Is there anybody out there with a mechanical throttle and z box that thinks they have it dead on?

[escmanaze]

I'm currently in option 4. I just upgraded to version 9 and I'm hoping to get up to 3 or even 2.

 

However, I think part of me has given up on #1 being anything but fantasy. I'm developing a theory that zbox is probably primarily for the PP boats that are DBW. My theory says that mechanical throttle just simply doesn't have the possibility to control tight or aggressively enough to make any inputs from a zbox worthwhile at all. It just simply can't get precise enough. So I figured I would put up a poll to see if a bunch of people tell me I'm full of it, or if the poll results might support the current postulate.

[WBLskier]

Mine is within 1-2 hundredths per segment and within 6 buoy tolerance virtually every time and when I ski zero off it feels very similar yet not completely identical. What I haven’t figured out is how to match up abc-123 settings. I don’t ski ZO or consistent conditions enough to know how to choose in pp to replicate.

[Windsurfnut]

Option 3.5 for me. I haven’t given up but not yet done tinkering.

I turned up the zbox setting to 12 and that has helped a lot with response. But the speed coming in is hot, then slows, then speeds up.

[Steven_Haines]

I have my setting dialed. I think that my C2 sounds more like a B2 though. I’ve got to get behind a ZO boat to verify though.

[BCM]

I am somewhere between options 1 & 2. If I disconnect Z-Box I think the SG settings are about perfect. With Z-box hooked up it works well, occasional (1 out of every 10 passes) surge at 3 ball, and it feels like a stiffer pull than ZO, though I haven't played with the Z-box settings since taking a few sets behind ZO, started at 8, then went to 12, back to 8, maybe going lower. I am generally within 0.01-0.02 on ball times and end course time. I did feel like it was easier to get 34 dialed in than 36. In a few weeks I plan on skiing a bunch of back to back passes between Z-box and ZO and tuning the Z-box settings.

[Deanoski]

Just installed the new Z Box

a 1990 SN this spring

added 180lbs to crew weight and all ball times are within .01

 

16.95-16.97 all day long. and our lake has lots of head tail wind.

 

I also ski behind a 2016 200 and the pull and score are the same at C-1

[UWSkier]

I had to crank up my Zbx factor a bunch to get it feeling and sounding like a ZO boat. Kx+ helped too. I like how I have it set now.

[DanE]

Had our GT 40 at KX- and Zbox at 18 or so.

Got close to the ZO swing

[Chef23]

I have Stargazer on a 02 Response LX and it is set up pretty well. I need to be careful getting up to speed if I over shoot it too far it takes some time to settle down. I have been skiing behind my buddies Prostar but I had it tuned to getting good and pretty consistent times. The key to getting Stargazer set up is getting PP running very well in classic mode. I have a document around here somewhere regarding tuning PP that I can try to post. I stole it from someone else but it worked well.

[BraceMaker]

@escmanaze I think it's better than people give credit for.

 

The trick to them;

Voltage on the gauge should be very close to the charging voltage of the alternator - a direct power source with good heavy wire solves a lot of issues.

 

Throttle return spring must be strong - an extra spring may be required if you have a concentric spring style throttle body instead of a regular return spring.

 

Cable routing must be good - straight to the arm and no slop in that system mechanically, on mine I added a section of curved plastic tubing over the cable because the lid would push it down and change the route - that was then zip tied so it has some float but stays put.

 

That said has anyone done data logging using a third party accelerometer? presumably you only need to read what the boat is doing to compare Z-Box to ZO because we presume that at a speed (34/36) that you'd have a map constant, dec, acc,dec acc,dec,acc etc. And the magnitude would tell you a lot of about the condition of the cruise.

 

 

 

[Windsurfnut]

Starting a database. Feel free to add columns / Notes

 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UsM99RDC-YlpybtqcjCv1-0ArnljSR_lNVITXSYwElA/edit?usp=sharing