Faria Speedo (again) - 2004 196 Limited

[WaterSkiDad]

How is the testing going? I have a 206 with pitot tube gateway in Canada though.

[TechBeer]

Ok, I have come up with a solution. sgregg can chime in at will. I will do a more detailed write up, but but basically I have developed a small circuit board that fits inside an existing gateway with the pitot tubes disconnected. This board can deal with 3 configurations:
1. If your boat came with a paddlewheel connected to the Perfect Pass (like sgregg ) then a cable will split this signal and send it into the gateway. Your Faria speedometer that used to work off the pitot tubes will now work off the paddlewheel.
2. If you don't have the paddlewheel or would prefer to work off GPS, I have a version that will take a stand-alone GPS puck and drive the Faria speedometer. Obviously the puck has to be mounted somewhere with view to the satelites. I would source and supply the GPS puck.
3. If you have upgraded to the PP Stargazer, I can use the supplied Garmin GPS puck to drive the speedometer. A cable is used to split the signal going into the PP box to run it into the gateway.

I have tested all 3 of these configurations and they work very well. I'm working on a DIY video since that is the easiest way to deploy this circuit, vs. doing all the work myself. The candidate for this approach is: anyone with a pitot tube based gateway that has not already bypassed it. The gateway has to function. Again, this approach involves removing the gateway, opening it up, mounting the board, and doing some minor soldering. The signals are brought in through an unused connector P7 (for what it's worth). If anyone is interested either PM me or write on this thread. If I get overwhelmed with responses I might have to come up with a different business model :-) Right now I'm doing everything by hand....

[sgregg]

Mark’s mod is PERFECT!!!

So great to be able to eliminate the pitot system/water intrusion risk to the Gateway and still have a functioning Speedo

Attached link is to a video demo of “Option 1” Mark mentions above (Speed signal from factory installed Perfect Pass Paddlewheel) compared with GPS/Stargazer 3 Event v9 speed. This particular boat is a 2004 196 Limited.

Just so very happy to be able to keep my factory gauges and all the functionality that comes with them - absolutely super job and option for anyone that still has a pitot-based Gateway.

Thanks Mark!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18F5...w?usp=drivesdk

[WaterSkiDad]

I'm very interested in this. I have the upgraded PP Stargazer with Z box already installed. The Z box already splits off the signal for the GPS do you think the GPS signal will care to be split again for the speedometer mod?

[TechBeer]

WaterSkiDad I'm not really familiar with the "Z box". I think it sort of depends on the length of the cable. If the gateway, PP, and Z box were all at the front of the boat then likely not a problem. The cable adapter I built (1 of 1) splits the GPS signal at the Stargazer box and runs ~4 ft to a front mounted gateway. There is already a connector between the Stargazer box and the Garmin GPS puck so I just split it there. If you can describe your set up a little more I could certainly advise. My gut says that it would work fine.

Pictures of your connections would be super helpful. LMK. BTW, sgregg has a rear mounted gateway. So in his case the paddlewheel signal was split at the front of the boat (between transducer and PP input) and a 20 ft cable was run to the gateway. His setup works fine. If I understood your set up better I could build the cable and test it in my lab.

[jpwhit]

Z box adds accelerometers to Stargazer such that PerfectPass can work more like Zero Off. Zero Off uses accelerometers to sense the skier pulling down the boat speed much sooner than can be detected by just monitoring GPS derived speed. This allows Zero Off to react sooner such that it can employ more consistent and predictable strategies for making up the time in the course. A valid pass in the slalom course requires the boat time through the course to be within a certain spec. Zero Off revolutionized tournament water skiing by virtually eliminating out of spec passes. Pre-Zero Off with perfect pass, out of spec passes were fairly common. It really sucks when you just ran your tournament PB slalom pass, to get back to the dock and find out the pass was disqualified because the boat time was in violation. Without Z-Box, perfect pass feels a lot different to the skier than Zero Off. So, for people that want to train on Perfect Pass boat, but not be shocked by how Zero Off feels at a tournament, this gets them closer to that. Zero Off is only approved speed control in tournaments.

If you're using shielded cables, you can split the TTL level RS232 signals from the GPS and add about as much wire and additional receivers as you want over the typical length of the boat without much concern for signal degradation. Non-shielded will likely work fine as well, just a little more chance of noise issues.

[sgregg]

WaterSkiDad , Mark at Perfect Pass built the splitter/cable we are using to get the paddlewheel signal back to the Gateway. Doubt there would be any impact to your system by splitting off the GPS signal but am sure the guys at Perfect Pass would happy to answer any concerns you might have.

[TechBeer]

jpwhit thank you for the zero off explanation. The hey day of my slalom days were in the 90's so I'm clearly behind. I have watched a few excellent videos by the Water Ski Broadcasting Network recently, so I'm slowly coming back up to speed (pun intended). I agree that the RS232 levels should not be a problem over a longer cable. I still wouldn't want to run the cable back and forth the length of the boat, so I'm sort of trying to understand the "topology". Can I assume the Zero off box is up by the Stargazer around the dash somewhere? I think the cable I already made which splits the GPS signal to about a 4 foot cable would work.

WaterSkiDad - PP could certainly build the cable, but I want to say it was $70 or something like that just for the cable, sgregg would know for sure. In that case the cable was shipped to me and I added the DT connector to inject the signal into the gateway P7. I could certainly build the cable too I just need to know the length. The PP cable has 5 or 6 conductors in it, but I really only need 2 (RX and Ground) inside a shield.

Again, I'm hoping to turn this into more of a DIY kit vs. doing all the modifications myself. But since this would only be the second one I would be happy to modify your gateway if you wanted to go down that path. But it would require you removing the gateway and shipping it to me. Pricing is negotiable... :-)

Just let me know.

[jpwhit]

Yes, the zBox should be near the stargazer master module.

[Zigman89]

Thanks JQ. TechBeer is doing my gauges and has a 2004 Gateway on his bench. Hoping he can work some of his magic and come up with an option for those that want to retain the factory appearance

I am hoping TechBeer can help me with mine as well. But I haven’t posted enough on the forum to be able to private message him yet

[WaterSkiDad]

@techbear I'm ok with the DIY option.

[WaterSkiDad]

@techbear I'm ok with the DIY option.

TechBeer I'm ok with the DIY option. Fallowing your tutorial I was able to replace the stepper motors and capacitors in a couple of my gauges to get them functioning again so all my gauges work except for the speedo. My boat is a 2005 Ski Nautique 206 with Stargazer PP. I have removed the pitot tubes and moved my Gateway box from the transom to behind the drivers side kick panel.

I'm located eastern Ontario Canada.

I also haven’t posted enough on the forum to be able to private message.

[TechBeer]

Oh, I didn't realize you had to do so many posts before you can PM.

WaterSkiDad I have all the video clips but still need to assemble the DIY video. That might be a month away since I've been pretty busy these days. If you are willing to wait and would prefer that option then let me know. If you can repair the gauges you will have no trouble with the speed adaptor modification, VERY basic soldering skills required. Alternately you could ship me your gateway and I could do the modifications. That's interesting that you moved your gateway box. So what is the distance between your gateway and your PP box now, including cable routing? I would guess way less than 20 feet?

Zigman89 what is your situation? What model/year boat and have you done any upgrades, Stargazer/Zbox?

[WaterSkiDad]

TechBeer I'm in no rush I don't intend on making the mod until after ski season (end of October) I look forward to seeing your DIY videos thank you for all hard work.

[TechBeer]

All good. You might consider doing it right before you take it just so you can test it. Up to you though.