Blucon nightrider Bluetooth connection reliability issue

BananaK

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I’m a few weeks into using the nightrider with Libre and am starting to get frustrated by the unreliable Bluetooth connection. I’m on IOS with an iPhone 7.

I use a waterproof dressing to stick the blucon over the Libre, and having to pull that off and do a pin aided reset so often is ripping the skin off my arm.

I’ve found I can’t use my Bluetooth headphones, cause that kicks it out almost immediately.

Does anyone else have trouble? Any suggestions?
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Cheers for the tag, @therower

Hi, @BananaK , shame to hear the blucon isn't panning out for you.

Couple of things to consider:

You say you're a couple of weeks into using it. Has it been the same battery all that time? I'll generally change the battery on mine every two weeks when I'm changing my libre sensor. The battery will generally be done after about three weeks, so I suppose there's a marginal possibility that if it's still on the original stock battery it came with, it's just not got enough power left to reliably maintain the connection, so maybe try a new battery.

Also, what app are you using it with, the official inhouse LinkBluCon app, or Spike?

https://spike-app.com/#compatibility

I used the android version of linkblucon only until September last year, when a 3rd party app xDrip+ was modified to work with blucon. It works very well - it's got lots of bells and whistles in the bluetooth settings which basically makes it keep on trying to force a reconnection, and it usually does after a max 10 mins or so.

It's much better than linkblucon in that regard - I frequently get the maximum possible 288 readings a day, and if I lose connection it's only for about 10 mins.

But the rub is xdrip+ is just android. However, the spike app above is a new ios app which has a lot in common with xdrip+, the developers of each app move in the same sort of circles.

So, it might be worth getting spike installed on your phone and seeing if that works better.

If you've got an android phone kicking around, you could maybe try putting xdrip+ on that and seeing how well that works with it - that'd maybe let you form a view on whether it's a duff transmitter or a duff app.

I've got a thread at link below which has links to where to get xdrip+, and there's some stuff in there too towards the end about spike.

I got my blucon back in June last year as a pre-order, it's running fine on a basic LG K8 phone with the 6 Sept 2017 nightly build of xdrip+.

I deliberately decided not to update the build as no point in fixing it if it ain't broke.

I've seen a few posts on this and other fora mentioning connectivity problems. I wonder whether, what with Ambrosia being a very small start-up, they've not been able to maintain build quality in the transmitter, or have made changes to either the transmitter and/or the software which has glitched it. I suppose there's always the danger of that with what is fairly cutting edge stuff from small start ups. I recall their facebook/twitter sites have comments about connectivity with the ios app, so there's maybe some tips there.

So, all in all, I'd try (a) changing the battery, (b) see how it does on ios with Spike, or (c) try it on an android with xdrip+.

Have never used ios so not familiar with the set-up, but on android, it really needs to have location switched on, so maybe check that.

Good luck!

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

BananaK

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Cheers for the tag, @therower

Hi, @BananaK , shame to hear the blucon isn't panning out for you.

Couple of things to consider:

You say you're a couple of weeks into using it. Has it been the same battery all that time? I'll generally change the battery on mine every two weeks when I'm changing my libre sensor. The battery will generally be done after about three weeks, so I suppose there's a marginal possibility that if it's still on the original stock battery it came with, it's just not got enough power left to reliably maintain the connection, so maybe try a new battery.

Also, what app are you using it with, the official inhouse LinkBluCon app, or Spike?

https://spike-app.com/#compatibility

I used the android version of linkblucon only until September last year, when a 3rd party app xDrip+ was modified to work with blucon. It works very well - it's got lots of bells and whistles in the bluetooth settings which basically makes it keep on trying to force a reconnection, and it usually does after a max 10 mins or so.

It's much better than linkblucon in that regard - I frequently get the maximum possible 288 readings a day, and if I lose connection it's only for about 10 mins.

But the rub is xdrip+ is just android. However, the spike app above is a new ios app which has a lot in common with xdrip+, the developers of each app move in the same sort of circles.

So, it might be worth getting spike installed on your phone and seeing if that works better.

If you've got an android phone kicking around, you could maybe try putting xdrip+ on that and seeing how well that works with it - that'd maybe let you form a view on whether it's a duff transmitter or a duff app.

