Tacx and Murphy's Law

The fun goes on. It's now almost 2 months since I received my tacx bike trainer and it is not working in tandem with my computer and big screen tv yet. It seems that every problem solved leads to a new problem.
After many attempts to get the TTS (Tacx trainer software) to work with my laptop I have finally given up. It seems the TTS doesn't work with Windows 7 64 bit which is what my laptop has so I ordered a used desktop with an upgraded video card and Windows XP.
My first problem with this computer was that the s video cable that I had fit my tv but didn't match the s video outlet on the computer video card. Silly of me to think that 2 the 2 s video outlets would be the same. I ended up buying a DVI to HDMI cable and voila, a giant computer monitor became a reality. Another issue was I needed a keyboard and mouse to use with the desktop unit so I had purchased a bluetooth adapter for the Blackberry keyboard that I use with my Playbook. Problem was in order to download the bluetooth program I needed a mouse to operate the computer. The perfect Catch 22. Lucky for me Deb had brought her computer and mouse up for the weekend so I was able to use it to download the bluetooth program. I still couldn't get the program to find the keyboard so I had to leave it up to Jim to figure it out. I can now operate my desktop with my Blackberry keyboard which also has a touchpad to serve as a mouse.
I then downloaded the TTS program and wonders of wonders the computer recognised the antenna the trainer uses. To complete the setup I had to have an internet connection so Tacx can activate the software but of course the desktop does not have wifi so I grabbed the wireless modem upstairs and plugged it into the downstairs jack and ran a long cable to the computer. I couldn't get any internet so after some investigation I find that there is no signal at the phone jack. This is a line I ran myself years ago and it functioned before so why not now? I check where it enters the house and there is no signal so there must be a fault in the buried wire.
Today I am going to run a temporary service from my demarcation point at the side of the house to where the buried wire enters the house. This should give me internet in the basement for the winter and come spring I will repair the buried wire and remove the temp. I have done this same thing hundreds of times at work when I was a cable repairman with Bell so hopefully all will go well. The only drag is today is the coldest day of the year. Murphy's law.

2-4-1 fiasco

Tacx trainer lack of support

It has been a while but due to a lot of requests, one to be precise, I am doing another post. The person who put forth the request shall remain nameless although I will say that last night around midnight I received two texts, one from him and another one from the other drunk (I presume) sitting across the table from him (I hope). Both texters professed their love for me. I hope they both meant they loved me in a father figure, you're a miserable old prick kind of way but I guess I will never know for sure. I do know for sure that when some guys drink they can get strange and when some guys drink Red Bull and vodka pants become optional. I do know that.

My nonfunctioning setup

Onto my little rant now. I purchased a Tacx Bushido trainer about two months ago and finally received it a month ago. This trainer with the proper Tacx software should allow me to train with my computer hooked up to a big screen tv so I can see all sorts of different info such as my watts output, cadence, speed etc. while climbing to a video of the Alpe d'huez, with the brake of the trainer reflecting the steepness of the climb. The steeper the hill the harder it is to pedal. There are also virtual courses where I can race against a virtual opponent on many different famous race routes or race online against other riders sitting on their trainers in their basements or garages. How cool is that.
The problem with all this is I can't get the software to work on my computer. Every time I set the program up it freezes and I have to control-alt-delete to get out of the program. Very frustrating indeed but what is even worse is the customer support provide by Tacx. It is virtually nonexistent. Ask them a question and they usually send a link to their analysis tool which is really just a way for them to ignore your troubles.
When I investigated further I found that this problem with the software is not confined to only me. The problem is widespread with many customers of Tacx swearing they will never buy a Tacx trainer again. They too can't believe how bad the customer support is and how problematic the software can be.
I have discovered that although my Tacx software says it will work on Windows 7, 64 bit, this is apparently not true and just about anyone with Windows 7 has a great deal of difficulty getting it to function. I am now getting a used desktop computer with an upgraded video card and Windows XP which I hope will solve the problem. I have my doubts but who knows, I might get it to work. It has certainly been a painful and more expensive than I thought it would be learning experience.
Lucky for me I can always take solace in the fact that out there somewhere somebody loves me, hopefully in a father figure, you're a miserable prick kind of way.