CABLE (Connect ANT+ to BLE)

First heard about this from DCRainmaker and just in time for the winter training season. The CABLE from NPE is perfect for someone invested in the Garmin Ecosystem but wants to take advantage of online/virtual training systems. I had previously used only Trainer Road on a Mac/PC with an ANT+ USB dongle. More recently, I've switched to Zwift for both running via treadmill and biking on a trainer - lugging the laptop around with an ANT+ dongle wasn't cutting it. I have friends who've spent a lot of money to get connected with Zwift (or Trainer Road) with BLE specific sensors. Adding this inexpensive connector made the Garmin setup I already owned, more versatile. I've since used the CABLE to connect my ANT+ sensors to a MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Apple TV. As shared in the questions/answers, all of the sensors connected to CABLE show up as one sensor (CABLE#....), ideal for Apple TV which caps out at two BLE devices. It is fairly straight forward for configuring with ANT+ sensors, once you have the app on a mobile device. After initial setup, it's a matter of tapping to wake it up and connecting to your mobile device, which so far has done quickly and is instantly recognized by Zwift.The CABLE has both an A and B sensor profile, which makes it easy to set up for both running and biking scenarios and accompanying sets of sensors. In the set up app, it defaults to the A profile for initial pairing. I paired a speed/cadence, HRM and power sensors (you have to wake them up for cable to see them) - you can individually select which sensors to connect. Once that was done, I tapped the CABLE icon in the app, selected "switch to B profile" and paired with a footpod and HRM-TRI chest strap. I suppose I could have all five sensors under one profile, but I didn't want it searching for ANT+ sensors that were not present. So far battery life is ok and there is a battery indicator in the app.A micro "s" clip can attach to the CABLE to clip it onto to whatever. I usually attach it to my car key and iPad at the gym so I don't lose it.I do find the "tap to wake up" often wakes up the device up unintentionally, but if no sensors are around it seems to turn off quickly. The CABLE does come with a spare battery. I've opened the battery compartment (because I thought the spare was the battery) and would guess it's not waterproof. I didn't see an IPX rating anywhere on the directions or website, so caution if using it outdoors (ziplock snack bag?).I've got to hand it to North Pole Engineering, this little device has saved me a lot of headache and extra equipment. Thank you!!!Setup:Garmin Fenix 5X (CABLE picks up watch Optical HR if broadcasting is on)ANT+ HRM-TRIANT+ HRMANT+ FootpodANT+ Speed / Cadence sensorsANT+ Vector 2Cycle Ops Fluid 2

It works as detailed on description. Makes multiple ANT+ signals into one BLE that can be read on any BLE device (Like IOS and Apple TV)Please note that it DOES NOT control trainers trough ANT+FE-C. It reads the smart trainer as a Bike Power or as a Fitness Equipment and show its power, but wont be able to control resistance trough BLE as you could do in ERG mode trough ANT+FE-C. This was disappointing but this is my fault for not researching well enough.If you just want your ANT+ readings to be seen on an non ANT+ device, the CABLE is what you need. Works on iPhone, iPad and AppleTV4k, once you download the app and go trough a small learning curve.

Setting up the device was extremely frustrating. Documentation is poor, and the configuration app seems to be buggy. Every several seconds, the app would reinitialize and erase the settings I had entered before they could be saved. A few times it hung entirely and had to be restarted. When I finally (by luck) was able to get the device configured, I attempted to use it with Zwift running on an Apple TV but found that the CABLE device was only available as a power source and a controllable trainer. It was not visible on either the heart-rate monitor or cadence pairing screens, even though it was configured for those devices with the config app. This makes the device worthless -- I purchased it to work around the Apple TV maximum of 2 simultaneous Bluetooth connections. At this point, I haven't decided whether to 1) return the device, 2) wait for a firmware update that might fix these issues, or 3) smash it with a hammer.

Order one thinking I was going to receive a new unopen, unused item, but they sent me a used second-hand version of their CABLE (Connect ANT+ to BLE). The outer case is all scuffed and scratched. I'll be sending it back! I did try to set it up, and when I did the battery dropped from full charge to half power in just an hour. The downside is you'll end up paying for batteries that will eventually end up costing you more than the CABLE sensor itself. They should consider developing a version that can be charged via USB, that would solve the sensors major issue with batteries. I tried setting it up on an indoor stationary bike, the only thing that didn't show up was the speed. Everything else registered.

I switched from a surface pro to an iPad Pro not realizing that the iPad Pro wont accept ANT+ even with a dongle. I purchased the CABLE as a bridge from ANT+ to BLE. It seems straight forward on the set up but I would recommend going to the web page set up rather than the set up instructions in the package. They are more detailed and if you have multiple ANT+ sensors, they can cause problems with each other if they aren't set up correctly. So I set up the bridge and it didn't work right. The Cadence didn't read. I email customer service. They were FAST!! I had a reply within an hour. Ashley Mendez was able to ask a few questions and requested a couple screen shots. In no time at all, it was set up correctly and runs like a champ! Once it's set up, it's amazingly easy to use. More than worth the money I paid. The folks at North Pole Engineering have really done well with this device.

Have used this now for nearly 3 months and it is a great little piece of tech.The setup guidance in NPE website is good. No problem getting the Garmin HR and Speed/Cad sensor to be detected by the software.Once that is done the outputs need to be mapped to the BLE Output.You can rename the Cable's default Bluetooth if you wish. I left mine as default.I found that the phone and the Apple TV were both trying to connect to the cable. So you need to then forget the cable from the phones list of know BTooth connections. The guidance does advise that but who reads all the guidance!?Specific note to Zwift users. I pair only HR and Cadence to the Cable. The Kickr is direct BLE connection to the Apple TV4k.When running Zwift through Apple TV 4k, in the pairing screen let the Cable be detected and then while still in the pairing screen just pedal and wait till you see the cadence value appear on the pairing screen. the HR should show pretty quickly but cadence does take a few seconds to show. On my setup initially I just went straight to Zwift after the sensors were detected but I wasn't getting a reliable cadence.

Shocking product on so many levels. (1) no instructions (2) url for instructions doesn't work (3) try googling instructions for a product as badly named as CABLE. Here's a free bit of advice NPE, rename Kable or similar so people can actually find it if you can't be bothered to actually give instructions (4) when I did find out about it's just IOS compatible, no Android which was what I was intending on using it on. (5) price, I was a bit desperate but over £50 for such a similar connector is robbery in hindsight

I'm a happy user of CABLE, using it to connect ANT+ sensors to Apple TV.I run Zwift virtual cycling on an Apple TV.Now, Apple TV has only three BLE channels. Its remote takes one, so only two are left.And, of course, no ANT+ available in it at all.When a smart trainer connects to one channel, a cadence sensor OR heart rate monitor can still be added but not both.I'm connecting both those (ANT+) sensors via CABLE. A bonus is that it connects both using just one BLE channel.

Big disappointment that they're too cheap to make an android app for this, especially given the price. If you don't have an IOS device handy this is useless.If you do have an IOS device it does the job.