Display of Garmin Varia Radar in Locus

Thank you Jane. Garmin Varia radar is not yet widespread, but for road cyclists and cyclists it is a very important safety feature. As far as I know, yet no android application can display data from it. Only Garmin and Wahoo devices can do this. So if it were able to integrate its support into Locus, it would be quite a head start over other applications like Stava, Endomondo, etc. But I understand that it takes a lot of work.

is there already cooperation between Locus and Garmin Varia?

Hi, not yet. Jan

Hi, I would really appreciate this as well. With new RTL515 radar which works over Bluetooth and since you already support Bluetooth sensors like Heart rate or pedaling cadence this should be relatively easy, I suppose.

+1!

sad to hear that

Hello Dennis,

thanks for the question. If you have any alternative app and Varia support is for you important then I definitely suggest not waiting. The chance that this feature will be implemented during the next 6 months is, because of other higher priorities, low. Thanks for understanding.

It's a pity. This is a very good application, but the lack of Varia unfortunately does not make it possible to use the extension 100% Or Locus or Varia. You'll have to cancel your subscription and buy a ride with GPS subscription. Sorry

@ Pere4nik. the answer is above. just read

Clear. It's good that there are other applications that are better put to their users. So the subscription is not free. Then it is better to buy an application with more customer-oriented support. Thanks

Hello Pere4nik, as I see, you registered on this help desk a day ago, and based on this, you wrote that we are not much customer-oriented. If this is correct, that was not fair. Anyway, fortunately, amount of apps in the mobile world is huge, so I believe you'll find a better one for sure.

Do you think this is a normal client orientation? This thread is 3 years old. For 3 years, it would be possible to try at least, and not push it to the far corner. You have a good application, but transferring such an important function for 3 years is not customer-oriented. Moreover, the topic is constantly raised with a frequency of once or twice a month. Yes, and for you it would be a huge plus, since such a function is only in Ride with gps. That is, there is only one analogue. P.s. The account is new, since there was no need to write, but when it was necessary, I had to register) Well, yes, with such an attitude, the subscription has already been canceled. Thanks for understanding.

I have no clue, what you are talking about.

I think the people at locus are extremely customer-oriented - especially Menion. They are always open to feedback and very helpful in finding, debugging and fixing issues with the software. I have been with locus for almost 10 years and never had an issue with their support.

I have also raised the question about varia support in the app. And while I really really miss the feature, I understand that there are other priorities in the development and not einer request can be fulfilled (immediately or in the near future). So for that I am hoping and patiently waiting.

To Menion and the whole locus Team: you are doing a great job. 👍

Merry Christmas and a happy new year,

Ulrich

This post is 3 years old. It seems to me that in 3 years it would be possible to introduce this function. The guys do a great job that we pay for, they don't do it for free. And as a finished client, I would like new important functions to appear a little faster than 3 years. But there is no problem. The Locus subscription has been cancelled. All good mood and holidays.

No problem guys and thanks Ulrich, appreciate it.

Enjoy Christmas time and if anyone will have some spare time, feel free to test today's Beta version ;).

Jiří M. aka Menion

I would also appreciate the implementation of radar support. I use Locus mostly on bike and radar support would definitely convince me to pay for v4 premium, this is No. 1 feature for me. But I understand that there are feature requests with far more votes. And judging by the number of installs of the Garmin Varia app, a minimum of users use radar with their phone, unfortunately.

@Pere4nik what application with better support are you talking about? There is only Simple Garmin Varia app from Garmin and Ride with GPS which is far more expensive and functionality nowhere near to Locus.

Ride with GPS, many people use Varia directly from garmin, without installation on the phone. As practice shows, those people who buy Varia can easily pay the premium. Now, if locus would implement an important feature, then this application would be the best application for cyclists. So there is only ride with GPS, but safety is more important to me than the lack of some features.

@Menion, thanks a lot, that's awesome! It seems it works.

Awesome! It Works! Thank you!

Ha ha, typical Menion :) I am using Garmin Edge 1030+ on my bike, so I don't need that feature, but it is super handy for tourists. Will test that.

Just testing - could you please give us more options, like to display it on left or right side, warn about low battery and disconnected radar (as it is a safety feature...)?

And a distance marker + color background like in the other apprs: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/05/garmin-rtl515-rvr315-cycling-radar-review.html

Do you have a screenshot of this in action? I am curious. I don't even have a Varia right now but I may buy one in spring.

