Dead G4 transmitter needed

[Nat_Ryan]

Hello all. I would like to buy a dead G4 transmitter of one of you lovely people to play around with as I am thinking of buying a Dexcom G4/G5 CGM self funded but want to experiment with it first. Any help would be appreciated my fellow diabetics!

 

[catapillar]

Could you please clarify what you mean by experiment? I'm at a loss as to what use a dead transmitter might possibly be to you?

 

[Nat_Ryan]

Sure no problem at all! I am hoping to see if i can acquire a dead transmitter and power it externally somehow so i can test things like the range, what might interfere with it and how well the wireless signal travels through walls to my receiver and such. I was hoping to get a dead one as it's not much use to others if it is out of action and i would pay for it hopefully making their next purchase of sensors cheaper Just want to get a good idea about it before i go ahead and pay the hefty price for the full kit.

Hope I've helped!

 

[Chas C]

Hi Nat

The older G4 transmitters were thicker than the new ones, someone had managed in the past to cut the top off and replace the battery.

The newer thinner G4 transmitters are much more fiddly as I understand to extract the old battery and replace with new, I've not heard of anyone that has succeeded in doing this.

In both cases you would need to reseal the transmitter case after replacing the battery.

If you do a google search I'd expect you will find something on this.

 

[Nat_Ryan]

Ah thank you for the information Chas! I did find the information on opening old transmitters but i don't plan on resealing the unit as i would only be using it inside and not connected to my body at or/for long as i would be worried about it losing power during use plus it would not be a medically approved device if i fiddle about with it. Just waiting for a kind soul who uses a G4 to offer one to me so I've gotta stay hopeful. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Chas C]

I'm curious as to why you want one to power one externally, what are your plans if not re-sealing it.

 

[Chas C]

The range is pretty good, I can have my receiver one side of my house upstairs and I can be the other side but downstairs and it works.

I've worn it in a swimming pool with receiver in a bag at one end and its worked for two hours whilst I was in the pool.

Maybe this helps to answer your questions.

 

[Nat_Ryan]

It does answer some of my questions thank you! It's really useful to get answers from users who experience using it every day compared to just reading the information off the official website 'could be a load of marketing garbage'. Well I didn't plan on originally resealing the unit but after seeing how finicky it is to get apart it might be a good idea to reseal after going through all that effort. It would still scare me that the warranty was void and if something bad happened god forbid. By grinding into it then using it full time you might have accidentally damaged the circuit board that could cause it to malfunction even shorting the batteries and burning you since it is so close to your skin. You wouldn't have a dead one laying around by any chance Chas?

 

[Nat_Ryan]

I'm a qualified hardware/software developer and would just like to see what sorts of interesting signals come off the unit and the whole artificial pancreas project interests me greatly! I already have a insulin pump and my hopes are to start a CGM so i can interpret the data using my phone and develop a app or program that will accurately advise me on what my Basal and Bolus rates should be to make my life a whole lot easier. Type 1 can be a pain in the ass am i right! Hope i helped.

 

[Chas C]

Hi Nat - its already been done, there are a few people running (on this site) who have connected CGM's with Pumps to get do it yourself artificial pancreas, there is also Nightscout if you look that up they take the data from a G4 transmitter and transmit it over the GSM (mobile phone) networks so data can be shared with others (kids with parents, teachers etc).

 

[Nat_Ryan]

The Nightscout/Nightwatch project is amazing and the addition of being able to code extensions for it is definitely a big plus point for me. I can already sent commands to my pump from my android i'm just missing the CGM to complete the loop. It would be nice to do what Nightwatch does without network access as when i'm on sail trips in the middle of the ocean with no cell network it might get costly to use a sat link . I have all the parts for a xDrip Just need a transmitter now and i will begin experimenting.

 

[Chas C]

The Nightscout/Nightwatch project is amazing and the addition of being able to code extensions for it is definitely a big plus point for me. I can already sent commands to my pump from my android i'm just missing the CGM to complete the loop. It would be nice to do what Nightwatch does without network access as when i'm on sail trips in the middle of the ocean with no cell network it might get costly to use a sat link . I have all the parts for a xDrip Just need a transmitter now and i will begin experimenting.

Nightscout is open and I'm sure they will allow you access to the work they have done, you do not need network access its just been designed for sharing not for individuals, mainly for children.

 

[Nat_Ryan]

I'm sorry if i wasn't clear enough. According to what I've read about Nightscout you need to upload the data from your CGM to a online database for Nightscout to be able to process it correctly. I also thought you need to host Nightscout on a web server for it to function tell me if I'm wrong though it will be good news!

 

[Chas C]

Hi Nat - they have only developed it to be uploaded onto an online database because their aim was to be able to share it. I'd guess you can take the data and put it on a stand alone device with the software that's on the server. But you'd need to redevelop the SW to run on the device ?

But is this not like the Dexcom G5 ? are you trying to reinvent the wheel ?