once a strap is paired with the PM5, Streaks Strokes reads your heart rate through the monitor. There's nothing to set up in the app. If you also wear an Apple Watch, the app uses the watch while its reading is steady and switches to the strap whenever the watch loses your pulse. Either way you get live heart-rate zones while you row, and your time in each zone when you finish.
More guides
- Heart rate monitors for rowing: Apple Watch or a chest strap?
- How to connect a Concept2 PM5 to your iPhone and Apple Health
- Zone 2 rowing: how to find your zone and stay in it
Wear your Apple Watch and your heart rate shows on the PM5, with live zones on your iPhone.
