Changelog

Changes to this documentation - independent of the software’s own version status (14 is the current document version).

Document version 14 - 2026-10-10

Addition without any software change:

  • Installation chapter: New subsection “The ANT+ USB stick” with two photos (front and back of an ANTUSB-m) so the required stick is easy to recognise.

  • New screenshots from ErControl 3.1.7: start window and “Create first user” dialog (Installation chapter), start page (Main window), Training devices and Heart rate monitors tabs as well as device selection with ANT+ and BLE (Devices chapter), free training and topographic training (Training window chapter).

  • More screenshots from ErControl 3.1.7: training detail with tiles, heart rate zones, map and charts (Training detail chapter), training overview with filter bar and grouping, profiles with map and elevation profile, user management, and the Training and Ergometer tabs of the settings.

Document version 13 - 2026-10-10

Changes since ErControl 3.1.6 incorporated (Redmine version ErControl 3.1.7):

  • Devices chapter: In the device search, devices that are already added for the respective role (training device or heart rate monitor) stay visible but are greyed out, marked “Already added” and cannot be selected. Matching uses the device number for ANT+ and the address for Bluetooth. The result rows are compact and single-line; text that is too long is shortened with “…” and can be read as a tooltip (#145).

  • Log: For a Tacx trainer over Bluetooth, ErControl writes once per minute and when stopping how often the trainer reported cadence 0 or “invalid”. An aborted connection attempt to the Bluetooth heart rate monitor and a training without pulse from the heart rate monitor are logged with their duration. When reconnecting after a radio dropout, the misleading warning “Sending to the Tacx trainer failed” no longer appears (#146).

Document version 12 - 2026-10-10

Changes since ErControl 3.1.5 incorporated (Redmine version ErControl 3.1.6):

  • Devices chapter: Tacx trainers with FE-C over Bluetooth (for example Vortex Smart, without FTMS) can be connected via BLE; the connection type is now called “BLE” instead of “BLE FTMS”, the device search shows the note “Tacx FE-C” for Tacx trainers, FTMS takes precedence. New glossary entry, Free training and Installation chapters adjusted (#144).

  • Devices chapter: The devices overview no longer shows a live status and pulse for Bluetooth heart rate monitors and no longer keeps a persistent connection (#139).

  • Training overview chapter: new section on filtering and grouping (period, training type, note search, grouping by month or training type, summary row) (#142).

  • Tips & Troubleshooting chapter: new section on the serial ergometer that does not connect and reports “A nonexistent device was specified” - missing COM port caused by a Prolific PL2303 driver installed by Windows Update, with installation of the Prolific driver 3.9.0.2.

Document version 11 - 2026-10-08

Changes since ErControl 3.1.4 incorporated (Redmine version ErControl 3.1.5):

  • Chapter Devices: ANT+ heart rate straps are found in the device selection and deliver the heart rate (#137). Description of the ANT+ search (ends after about 10 seconds without another device, at most four devices, aborted after 90 seconds at the latest) and a note on the ANT+ device number compared with the longer ID shown on the watch. ANT+ trainers (FE-C) are now decoded correctly - elapsed time, distance, speed and heart rate were previously read from the wrong data field; not verified on real hardware (#138).

  • Chapter Devices: Bluetooth heart rate monitors and ergometers wait up to 5 seconds for a message from the device before connecting; re-pairing after restarting the watch is no longer necessary (#133, #134). Not verified on real hardware for ergometers.

  • Chapter Devices: For serial devices, the baud rate is remembered per device and tried first on the next connection (#135).

  • Chapter Installation: The file name of the migrated database replaces an existing version suffix even if it was appended with an underscore (#136).

  • Chapter Tips & Troubleshooting: new sections on the ANT+ heart rate strap (not found or intermittent dropouts) and on the Bluetooth heart rate monitor (watch) (#137, #133).

  • Chapter Training window: Reading from and sending to the ergometer no longer blocks the display (display clock); the remaining time in the recovery heart rate window runs without duplicated or skipped seconds (follow-up to #131).

  • Model/database: New database version 3.1.5.0 (migration Version_3_1_5_0) with the column SerialBaudRate on the device (nullable, learned on the next connection) (#135).

  • Log: The ergometer connection is logged with one warning line per failed attempt, “Ergometer COM4 connected (9600 baud)” and “Ergometer connection closed”; AntInterface reports channel events and errors in the log (#136, #137).

