Stargazer question. How much speed fluctuation?

[Tdub]

I know there are many variables but if I am pulling someone at 34.2 I notice my MPH will sometimes reach 35.1 or so trying to catch up. Is this normal? Times are good however.

 

Thanks.

Tom

[keithh2oskier]

are you looking at the overall time or the buoy by buoy time?

[Tdub]

Overall time

 

[gregy]

Mine fluctuated quite a bit. At 34.2 mine could be from 36 to 32. It was sensitive to up/down coarse wind as well.

[keithh2oskier]

Yeh you need to look at the buoy by buoy. I was having some big issues when I installed mine where I could feel the boat accelerate hard out of 2 ball and then slow way down on the back half of the course. The times on the buoy by buoy were on the verge of being out of tolerance but overall was pretty close to a 16.08. My times at 34 seem pretty good now but my buddy who skis 36 hates the feel and I just pull him using classic. When you get to the end you can hit menu to select the time, hit down and it will give you the overall and buoy by buoy. You can compare against actuals.

[Ilivetoski]

Our zbox fluctuated enough buoy to buoy we sold it to get a ZO boat. Wasn’t worth the headache

[Ski_Dad]

i still have classic 6.5ng, but I've heard Version 9 is a solid upgrade if you still have 8. I would call PP as there are some background settings you can adjust.

[bassfooter]

@Tdub - Is the boat actually surging? RPMs fluctuating? Or are you just reading the speedometer during an otherwise-normal pass? If it's the latter, I would ignore what the speedometer reads and trust the times. My speedo reads high and low, but the boat's locked in solid and not surging. I attribute this to the speedo displaying a single, instantaneous reading off the GPS system. I would also call Mark at PP and tell him what you're seeing. Make sure you know what version you have because Mark will ask. (The version flashes on the screen when it first powers up and can also be found under System Info.) If you have a more recent version, it's only $50 to upgrade to version 9. I've upgraded two boats to version 9, both with outstanding results.

 

[Onside135]

When ZBox first came out, I helped get it set up on two boats...’07 Response, and an ‘05 Prostar 197. We had difficulty on our own getting good bouy times on the Mastercraft. I can’t recall who I worked with at Perfect Pass, but he was awesome helping me get it dialed in. Basically my ski partner and I skied 4 sets one day, recording buoy times each pass. We sent this info to the guy at Perfect Pass and he gave us adjustments to make. After this, times got better. We then skied another day recording the same info, sent him the spreadsheet of buoy times, he told us to tweak a parameter or two a little different, and it pretty much shacked the times. I felt like short of Zero Off, it was the next best thing. Very good pull once set up properly.

[shansen345]

Skied with a Stargazer boat for 4 years. Fine system overall, but sometimes it really did what it wanted to. Couldn't ever figure out why..

[skiboyny]

I've had personal access to 3 stargazer boats. None of them ran right from factory. All needed backgroud settings changed. The ball times should be within a couple of thousands ball to ball or it just won't ski right. That said, the spedo can fluctuate a lot. Look at the ball times down arrow.

[BraceMaker]

@shansen345 realistically PP is a new product again with rev 9. Totally different than it was, rev 8 was all over. More fluctuations open water, tighter in a mapped course. If you have another good gps speed source run it side by side the numbers shift more on the PP than I see running a phone gps for instance.

[usaski1]

If it is possible to convert to ZO it is worth it over any version of perfect pass. Now if that means you have to swap the motor.. Probably not. I went from perfect pass to ZO this year, and it is much more consistent. It cost me about $2000. Well spent at this point.

[eleeski]

The speed fluctuation, when and how much, defines the feel of the pull. If the fluctuation isn't right or too variable, the pull will feel bad and scores will suffer.

 

PP Classic was very consistent. I liked the feel with the switch. The speed variations were predictable and within tolerance. It took a savvy driver to get times close to perfect but tournaments ran well.

 

I struggled with Stargazer. Both the feel and consistency were difficult for me. While times were perfect, it seemed to make that end course time right by hammering 5 ball. As soon as that year's Nationals (Stargazer for my division) was over, switched to ZO and never looked back.

 

The rides I've had as a guest behind the latest version of PP have been good. Maybe not ZO but much better than the older version I skied.

 

So either go back to PP Classic (and train your driver well) or get the latest upgrade Zbox. PP is still improving their product!

 

Eric

[TallSkinnyGuy]

I haven't watched the speed fluctuations, but I get ball times that are usually a max of .02 from perfect at each ball. This is with version 9, which also does waaaaay better at not overshooting the set speed compared to version 8.

[Alberto Soares]

When I sit on a boat with Stargazer the first think I do is change the configuration to CLASSIC MODE, it seems that on GPS MODE the system keeps fighting itself between the GPS reading and the RPM tables

[JC McCavit]

I thought of this thread last night driving a ZO boat. With the ZO set at 34.2 the indicated speed fluctuated all over the place from a high 35.8 to a low 32.2. I see similar fluctuations with my PP SG Zbox running version 9.12, but ball times are very close. Skiing behind version 9.12 and ZO on a similar H.P. boat I can no longer feel a differece in practice or tournaments.

[jpattigr]

I upgraded last year to Version 9 and was early on getting it. I am super happy with Z Box with Ver 9, locks speed fast, and good times. I ski Zero Off boats and my Z Box back to back all the time, both work great.

[UWSkier]

@JC McCavit do you have Zbox? I'm the new owner of a late-model Response with the servo and throttle cable running 6.5ng. Will be looking to upgrade to get feel close to my friends' boats with ZO. I'm hopeful to replicate your results.

[WBLskier]

@UWSkier . I have a 98 malibu echelon with monsoon serve and throttle. ran 6.5ng in classic then upgraded to stargazer w/ zbox. I used to suck skiing behind ZO and training with classic and now I really don't notice a difference. splits are almost always within 0-2 hundredths and end to end times always good. it seems to work better for me with the skier weight at feather or light even for heavier skiers. Can't explain why but if the times are good I don't really care and then I don't have to mess with it. Feel free to PM me.

[WBLskier]

oh and version 9 was a game changer. mine locks in almost immediately where on old version is had to search and needed a long set up.

[dbressel]

I ski with a boat that has the most recent software version; lock-in great and times very consistent. The only thing I notice is that it required remapping more frequently than ZO. pay attention to the beeps.

[UWSkier]

Is V9 more like ZO where you can just give 'er the beans on holeshot and the system picks up immediately and prevents you from overshooting more than 1-2 MPH?

[jpattigr]

UWSkier, Version 9 is way better but I still don't way overshot on throttle. It is still a mechanical system and no point and making harder then required. It does work way better then the old software however!!

[JC McCavit]

@UWSkier yes, it was in my post, I have Zbox, it is a must have for slalom. I have not tried giving it the beans, wouldn't want to rip anyone's arms out of their sockets, but I will try over throttling on the setup and report back.

[UWSkier]

Well, I meant roll up to WOT gently, not slam from 0 to WOT. Please don't kill any skiers during this evaluation. :)

[bassfooter]

@UWSkier Version 9 is very hard to overshoot - you really have to bury the throttle. This assumes your mechanical linkage is operating smoothly with a good return spring (or springs). Upgrading to 9 from 6.5 and adding ZBox will come very close to making your Response feel like a ZO setup. You might have to make some tweaks to the background settings. Mine was great out of the box. @BraceMaker nailed it: it's a whole new product.

[Jmoski]

I have version 9 on my 2006, i only have to be careful about not overshooting at 28mph.