I would like to test out the software. What's the difference between the two files in the Google drive? In regards to the distance markers, I don't use them with Ride-with-GPS. I do look to see where the vehicle is on the entire scale.

Thank you so much for making this a priority.

Version with "AFA" in the name is extended version that has full access to all directories in the device (if allowed by the user). Second version is equal to what is available on the Google Play.

The distance markers are not needed, I am using Garmin Edge and there are no markers. but for some people it might be helpful :) I have seen that in RWG (and their background colors are nice too) so maybe... :)

For me there are two really important thinks - I need to reliably know that something is behind me and how many, so on the edge it beeps that car is approaching (and beeps multiple times if it is fast...) and when cars are gone then it beeps (different tone) again - all clear.

Since it is a safety device, you have to know that it is connected - for this reason all implementation have the radar icon and in case loose connectivity a dialog will popup which you have to confirm so you are aware that you can't rely on it anymore.

If I read correctly, the older 510 version can't be connected to any smartphone app right? Anyway, I've purchased RTL515 so it is well-tested with this device only for now.

Hello. I have 516 which is for Germany and it works. What I noticed is that when the screen is locked, for example in the rain, part of the screen overlaps.

@Menion RTL510 podporuje jenom ANT+. Některé smartphony ANT+ mají, případně existuje USB adaptér. Existuje aplikace IpBike, která funguje přes ANT+ a autor tvrdí, že radar podporuje. Takže by to jít mělo. Výhoda ANT+ je, že lze připojit víc zařízení zároveň, BT je univerzálnější.

RTL510 supports only ANT+. Some smartphones have ANT+ or there is a USB adapter. There is an app called IpBike that works over ANT+ and the author says it supports radar. So it should work. The advantage of ANT+ is that you can connect more devices at the same time, BT is more versatile.

I think the RTL510 is not necessary. It is an older model. Users did not expect to connect it to the phone and certainly have a Garmin accessory. I just wanted to make sure and it will certainly be good to mention it in the documentation.

Thanks guys. I've studied options for ANT+ connection and it is really complicated and quite un-official (but most probably doable). Anyway for now, only BT connection will be supported.

@Dennis thanks, good point.

I don't have the opportunity to see what the radar in Locus looks like. But I can offer experience from several years of using the combination of RTL510 and Edge 130. But my English is not good for such a long text. Sorry, hereinafter referred to in Czech:

Zobrazení na displeji by mělo být co nejvýraznější, ideálně černé tečky na bílém pozadí, aby to bylo viditelné i na silném slunci. Nejdůležitější je silný zvukový signál. Současně se zvukovým signálem by se měla automaticky rozsvítit obrazovka a být rozsvícená dokud neprojede poslední auto. To je důležité, jinak si cyklista může myslet, že za ním nic není a odbočit rovnou pod auto. Návyk na radaru je dost silný a sám vím, že se na něj hodně spoléhám a často se při odbočování ani neohlídnu za sebe.

Pokud byste měli vyšší cíle, pak mohu nabídnout i další vylepšení, které poskytuje Smart Bike Lights. To umožňuje vytvářet automatizaci světla na činnosti radaru. Například: pokud nezaznamenává žádné auto, světlo nesvítí. Při registraci auta se světlo rozbliká. Nebo pokud prudce brzdíte, může se světlo rozblikat velkou intenzitou. Na základě denního světla pak přepne na noční svícení. Těch možností je docela hodně.

Lights are using ANT+ profile and pairing with only one device, so nobody other can change its settings. The nice thing on ANT+ is that the whole peloton can receive data from a radar :) But this out of scope this implementation.

Hello Dennis,

"shows nothing", hmm this looks like the same problem reported by Johannes in the previous post. Interesting. I'll look at it of course and let you know here.

Warnings > yes, I've reduced them to only two options.

Sound when "all is ok" ... we are preparing new own sounds, so I'll think also about this option, good point.

I'm testing it and see no problem, weird. Do you see a line on the side of the main map screen? If so, does it have a color (green, orange, red) or is in semi-transparent black color like the rest of the layout?

Now connected Varia again, installed the latest version. Varia connected. Looks transparent. However, when the rear car emits only a sound of danger and that's it. The strip does not change color and there is no danger display.