Document version 10 - 2026-10-05

Changes incorporated:

  • Training window (free training, heart-rate and power profiles): the poll timer now runs without queue build-up (AutoReset switched off), the next tick is triggered only after the previous one has finished; as a result heart rate and the measuring clock stay stable and the recovery heart rate dialog is no longer opened from within the poll tick (#127). The display clock is decoupled from the poll cycle (#131). Measuring times of the training points are stored to the millisecond (decimal seconds); the distance is no longer interpolated to the second mark (#127).

  • Training window (topographic training): coasting now only happens with topographic profiles; with heart-rate and power profiles the profile simply keeps running after it has ended (#132).

  • Devices & connection: losing the ergometer connection is caught and automatically restored in the background (#129). Losing an external heart rate monitor (BLE/ANT+) is detected, displayed and automatically reconnected (#130).

  • Model/database: the database version is now derived solely from the name of the latest EF migration (no separate hand-maintained constant any more); new migrations are named Version_a_b_c_d, and version 3.1.4.0 is combined into the migration Version_3_1_4_0. Duplicate training points per second are cleaned up in the migration (the first point per second is kept). Profile.IsRelative is integrated in the same migration, TrainingPoint.Time is changed to NUMERIC (millisecond-accurate) (#128, #126).

  • Export: TCX now contains speed per trackpoint and maximum speed (#123). FIT contains speed per second and maximum speed in lap/session (#122). Exports convert the millisecond-accurate measuring points to a 1 Hz grid by interpolation (#127).

  • Chapter Users: new optional field FTP (watts) in the master data; the FTP is saved with the training when it starts (#119).

  • Chapter Profiles: power profiles are available in watts or in % FTP (selection Einheit (unit); conversion with the user’s FTP; a %-FTP profile does not start without an FTP) (#121). The import button is now a menu: GPX-Import and Workout-Import for ZWO, MRC, ERG and FIT (#120). New Export menu: heart-rate and power profiles as FIT workout, topographic profiles as GPX track (#124).

  • Chapters Training overview and Training detail: new export Export (FIT); description of the exports adapted to the millisecond-accurate measuring points and the 1 Hz grid (#122, #127).

  • Chapter Training window: while coasting (cadence 0, speed still above 0), training points with cadence 0 are recorded and included in the averages (#125); note on %-FTP profiles without an FTP.

Document version 9 - 2026-10-01

Changes incorporated:

  • Training detail chapter: heart rate, power, cadence and speed each have a chart of their own instead of one shared chart (for topographic trainings below the terrain profile), and charts without measured values are hidden; new sections “Average” (dashed average line, value to the right of the chart) and “Maximizing a chart” (own window per chart); the sections on the heart rate axis, scale and tooltips were adjusted (#118)

  • Training overview chapter: exports (TCX, HRM, CSV) contain only one training point per second; the TCX file no longer contains a creator element and, for trainings without a topographic profile, no position (#115, #116, #117)

  • Chapter Training window: for heart-rate profiles, the value bar shows the target power set by the heart-rate control (e.g. → 80 W) below the power value instead of the watt unit, initially the user’s starting power (#108), and the target heart rate below the actual heart rate (→ 126 bpm, #109); for power profiles the target power appears below the actual power (#110); in addition, the control now holds the starting power until the first adjustment instead of dropping to the still low actual power

  • Chapter Training window: the chart of free training and heart-rate and power profiles is now split into two charts - heart rate on top (60 % of the height, with heart-rate zones and target curve), power (left) and cadence (own axis on the right) below (40 %), sharing one time axis (#111)

  • Chapters Key combinations and Training window: the time window of the live charts (free training, heart-rate and power profiles) can be shrunk and enlarged with Numpad 4/6 in steps of 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 minutes (for a profile additionally its total length); Numpad 5 shows the whole profile with a little margin at the end for heart-rate and power profiles; the last chosen setting is remembered for the next training (profiles start with the overview by default) (#112)

  • Chapter Training window: after the end of a heart-rate or power profile, the target value displays in the value bar disappear, and in simulation mode the power slider is enabled again (#114)

  • Chapter Profiles: points editor revised - new rows sit 5 minutes after the previous row and take over its value, Tab in the last cell inserts a row, the selected row is highlighted in the chart (and a click in the chart selects the nearest point), profile tree and toolbar are locked until saved; profiles and folders can be moved by drag and drop, also several at once (#106)

  • Chapter Training window: heart-rate and power profiles start with the whole profile in the chart instead of the 20-minute window of free training (#107)

  • Chapter Profiles: the value axis of the profile preview always extends from 0 to at least 100 % of the maximum heart rate for heart-rate profiles, and from 0 to at least 200 W for power profiles (#106)

  • Chapter Profiles: note that heart-rate profiles should have segments of at least about 5 minutes, because heart rate follows a power change only with a delay

Document version 8 - 2026-09-28

Changes since ErControl 3.1.1 incorporated:

  • Chapter Installation: The file name of the migrated database replaces an existing version suffix even if it was appended with an underscore (#136).

