Perfect Pass choices 97 Ski in the course on a river

[Mikeski]

Hi Guys,

One of my ski buddies has a 1997 Ski Nautique we use in the slalom course on the river with 1-2mph of current. Lately there are lot of weeds in the river and we sometimes pick up a reed on the prop or elsewhere causing issues with the RPM based speed control. He would like to upgrade his original Perfect Pass to a GPS speed system so we do not need to compensate for current when we run opposing directions and also be immune to RPM based errors too. I talked to PP today and they said Stargazer version 7.0 still uses the smart timers and version 8.0 eliminates the timers all together. He can buy either (7.0 if I order the wake edition) the cost difference is about $200 if I use his existing timer.

Does anybody have any experience with either of these on a cable throttle boat on a waterway with current in the slalom course?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[TRBenj]

Mike, Im no PP expert, but my buddy installed a GPS module in his '02 (running whatever version of PP was original for that year), which replaced the paddlewheel input. I remember it being pretty short money- only a few hundred bucks. I think he's had good luck with it thus far. I dont remember the brand, but you might want to look into it!

[east tx skier]

GPS measures speed over ground, which, in a slalom course, is what you want, i.e., exact distance in an exact time. But when you're running against the current, the speed over the water for the skier will obviously be faster than the calculated speed over ground.

The upgrade from regular digial pro is about $500 if you already have the wide PP display. I've been really happy with the system. If you do much free skiing on the river, ask PP about their unadvertised river option. It basically defaults to the paddle wheel to do speed correction for speed over water. Not unuseful, but if you don't spend a ton of time free skiing in a current, I would just guess the current and shoot for a lower speed when you're going against it.

There's also the Zbox option, which makes PP-SG behave more like zero off, useful if you all are big in the tournament scene.

Finally, there's the no magnet upgrade, which if you have a course on public waters and are worried about losing magnets, is pretty helpful. We don't have this problem, but I'm considering the upgrade simply so I don't have to deal with entry gate magnets anymore.

In sum, worthwhile upgrade, but take your time in getting it dialed in.

[TRBenj]

GPS measures speed over ground, which, in a slalom course, is what you want, i.e., exact distance in an exact time. But when you're running against the current, the speed over the water for the skier will obviously be faster than the calculated speed over ground.

True, but this is just the way it has to be when running a course in a river. You still need to measure speed over ground if the course is anchored to the bottom and not floating along with the current!

I broke down and did a search... my buddy is using the Nautic Logic GPS upgrade on his '02.

[Mikeski]

Thanks for the input guys. I talked to my buddy yesterday and I think he is going to update his system to V8.0 Stargazer. He might also add the ZBox if he wants to get it even closer to the new boat pull.

I talked to the Nautic Logic guy (Cary?), good guy and helpful. That would be a good $245 solution except the PP uses RPM input in slalom mode. I could install this and run it in wakeboard speed mode but I am unsure how closely it will track speeds. Since we are thinking his servo might also be bad we are leaning to the complete new system more than a hodge podge of new and old.

Since I am buying his old system the new system will also be somewhat offset in cost.

[east tx skier]

True, but this is just the way it has to be when running a course in a river. You still need to measure speed over ground if the course is anchored to the bottom and not floating along with the current!p

I broke down and did a search... my buddy is using the Nautic Logic GPS upgrade on his '02.

Yes, that is correct. Sorry if I wasn't clear on my post about that. The river mode is only for free skiing and, as someone who skis on a river occasionally, not something for which I would pay extra.