During the 2 hour start up period when one waits to input the double blood glucose reading:
Do the receiver & transmitter have to stay within the 20 foot distance or can I leave the receiver far from from the transmitter i.e. me?
Can I recharge the receiver during this period?
You can always charge the receiver - that doesn't affect use.
I've stepped out of range during start up, and it worked fine afterwards. I think it helps accuracy to be in range, otherwise it won't know what to calibrate to very well. It won't reset the clock or do anything unfixible with an extra calibration later though.
I always keep the receiver as close as possible during the two hour soak. I can’t say it really matters but I want the calibration to be as accurate as possible so I want to make sure the receiver gets all the info. I charge while I am watching television so I can stay in the same room as the receiver.
The receiver doesn't need to be anywhere near the transmitter during the two hour period. The period is to allow the sensor itself to come to temperature and adjust to its new environment inside your body. So it's just time. It should have no impact on accuracy at all. And doesn't, in my experience.
The only thing I do is to make sure my BG is stable before I do the two initial calibrations. If I eat something during the two hour period, I generally wait an additional couple of hours before calibrating. I've gone 12 hours after insertion and after the two hour start period before calibrating, and have never had any difficulties with it. I do tend to calibrate a couple extra times during the first 24 hours after initial calibration of a sensor.
I've seen problems when the reciever was not within range during the 2 hour period. Seems odd, but when it was seperated up to the 2 hour time the setting 2 readings didn't take affect on first try. Took 30 minutes for it to start working right.
I keep the receiver close to me as I've gotten the 'out of range' symbol when I've gotten too far away. It usually goes away when I get back in range, but on a few occasions, it hasn't and I've had to restart the sensor (and the calibration period).
As a side note, the manual says if you see the out of range symbol during the 2-hr start, review the troubleshooting tips - the first is make sure your receiver and transmitter are within 20 ft of each other without obstruction. This would make me believe that they should be within 20 ft of each other to start with.
I went to the store and shopped when I first got my CGM. I let it charge - while my sensor was warming up on me. When I got home, I was able to calibrate everything just fine. So - my guess is it does not matter. Now that I am using the system, I keep it on my bedside at night when charging it. Th charge seems to last almost seven days.