  • Chapters Devices and Settings: section on AntInterface adjusted accordingly - the path is now determined automatically, the field is locked as long as the bundled file is present

  • Chapter Training detail: new section “Load and focus” below the heart rate zone legend, calculated as Edwards TRIMP resp. by rules from the zone time shares (#77; as columns of the training overview #78); new section “Heart rate axis” - the heart rate now has an axis of its own in the chart, from zone 1 to zone 5 (#92); Export button (TCX/HRM/CSV) in the header; “Continue profile” now first opens the start window with the end position as the pre-filled, still changeable start distance instead of starting directly (#82)

  • Chapter Training overview: Export is now a single menu (TCX/HRM/CSV, separated CSV all) instead of individual buttons; Export and Delete now act on several selected trainings, with a progress dialog from 2 seconds on, while Continue/Power profile/Details are only available while exactly one training is selected (#86); new selectable columns Load and Focus (#78)

  • Chapter Profiles: the start window for topographic profiles now also opens when continuing a training, with its end position as the pre-filled start distance (#82)

  • Chapter Users: field order on the card corrected - first name now comes before last name (also in the new first-user dialog)

  • Chapter Training Detail: new speed chart for all training types below the existing charts, X axis coupled with them (zooming, panning, aiming together), own tooltip with only time, distance and speed (#96)

  • Chapter “Gear Shifters” renamed to “Virtual Gear Shifting” and completely reworked: no more dedicated management page and no more named gear shifters, instead a directly configured power per gear (base power, step, reality factor for gradient, maximum speed) under Settings → Ergometer or in the training’s settings panel; the usable number of gears is no longer fixed but results from the power range of the connected training device at the current gradient, power increases are ramped gently, the value bar shows the target power (#99)

  • Chapters Settings, Training Window, Keyboard Shortcuts during Training and Tips & Troubleshooting adjusted accordingly for the new gear shifting

  • Training window chapter: new average values on the right of the value bar (speed, heart rate, power, cadence, #104), which can be shown or hidden with the new Show average values setting (Settings chapter and the settings panel during training); order heart rate, power, cadence, header “Distance” instead of “ridden”, speed in the chart’s purple

  • Units unified: W instead of watt, rpm instead of 1/min, bpm for heart rate - in the value bar, charts, tooltips, training detail, training overview and settings windows (#102)

  • Time display is compact as m:ss, and only from one hour on as h:mm:ss (value bar, duration tile, training overview with a right-aligned column, profile view and chart tooltips, #102)

  • Training window and Virtual Gear Shifting chapters: at the end of a profile the speed stops immediately when cadence is 0 instead of coasting on; the coasting indicator only appears while actually coasting (#103)

Document version 7 - 2026-09-24

Changes since ErControl 3.1.0 incorporated:

  • New chapter “Training Detail” (#65): a detail page of its own for each training with paging, tiles, heart rate zone pie chart, route map, terrain profile and a heart rate/power/cadence chart with switchable X scale (per km / per time), aiming with tooltips (#71) and “Continue profile”; also the ID of the training behind the paging buttons (#76) and a “Note” field at the very bottom that is saved automatically and carried over into the TCX export (#75)

  • Users chapter: five heart rate zones with their colors, resting heart rate and historization of maximum and resting heart rate per training (#66); heart rate zone bar and bands in the training window, profiles and training overview

  • Training Overview chapter: double-click opens the training detail page, calories instead of energy (kcal only, #67), “Continue” also for topographic trainings that have not been ridden to the end, TCX export with sport, creator, average/maximum heart rate and maximum/resting heart rate notes (#68, #70); the internal number of the training as a fixed first column “ID” (#76), “Note” as a selectable column (#75), “Continue” for topographic trainings only from 100 m of remaining profile length, the training viewed last is highlighted and focused after returning from the detail page

