Introducing tempe™: Ambient Temperature in an ANT+ Sensor


30 August 2012 @ 9:05 AM  / Trail Tech /

 
The latest software updates for ANT-equipped Garmin outdoor handhelds includes support tempe™, a wireless temperature sensor designed to provide the current temperature as well as the recent minimum and maximum temperatures over a 24 hour period. If you already have a pulse on our heart rate monitors, if you are up to speed on our bike cadence sensors, or if you are tuned into chirp™ for geocaching, using tempe will be very straightforward. If not, this article will guide you through the setup and provide some quick guidance on how to use our newest ANT+ sensor in your outdoor activities.

 

Supported Handhelds

We’ve added support for a wide variety of outdoor handhelds, including Montana, Oregon 450 & 550, Dakota 20, sensor-equipped models in the GPSMAP62 series, eTrex 30 and fēnix. To ensure your device can communicate with tempe, be sure to update your firmware for free through WebUpdater.

 

Getting Started

Out of the box, tempe is very easy to use. All you need to do is install the battery and clip the sensor to your backpack, clothing or footwear. For the best results, be sure to mount tempe away from things that can impact the temperatures of the device, such as your body, hydration bladders, or direct sunlight.

After updating your device firmware, you will need to pair the sensor to your device. On your handheld, select Setup, then ANT Sensor, then Tempe Sensor, and finally select Search for new. While the handheld is locating your tempe, it will report “Searching...”. Once the handheld has established communication with the sensor, it will show “Connected”. This setup is only needed the first time you use tempe.

 

Using tempe

Your handheld will use tempe information in two primary ways. First, you can select any of the three temperature related data fields (Temperature, 24 Hour Max Temperature, & 24 Hour Min Temperature) as configurable data fields on the trip computer or other page of your choosing.

Second, once connected to a tempe sensor, your handheld will record the temperature with each trackpoint it saves. This information is available for review when your device is connected to BaseCamp, our free tool from trip planning & review. With your device connected to BaseCamp, simply select your recent track in BaseCamp by double-clicking it, then select the Graph tab and choose Temperature from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner.