Blucon Nightrider for Libre

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi Scott,

Just a note to thank you for your help with xdrip+ and Nightrider.

I feel like I have been round the Grand National course 3 times with fence after fence put in my way but I am now there with everything up and running, alarms working.

It took 4 or 5 weeks for Ambrosia to deliver. They apparently acknowledge your payment and that is it until they despatch, emails enquiring about delivery are not answered

I then ordered my Libre and the overnight delivery took nine days.

I then spent another nine days trying to download the latest update to install xdrip before I found that Chrome block the download of anything that does not come from Play. Had to tick a box that said I accepted responsibility for any problems with the app.

After a week of playing around with it running alongside my G5 the overwhelming first impression is how accurate the Libre sensor is compared with the G5. After 14 days with no calibration this morning it registered 8.2 against the fingerstick of 7.8 and the G5 at 5.4. I think the last two G5 sensors have not been as good as some earlier ones and perhaps I have had a particularly good Libre one.

I guess the next move is to see if Nightscout fully replaces Dexcom's Clarity site – I like it's daily updates of the HbA1c forecasts – proved very accurate at my last clinic visit at the moment Nightscout seems to want me to use Glimp and does not know anything about Nightrider - guess I need to do more digging,

Cheers,

Stroudie
.

Cheers, Stroudie, glad you got it working.
 

T1Dad

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
I ordered mine from https://www.ambrosiasys.com/
It's a US site so the price is in dollars. I don't think you can buy it anywhere else.

There was a customs charge when it was delivered, which is VAT plus £8 post office handling fee. You can reclaim the VAT part by writing to Border Force and stating that it's for the sole use of someone with diabetes and is used to monitor blood glucose continuously.

You don't need to order the Transam - just make sure the quantity is set to zero.

My daughter and I are really pleased with ours.

Thanks this is great feedback along with the other posters. I've finally ordered one :):)
 
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Jo1407

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I’ve finally ordered one too. And I’ve ordered the strap from the German website to hold it in place.
Thank you for posting really helpful info.
 
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TOPson

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi my son's night rider arrived yesterday. We love it already but we are using the new blucon app as suggested in the packaging as there is now alerts and a caregivers app. Sadly the caregiver bit dosen't seem to work! We got as far as him sending me an invite to follow his data - I got the invite in an email which told me to download the follow blucon app which I did but when I went in to the app it dosen't show any invites. In my son's app the invite is now showing as pending not sure how to make this work. Anyone got this working?
 

NoKindOfSusie

Well-Known Member
Messages
427
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
75eacc3236c1295ca4f2742947a95fb0.jpg

God I want this :(
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi my son's night rider arrived yesterday. We love it already but we are using the new blucon app as suggested in the packaging as there is now alerts and a caregivers app. Sadly the caregiver bit dosen't seem to work! We got as far as him sending me an invite to follow his data - I got the invite in an email which told me to download the follow blucon app which I did but when I went in to the app it dosen't show any invites. In my son's app the invite is now showing as pending not sure how to make this work. Anyone got this working?

The blucon transmitter is a fairly solid and reliable piece of hardware (but remember, it's not waterproof so don't go showering with it!), but the inhouse software is extremely basic.

However, you can also use it with a much more sophisticated app called xDrip+, which has alerts, calibration, and allows remote monitoring. It's been around for years, many dexcommers use it in preference to the inhouse dexcom app.

I'm a grown adult, so I've never had to look into sharing results but wrobin has a post upthread at post #16 about setting up libre/blucon/xDrip+ with nightscout for remote viewing of youngsters, so maybe have a look at that for options.

I posted at the link below about using libre/blucon with xdrip+ so maybe have a look at that.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/getting-hypo-alerts-with-libre-blucon-and-xdrip.127195/
 

TOPson

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Insulin
Thanks I managed to get it working by setting up another account so far seems ok but will look into xdrip if needed. The Link blucon now does alarms and the as does the follow blucon app so it maybe sufficient as I have spent the last 2 years not knowing what his levels were of we weren't together it's just that he starts on a pump on Tuesday so it would be comforting to know what his readings are whilst he is settling in with that. Not sure how much data it uses though so may need to see if school has WiFi he can use!!
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Thanks I managed to get it working by setting up another account so far seems ok but will look into xdrip if needed. The Link blucon now does alarms and the as does the follow blucon app so it maybe sufficient as I have spent the last 2 years not knowing what his levels were of we weren't together it's just that he starts on a pump on Tuesday so it would be comforting to know what his readings are whilst he is settling in with that. Not sure how much data it uses though so may need to see if school has WiFi he can use!!