  • Training Window and Profiles chapters: tooltips with the time as hh:mm:ss and the measured value with its unit (#71), calories in the value bar

  • New chapter “Main Window”: home page with a notice about new versions (#74; Settings chapter: the version check is now implemented and enabled by default), hiding the navigation bar and showing it with the mouse at the left edge (#72); keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl + B

  • Glossary: heart rate zones

Document version 6 - 2026-09-20

Changes since ErControl 3.0.5 incorporated:

  • New chapter “Training window”: value bar (scaling via Numpad *, / and Ctrl + mouse wheel or in the settings, #56; distances with two decimal places, #54), simulator sliders in the value bar (#57), settings panel during training (gear icon, #58), help listing the active keyboard shortcuts (F1, #59)

  • Topographic training: new 3D training window with rider view, bird’s-eye view, profile zoom view and movable splitters (#51); recording freezes at the finish, the distance counts from 0 (#47)

  • Profiles chapter: 3D map with base maps and tilt, aiming in the elevation profile, rider view, “Play profile” (#51), start window with start distance (#47), adjusted elevation axis (#55)

  • Training overview: stages and the “Finished” and “Stage” columns are gone, “Continue” no longer applies to topographic trainings (#47)

  • Keyboard shortcuts: with topographic profiles, Numpad 1-3 control the camera distance of the rider view; new: Numpad *, Numpad /, Ctrl + mouse wheel, Numpad , (settings panel), F1 (help) and Esc

  • Settings: value bar scaling (Training tab) added

  • Gear shifters: switching the gear shifter during a running training

  • Tips: note on stages replaced by the start distance

  • Profiles chapter: gradient colors as an average over zoom-dependent sections (#60), new section “Operating the chart” covering zooming and panning only along the distance or time axis (#61), and a tooltip on click showing kilometers, elevation and gradient or time as mm:ss (#62); training overview and training window updated accordingly

  • Devices chapter: new section “Power range” - minimum, maximum and step size now belong to the training device instead of the settings (#42); for serial and ANT+ FE-C they are entered by hand because ErControl cannot query a range from these devices (#41), BLE FTMS reports it itself. Settings → Ergometer: “Maximum power” is removed; training window, keyboard shortcuts and tips adjusted to the device’s step size

Document version 5 - 2026-09-17

  • Gear shifters chapter expanded with negative gears (#50, easy gears below gear 1) as well as the inertia model and downhill coasting (#36, #39)

  • Settings → Ergometer: new values for the count and reduction of the negative gears documented (#50)

  • Keyboard shortcuts: new “Stop” key (Numpad 7, #39) added, the Numpad– row expanded to cover negative gears

  • Training overview adjusted for the switch to pure training data (#49): topographic training sessions now show only the ridden route without the remaining-route/label display, heart-rate profiles show the target curve that applied at the time of recording, power profiles no longer show a target curve

  • Export action updated from “Export (Strava gpx)” to “Export (TCX)” (#45)

  • Profiles chapter expanded with the gradient coloring of the elevation profile (#32)

  • Devices chapter expanded with the automatic reading of the power range for BLE FTMS devices (#40)

Document version 4 - 2026-09-14

  • Devices chapter adjusted for ticket #29: Save/Cancel removed (auto-save), “first device found” wildcard option removed, new Device selection and Connection test sections, ANT+ HRM timeout corrected from 12s to 30s

  • Auto-login option added (Settings → System)

  • Unified “Connect to device…” dialog documented (now also runs for the heart rate monitor in parallel with the training device)

  • Corrected a stale reference to the removed “first device found” option in the ANT+ settings

  • Protocol/COM icons added to the device list (#27)

Document version 3 - 2026-09-09

  • Reference tables for the standard gear shifters and the “Tips & troubleshooting” chapter carried over from the 2.x manual

  • Practical values for rolling resistance (cr) and drag (cw·A) added

  • PDF: each chapter now starts on a new page

  • Inertia formula in the free training chapter corrected (energy balance)

  • Added the changelog page (this page)

Document version 2 - 2026-09-08

  • New chapters: gear shifters, users, profiles, training overview

  • All new chapters also available in English

Document version 1 - 2026-09-07

  • First version of the documentation: Sphinx toolchain (HTML + PDF), installation, program documentation, settings, devices and glossary chapters

  • English translation of the documentation introduced (sphinx-intl)