What is The Trick For Mapping A Course With Zero Off

[scuppers]

After going through the course very slow and hitting the button on the screen right as the gate buoy crosses the gps puck, mapping in both directions, the beepes don't match the bouys. It seems worse when it's windy. The course was surveyed in by Eddie Roberts. It's supposed to RC. What am I doing wrong?

[MISkier]

I wonder if one of the pucks is bad and the system is getting confused/inconsistent due to that.

[rockdog]

I don't know the ins and outs of ZO but I would think wind should have nothing to do with it.

[ForrestGump]

You don't map in both directions. You map both gates in one direction.

[Chuck_Dickey]

Make sure a "diff" number is displayed before mapping. Like Shane said, one direction only.

 

The "diff plus a number, like "Diff 8" shows the number of land based GPS stations ZO finds. ZO uses space based and land based signals to be accurate to one meter (39.2"). Diff stands for differential. If you start mapping before they are displayed the accuracy suffers. This corrects satellite drift.

 

If it beeps about the same distance before in one direction as past the buoy in the opposite direction, that's acceptable. It should only be off by one meter at most.

 

All this is based on properly working pucks.

[mwetskier]

@Chuck_Dickey -not to put too fine a point on it but a meter is 39.37 inches -often rounded to 39.4 inches.

[scuppers]

Thanks for all the input. @Shane - yes I figured that as well - I just tried mapping in the opposite direction to see if it corrected things. @Chuck_Dickey that's exactly what it does. Headed north it is beeping before and headed south it beeps after. I guess the speed is the speed but so far I'm not that excited about ZO. Too many years on PP I guess.

[block]

It should be very close either way, if it is not you probably have a bad puck. Try unpluging one and map then the other and map. This will help you identify a faulty puck. If you still have problems let me know. jseiler@acmeblockandbrick.com

[DkLkSkr]

Is Zero Off as simple as map the course and go? In other words once you map the course you do not have to worry about running baselines or changing background settings like Perfect Pass? Or is there more setup to Zero Off other than mapping the course?

[scuppers]

Someone (anyone) (who) knows more than me chime in here for @DKLKSkr

[skier2788]

@DkLkSkr‌ yes ZO is map it and run. No baseline or anything to mess with.

@scruppers make sure you have all the old courses deleted out. My boat would switch courses going each direction. Cleared all the course out and remapped. Worked great after. We have a portable and drug it down lake a bit. I wanted the oiginal for when we moved it back but it made ZO do weird things with two courses mapped at almost the same spot.

[DkLkSkr]

@skier2788 Thanks! Sounds awesome compared to fidgeting with Perfect Pass!!

[The_MS]

If the times are good, your in.

[Chuck_Dickey]

@DkLkSkr‌ ZO is great! No crew weight, no skier weight, no wind adjustments, no baselines! It has a practice mode that you can adjust speed in 1/10th mph. The touch screen version in my 2014 ProStar is fantastic!

[DkLkSkr]

@Chuck_Dickey‌ Thanks! That makes me want to upgrade to a new boat even more. And I'm sure on top of this all it gives an even pull with great segment times all the time. Would be awfully nice to not have to look at segment times and just enjoy a great pull. Almost sounds too good to be true compared to what I've been working with!

[scuppers]

@Chuck_Dickey‌ @block‌ @skier2788‌ Thanks guys - I got it working! I deleted all the courses in the ZO memory, Checked the function of both pucks, checked my diff setting (8),Re-mapped in one direction and it beeps right on time! Thanks for the help. I think I had too many failed attempts in the memory bank.

[adkh2oskier]

A little off the subject but I have a question. I am thinking of upgrading my boat to something newer w Zero Off. I installed my own course almost 20 yrs ago and I'm not sure how accurate it is, I put it in through the ice. All I used was a big spool of rope and a Sheetrock T-Square. It skiis quite well and never moves, put 6' pieces of Re-bar directly sunk into the lake bottom. My question is: How does Zero off work if the course is to short or to long? Will the times be off? Will the boat run fast or slow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

squar

[Drago]

@DkLkSkr‌ ZO is too good to be true. But it's true. Total game changer. 20 year leap ahead of pp.

If only I could put it in my ' 97 Nautique ...

If only....(sigh)

[thager]

Saw a nice 02 SN 196 for sale in Minneapolis Craigslist with the 330 Excaliber and about 325 hours. Upgrade it to ZO and be way ahead!

[Chuck_Dickey]

@adkh2oskier The course needs to be in tolerance or you'll not get good times. ZO knows where it is suppose to be in the course and will give all buoy timing accordingly. Might be a pain, but a survey of your course may be in order.

[ForrestGump]

I disagree. ZO doesn't care the length of the course. It's times and speeds will ALWAYS be in tolerance across 849 ft 8 7/8 inches. If your course is 840 ft, ZO is still going to come in with accurate speed because it's calculating based on 849 8 7/8 inches, not on 840 ft. It only cares about the two points you plot which correspond to entrance gates.

[thompjs]

@ShaneH Wow, you are finally right about something! Just kidding but that is the correct explanation of ZO

[Chuck_Dickey]

@ShaneH‌

 

Question: If the course is short, say 10ft short, are you saying ZO will plot the buoys equally down the length? Or are you saying it will beep where the buoys and exit gates should be based on an accurate course length?

[thompjs]

The latter is correct. So at 34.2 the boat covers 259 meters in 16.95 secs +/- .02 every time.

RC tolerance for total length is about 2.5 ft either way.

 

If you are using PP classic on a short course your times will be right, but the speed is not!

 

 

[SkiJay]

So if your course is short, ZO will get the speed and time right; you'll just have balls coming at you a tiny bit faster than ZO's beeps. Not a bad way to practice because this would make visiting an RC course easier to ski.

[RichardDoane]

@adkh2oskier‌ when you map a course and it's to far out of tolerance, ZO will give you an error message to try again

[adkh2oskier]

@SkiJay: maybe that is why I tend to get better scores in tournaments than in practice? Also could be that my water is very clean and clear and feels fast compared to small private ski ponds which tend to have much more sediment?

[Ed_Johnson]

@adkh2oskier.....In answer to your original question. No the boat will not run fast or slow, it will run right on speed and the times will be accurate...When you Map the course with the on screen display and hit the enter button at the entrance gates, that is simply a GPS starting point...When you hit the button again at the exit buoys, that is the starting point for the other direction...ZO could care less if you have a long or short course...It is strictly going to trigger at the 'Starting Point" you entered and run for a specific distance, time and speed...You could take the buoys out, ZO could care less if you even have buoys there, as long as you had the entrance gates to mark the starting point....However, if your course is accurate the "Beeps" should match the Buoys.

[LeonL]

ZO is going to run 34.2(or whatever you set) regardless of whether you map or not. It really doesn't care if you map a course to run accurate speed, it just won't display times.