Glad you got it working. These things provide a huge amount of comfort. I'm 30 years in, but still appreciate the security net a hypo alarm gives me. Don't know how old your boy is, but you'll probably reach a stage where he tells you he doesn't want you to remote monitor him! Kids, what are they like!
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
75eacc3236c1295ca4f2742947a95fb0.jpg

God I want this :(

If you want it, buy it and download some stuff. It's not difficult.

If I recall correcty from previous posts, you're self employed, so maybe have a word with your accountant about whether the cost can be written off against tax as a neccesary business expense. There's a statutory instrument which allows purchase of this sort of this stuff by employers as a non-taxable benefit - how that works out for self-employed, I don't know, but maybe worth asking an accountant.

If that doesn't pan out, though, the libre sensors will cost you about £100 per month, (some, very few, chemists are selling them at the NHS negotiated bulk buy cost price of £35 per sensor, so £70 per month).

Then you've got the Ambrosia Systems blucon transmitter which gets stuck on top of the libre sensor with an armband or sticking plaster. It costs £100, shipping charge of about £25, and an annoying import charge of about £30, reclaimable if you can be bothered finding and filling out the HMRC forms.

Pop that thing on top of the sensor, it'll read it every 5 mins and fire out the result to an android app xDrip+. That bit is free.

And, hey presto, you've got a full on cgm system which will wake you up if you're dropping too low or going too high, let you make little subtle 5g or 1 or 2u nudges through out the day to keep things on track, figure out whether your basal is ok, and a whole stack of other things.

I know from you previous posts that you resent and hate being T1. I don't like it much either, but I've found ways to live with it. The libre/blucon/xdrip+ set up has helped immensely with that. It's like an early warning system which enables me to avoid some serious messes, and comfortably go out to chinese buffets, italian meals, and stay in range.Give it a go.

There's more detail about it here:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/getting-hypo-alerts-with-libre-blucon-and-xdrip.127195/
 

Jo1407

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello. I got an email from the courier saying Ours was shipped on 13/1 but it still hasn’t been delivered. I can’t track the shipping number so I’m wondering how long it took from you getting an email. Thank you.
 

JoeT1

Well-Known Member
Messages
277
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello. I got an email from the courier saying Ours was shipped on 13/1 but it still hasn’t been delivered. I can’t track the shipping number so I’m wondering how long it took from you getting an email. Thank you.


Depending on where you are, it can take a bit of time. I think from ordering to actual delivery was about 7 weeks for me. I got an E-Mail saying the courier had it, but it was not for another couple of weeks that I received the package.
 

Jo1407

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Depending on where you are, it can take a bit of time. I think from ordering to actual delivery was about 7 weeks for me. I got an E-Mail saying the courier had it, but it was not for another couple of weeks that I received the package.
Thank you. I’m in England. Hopefully it’ll arrive soon. And I’m even more hopeful that I can get the apps working. The Facebook page has some pretty negative comments.
 

T1Dad

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Mine came in exactly 2 weeks (last Friday to be precise), which was a pleasant surprise. I think I ordered shortly after you @Jo1407 so it cant be long now. I did get an email from USPS with a nice tracking link which showed me the full progress of the delivery. That was more than I was expecting.

So we have it all setup with Xdrip+ and Nightscout, was not so difficult after following posts on this forum.

All worked well for 2 days but now can't get any readings. Even LinkBluCon App cannot find the device!! When I try to reset it with the pin, only the battery open icon flashes red. So tried to change the battery but still cannot seem to reset it. Whats strange is that Xdrip+ can still bond with it. Any advice from anyone?

This was brilliant for the 2 days it worked.
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Mine came in exactly 2 weeks (last Friday to be precise), which was a pleasant surprise. I think I ordered shortly after you @Jo1407 so it cant be long now. I did get an email from USPS with a nice tracking link which showed me the full progress of the delivery. That was more than I was expecting.