Vlákno není zamknuté, tak teď nevím, jestli to můžu ještě napsat sem.

Bohužel byla zima a v zimě tolik lidí nejezdí, k delší vyjížďce a většímu testování sem se dostal až dnes.

1. Zvuk pro nízkou (oranžovou) hrozbu je zbytečně dlouhý, delší než pro vysokou hrozbu, zkrátil bych ho aby místo tří houknutí byly dvě, zvuky pro vysokou hrozbu a čisto mi přijdou OK.

2. Není zvuk pokud se radar odpojí a připojí, to je užitečné aby jezdec věděl, že došlo k výpadku komunikace a hrozby nebudou hlášeny nebo že radar ztratil z kola.

3. Symbol indikující vozidlo bych si představoval větší na výšku, řekněme tak dvojnásobek šířky. Půlkolečko co tam je teď mi přijde málo výrazné a mám pocit, že ho musím hledat. Když za mnou něco je a potřebuju udělat nějaký manévr, tak potřebuju symboly indikující vzdálenost vozidel vidět na první pohled a nehledat je.

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The thread isn't locked, so now I don't know if I can still post it here.

Unfortunately it's been cold and not that many people ride in the winter, I didn't get around to a longer ride and more testing until today.

1. the sound for low (orange) threat is unnecessarily long, longer than for high threat, I would shorten it to make two horns instead of three, the sounds for high threat and clear seem OK to me.

2. There is no sound if the radar disconnects and reconnects, this is useful to let the rider know that there is a communication failure and the threats will not be reported or that the radar has gone off the wheel.

3. I would like to see the symbol indicating the vehicle larger in height, say twice as wide. The half wheel that is there now is not prominent enough and I feel like I have to look for it. If there is something behind me and I need to make a manoeuvre, I need to see the symbols indicating the distance of the vehicles at a glance and not look for them.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Thank you for this feature. I literally bought a Varia only because Locus now supports it.

I really like how it's implemented, it works very well for me out-of-the-box. I do have some suggestions, if I may.

1) tones to change in frequency to indicate proximity (from low when first detected, to high when near)

2) number of tones to reflect the number of vehicles detected. Or make it user-configurable, for me three tones on every detection is excessive.

3) user-configurable to have the bar on the right or left of the screen

4) remove the transparency in the graphic of the bar (or make this user-configurable) to maximise visibility.

5) user-configurable colours and symbols (to consider the needs of those with colour-blindness, and personal preference to maximise visibility)

Of everything, the only thing that is a constant irritation for me is the 3 tones on every detection.

Thank you again for implementing this feature.

Hi guys,

thanks for the feedback.

@Petr Andrš

1. shorter sounds, agree, done

2. this is an interesting idea that should be applied globally to all sensors. I'll think about it later.

3. symbol, I'll try to do something with it

@Edward

1. + 2. is this really necessary? You hear info that some threat appeared and you may also enable warning to info that there is no other threat behind.

3. you are not the first one, but it is a quite complicated task because of a complex main screen interface. So I would really rather stick with one fixed place.

4. bar is semi-transparent only when there are no threats!

5. do you or anyone has a problem with visibility? If so, please let me know. I would like to avoid too many setup options if possible.

Would it be possible to add the display of Garmin Varia to the Locus 3 Classic as well?

Sorry, this feature is and will be available only in the Locus Map 4. Thanks for understanding.

Shorter sounds and a bigger symbol are fine, I'm quite comfortable with it now, thanks.

Jen drobná poznámka: už jsem byl párkrát málem zlynčován, že někoho "vycinkávám" (když radar detekuje vozidla dojíždějící za mnou kolonu) - ono to tak opravdu zní... Kdyby ten zvuk byl méně zaměnitelný za cyklozvonek, pomohlo by to ke snížení road rage incidentů, imho... ;^)

Jinak - perfektní funkce, donutila mne přejít z LM3... Kéž by bylo možno měnit i módy blikání, jak to umí třeba Smart Bike Lights / Bike Lights Control pro Garminy...

Mod sa cez BLE zmenit neda, iba cez ANT+ a vtedy musi byt zariadenie pripojene (a sparovane, kedze len jedno zariadenie ho vie ovladat, pricom radarove data vie prijimat ktokolvek) s radarom ako so svetlom.

Zvuk neviem komentovat - pouzivam garmin edge.