I've got a thread at link below which has links to where to get xdrip+, and there's some stuff in there too towards the end about spike.

I got my blucon back in June last year as a pre-order, it's running fine on a basic LG K8 phone with the 6 Sept 2017 nightly build of xdrip+.

I deliberately decided not to update the build as no point in fixing it if it ain't broke.

I've seen a few posts on this and other fora mentioning connectivity problems. I wonder whether, what with Ambrosia being a very small start-up, they've not been able to maintain build quality in the transmitter, or have made changes to either the transmitter and/or the software which has glitched it. I suppose there's always the danger of that with what is fairly cutting edge stuff from small start ups. I recall their facebook/twitter sites have comments about connectivity with the ios app, so there's maybe some tips there.

So, all in all, I'd try (a) changing the battery, (b) see how it does on ios with Spike, or (c) try it on an android with xdrip+.

Have never used ios so not familiar with the set-up, but on android, it really needs to have location switched on, so maybe check that.

Good luck!

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

Thanks for such a comprehensive response. I should’ve said I’m using Spike and have changed the battery from the one supplied.

I’m looking into better attachments so that the main issue with the fixing tape means I can take it on and off without too much fuss.

I’ll have a read of a few more threads.

Thanks again.
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Thanks for such a comprehensive response. I should’ve said I’m using Spike and have changed the battery from the one supplied.

I’m looking into better attachments so that the main issue with the fixing tape means I can take it on and off without too much fuss.

I’ll have a read of a few more threads.

Thanks again.

One thing I forgot to mention/ask was whether you've also got linkblucon installed even if you're not using it. I remember when I started using xdrip+, I still had linkblucon installed and it really glitched it. It seems it still runs in the background or something even when seemingly closed, so the poor wee blucon gets confused. I ended up forcing a close then deleting it altogether.

Had a little browse around and noticed the screen shot below about stability inprovements being made for blucon.

Screenshot_2018-05-05-14-59-09.png


There's also a page showing developments.

https://github.com/SpikeApp/Spike/wiki/Changelog

Spike's clearly still a work in progress so I suppose it might be a case of biding your time.

I wonder whether it might be worthwhile closing/uninstalling spike and seeing how it works with linkblucon. It's not a very good app bit might at least give you some clues about whether it's a problem with the transmitter or the app.

Also, forgot to say, xdrip+ has a very comprehensive technical log which records transmitter events. I don't know whether spike has the same, but if so, maybe worth sending it to the developers to see what they make of it.

There's a link here where the developers post. I'm not an ios user so haven't paid much attention to it but I think the poster Miguel Kennedy is one of the people behind it, and Johan Degraeve is the guy behind iosxdripreader and I think is involved with spike too, so maybe run it past them if you can't get it sorted.

https://gitter.im/nightscout/iosxdripreader?at=5a9f20008f1c77ef3a8ee7cf

There seems to be another kid on the block recently for cgm'ing libre, https://www.miaomiao.cool

The site says it works with spike and xdrip+. I might get one to compare with blucon.
 

BananaK

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Sooooo you were definitely right about deleting the ambrosia app altogether. It definitely improved ongoing connectivity. Even reconnecting itself after periods of disconnect.

My Miao Miao arrived today, so I’m going to give that a try. I’ve struggled with the fixing tape for blucon, so we’ll see if the Miao Miao is better.

Let the self-experimentation continue!!
 

BananaK

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Sooooo you were definitely right about deleting the ambrosia app altogether. It definitely improved ongoing connectivity. Even reconnecting itself after periods of disconnect.

My Miao Miao arrived today, so I’m going to give that a try. I’ve struggled with the fixing tape for blucon, so we’ll see if the Miao Miao is better.

Let the self-experimentation continue!!
 

BananaK

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Sooooo you were definitely right about deleting the ambrosia app altogether. It definitely improved ongoing connectivity. Even reconnecting itself after periods of disconnect.

My Miao Miao arrived today, so I’m going to give that a try. I’ve struggled with the fixing tape for blucon, so we’ll see if the Miao Miao is better.

Let the self-experimentation continue!!