So we have it all setup with Xdrip+ and Nightscout, was not so difficult after following posts on this forum.

All worked well for 2 days but now can't get any readings. Even LinkBluCon App cannot find the device!! When I try to reset it with the pin, only the battery open icon flashes red. So tried to change the battery but still cannot seem to reset it. Whats strange is that Xdrip+ can still bond with it. Any advice from anyone?

This was brilliant for the 2 days it worked.

Hmm, a bit of a puzzle. If you've got Linkblucon installed, I'd suggest not only closing it but also deleting from the phone entirely. There's been a few issues posted on the developer's website suggesting that if both xdrip and linkblucon are on the phone, they'll both be firing requests at the blucon and confuses it.

When I change the battery, it's not clear whether the red flash is switching it on or off, so I'll normally stab it once, see if that works, if not, assume it's off, so stab it again to turn it on.

The xdrip+ lead developer, jamorham, seems to be quite quick at responding to queries, so maybe sign up at link below and see if he can throw any light on it. A screen shot of the events log, acccessed through the three dots at top right would likely assist.

https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip/issues
 

T1Dad

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Thanks as always @Scott-C. Have killed LinkBluCon App from my phone. I actually only installed it this evening to troubleshoot the issue. XDrip+ also came up with a message asking me to delete it...pretty smart!!

Right now, Xdrip+ is connected to the Blucon and bonded. So will try it all again tomorrow evening and see. Its back to manual scans for tonight!! These past 2 days have spoilt me...
 

T1Dad

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Yeeessss!! I'm connected again.

As we only use at night time, looks like I have to restart my phone and then turn bluetooth off and on a few times for it to re-connect. Will see if there is a pattern but at the moment it looks quite random.
 

Jo1407

Active Member
Messages
31
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Yeeessss!! I'm connected again.

As we only use at night time, looks like I have to restart my phone and then turn bluetooth off and on a few times for it to re-connect. Will see if there is a pattern but at the moment it looks quite random.

Hello our finally arrived yesterday and I’ve set everything up through our iPhones. Are you using android? We can’t get blucon app to scan nightrider but it’s working with xDrip. But I can’t get the nightscout to link with xDrip. Looking at using my folks old windows phones instead to see if android easier. Thanks.
 

T1Dad

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hi @Jo1407, glad to see it has finally arrived.

I am using Android. I think it is easier to setup on Android but I have not tried with iPhone. Xdrip and LinkBlucon cannot co-exist on the same phone to scan the NightRider. I would recommend that you go with Xdrip and uninstall the Blucon App.

In order to get NightScout working, you have to be very precise when entering the Base URL into Xdrip. It took me a few attempts to get right. I have used a Heroku site so the URL is something along the lines of:

https://<YourPassphrase>@<YourSite>/api/v1/

The above syntax is different when using Azure.

Hope you get it working.
 

Alan Lofting

Newbie
Messages
1
Hi All
I have been experimenting with the Nightrider for about a week.
However the biggest problem is mounting it onto the libre sensor
I do not get on with the Libre Fix
strap and have now tried the following successfully.
Hook and Loop 19 mm Velcro dots. 1 on the Nightrider and 1 on
the Libre Sensor, it’s fairly easy to take it off hold the sensor and gently pull the Nightrider off.
The dots are available from Amazon @ £10.04 for 100.

When I’ve had more experience with the Nightrider will post a report.

Regards
Alan Lofting
 
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Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi All
I have been experimenting with the Nightrider for about a week.
However the biggest problem is mounting it onto the libre sensor
I do not get on with the Libre Fix
strap and have now tried the following successfully.
Hook and Loop 19 mm Velcro dots. 1 on the Nightrider and 1 on
the Libre Sensor, it’s fairly easy to take it off hold the sensor and gently pull the Nightrider off.
The dots are available from Amazon @ £10.04 for 100.

When I’ve had more experience with the Nightrider will post a report.

Regards
Alan Lofting

I've seen posts from a couple of people using the velcro dots. I was thinking of trying them but was a bit worried that, because it's physically attached to the sensor, the force of taking it off might pull the sensor out a bit.

Let us know how you get on. I've been using xdrip for about 5 months. Turns libre from a Ford Escort into a Ferrari!