Magnets

[Broussard]

Never had to deal with this before, where do magnets go for Perfect Pass, and how deep should I put them?

 

Does Perfect Pass Stargazer also use magnets?

 

What about Zero Off?

[RichardDoane]

for PP classic, depending on if the boat has 2 pickups or not, there should be a magnet at the entry gate, the 3 ball boat guide, and the exit gate. An additional magnet at the one ball can also be added. For PP SG, all you need is a magnet at the entry gate. Depth at the gate should be spaced down to keep it from being hit by fins, but just under the boat guide is fine for the middle of the course.

[Ed_Obermeier]

I've attached a simple diagram showing magnet placement for PP Classic two-segment timing. The magnets shown in brown show the placement with the boat moving from left to right. Magnets shown in blue are for right to left. For Classic two-segment timing you'll need 6 magnets.

 

For Stargazer you only need two magnets, usually on the left hand entry gate ball on both ends, assuming your magnet pickup is located on the passenger side of the boat which is the standard install location. If you have a hand timer you can forgo the magnets, you just hit the timer button as you pass through the entry gate, SG does the rest. Personally I find it easier to just install the two magnets. 18" to 2' depth is about standard depth. Unlikely the boat would strike a magnet with that depth but I wouldn't guarantee that it can't happen. Much deeper and you can start having issues with picking the magnets up.

 

Zero Off doesn't need magnets, you GPS the entry and exit gate locations and ZO does the rest. The Perfectpass Z-Box upgrade to SG works in the same manner.

[jackski]

Make sure north points up in all magnets .

[Broussard]

@jackski How do you know?

[thager]

Get a small simple cheap compass. Usually 1/2 of needle is painted. Other side is not. Magnetic opposites attract. North end of your magnet will attract south side of compass needle. South side attracts to north needle indicator. PP really doesn't care if it reads N or S. Whatever is up all needs to be the same. Either all N up or all S up.

[AggieSkier]

The magnets we use http://www.skiertoskier.com/ float naturally in water with North pointing up.

[Phil2360]

Other way I've used to check North is up is to swing them past the side of the boat on a bit of rope like a pendulum with Perfect Pass in Magnet test mode.

 

Have also in the past used a stack of old car speaker & microwave magnets when I didn't have the real thing readily available. The grey do-nut part that's left once the other stuff is stripped off.

 

[GAJ0004]

2-2 1/2 feet underwater..(2 1/2 feet preferably) I have to make the course on my lake idiot proof since there are 700 homes around the lake. If you get bigger magnets you can place them deeper. I only had one get damaged where I had to replace the foam to make it float. I used a piece of an old spongex buoy that was torn up by a prop and some contact cement to fix it. It got damaged because a buoy got cut loose, and whoever put in the replacement did not use a long enough string. I have had the same set of six magnets from skiertoskier.com since 2008. When I run the magnet test on Stargazer I usually get a reading of 39-41. The S1-X magnets have worked very well. The course on my lake is an accufloat. I used sections of an old slalom line to make the anchor lines for the magnets. They all have a brass dogleash clip which I use to attach them to the eyebolts on the buoy arms. I also attach the buoys using mason string(easy breakaway if they get snagged to prevent the whole course from getting ripped out) and a brass dogleash clip also attached to the same eyebolt, or piggybacked on the magnet's clip if I need the magnets to go deeper or to level out the buoy arm.. The magnets I have work great, but if I had to get new ones I would get the bigger ones so I could put them down deeper.. I was at another lake where the magnets were not down deep enough and the driver of the boat I was on hit one with his prop and dinged it up pretty good.

[ral]

Magnets? What is that?

 

We put them in 2008 when we started the lake, and pulled out the last one of them in 2010 after having used them "zero" times thanks to ZO.

[GAJ0004]

There are only two ZeroOff boats on my lake. Everyone else still has older versions of Perfect Pass or drives manually. I am the only one with Stargazer. I only need 1 at each end to run mine, but I used six to set up my baselines. Magnets are here to stay on some courses..

[Dusty]

IIRC- PP's newer iteration of sensors don't seem to care which pole is 'up' as long as ALL are the same- if not you will get odd segments reported, whether all-buoy or two segment. Magnet test will tell you polarity and which needs to be flipped. In colder water, I flip the smallest number necessary- if the number is equal I'll toss a coin and plan to shiver more...

[GAJ0004]

If you get the magnets from skiertoskier.com the magnets have a float that covers them. There is a small PCV pipe that sticks out of the bottom. If that is pointed down then the north pole of the magnet will be pointing up.

[Jody_Seal]

I have a number of them that I will gladly sell Cheap!

[lff]

add a zbox to your stargazer and you won't need magnets anymore. as an aside, zbox on my 03 RLxi smoothed out the pull like I can't believe. No more feeling of the boat running away from me.