skibug

I would venture to say a good instructor/pro could drive and "feel" you behind the boat and make some recommendations base on what he or she feels. They could also see some of what you are doing; but, I question two things: 1. what are they missing becasue obviously they have to pay attention to their boat path 2. How good is their boat path since they aren't concentrating 100% on their driving; and, how is it affecting your skiing. No matter what anyone says, the driver has a lot to do with how good you feel behind the boat. Either they are "with you" or you are fighting it.  If the situation is that no one else is availible to drive then you have to go with what you got; otherwise, in my opinion, it is always better to have the respective persons focused on thier repective roles (i.e. drivers drive and coaches coach)ÂÂÂ

Is this insider info; by that I mean if I call PP and ask about the update, would that be out of line? I have installed my module; but, have not skied yet this season. if I need to send the module back to PP, I would like to do it before the season starts.

Dude, I wrote this in a different discussion topic: CommentAuthorskibug CommentTimeFeb 14th 2008 edited  edit "I talked to PP. All is good on the KX. What I was told that the KX does carry over from the Auto mode to the practice mode; and, even though it is not shown on the screen shot of the digital readout gage, in the manual, it can be adjusted while in practice mode as well. I also read, in another thread on this site, some comments about the 3 ball splits not coming in as accurate as they should be. I asked PP about this as well. They gave me a longer technical answer; which I sort of understand, but the short of it is, that they feel they have worked this out as well. in particular the problem was more frequent with heavier skiers who pulled harder. PP said they had worked with Chad Scott as a test case to correct this issue."  To expand on this comment; PP told me that this happens more often when you have a short setup and don't enter the correct crew weight. PP said they recomend you enter a crew weight; but, they felt that it was not absolutley necessary. I don't know your situation relative to these factors. I will be interested in hearing PP's response.

Since we are all posting our schedules...I will be at Trophy Lakes with Seth Stisher/H2Osmosis for the week of  Monday, May 12 - Friday, May 16 if anyone else is going to be around there in Charleston.

How does ZO initiate timing?

I knew I would get a rise out of someone......actually I am curious as to the satellites that are used. My PP StarGazer says Garmin on it. Is that what ZO uses??

Just to preface this discussion....I am not a "conspiracy theory" guy or anti-establishment; but, if you start messing with my skiing I get sort of upset. I am sure a lot of you saw the big to do about the US shooting down a so-called disabled spy satellite, yeh right. That was just long range target practice for bigger things to come. I am sure there are future warfare plans to take out other satellites, in times of war, if necessary. Which brings me to (2) points/questions. 1. Which satellites do the speed control systems use and are they shared with anything the government may use? 2. Don't get rid of your non-GPS system?

The guys at PP are really accomodating and willing to talk to you about their product at length. I have talk to them a handful of times about technical issues. They take the time to talk and explain it to you. I would strongly suggest calling and talking to their technical gurus.

No offense to lkb; but I about fell off my chair with John's comments.......

I like the constant line length and increase the boat speed idea. Maybe if the course wasn't so symetric and you had some type of obstacles involved.....just some idle rambling..but that is how things get started....thinking out of the box. If you could incorporate a fan freindly event and piggy back a true slalom event you might get more people to view.

Everybody, anybody, and mainly kids can go pick up a baseball, basketball, football, soccerball and with relative ease get a game going. Hockey...need ice & rink time, skates, sticks, $$$$$; golf.....need course, clubs, $$$$$$; skiing....need boat, ski, partners, $$$$$$$$. What I am trying to say is; unfortunately the mass appeal is not there due to many factors and one of the large factors is accessability to the sport for the common person. Most of us here are fortunate enough to have the means to own a $35,000 boat, $1000.00 ski, spend $2000 on boat gas; and pay into a lease of a lake at whatever the respective costs are. Most people can't relate; and, probably don't care or really appreciate the amount of skill and talent it takes to ski at high levels. I could go on; but, I think you get my drift.  There isn't any real mystery as to why football, baseball, basketball, & soccer (internationally) dominate the world of spectator sports.......as for NASCAR, well....everyone has a car and races down the road everyday....so everyone can relate...oh yeh, and there are a lot of rednecks out there too.  ÂÂÂ

I figured it out. I was looking at the wrong screws. On the malibu, there are 2 screws on the emblem (in the middle of the dash) and one directly up, in front of the middle gauge, on the inside of the cowling. Loosened them all and the gauge assmebly popped right out. I feel dumb.......ÂÂÂ

Alright, I am trying to install my new PP gage. My dashboard is all fiberglass from the underside. I can only access the gages by removing the cowling from above. It seems as though I will have to remove the steering column as well to get the dash off far enogh to get access to the gages. Anyone else have any advice or tricks?.........And yes,I know I can take it to the dealer; but, I am stubborn.......

I talked to PP. All is good on the KX. What I was told that the KX does carry over from the Auto mode to the practice mode; and, even though it is not shown on the screen shot of the digital readout gage, in the manual, it can be adjusted while in practice mode as well. I also read, in another thread on this site, some comments about the 3 ball splits not coming in as accurate as they should be. I asked PP about this as well. They gave me a longer technical answer; which I sort of understand, but the short of it is, that they feel they have worked this out as well. in particular the problem was more frequent with heavier skiers who pulled harder. PP said they had worked with Chad Scott as a test case to correct this issue.

Based on what I read and interpreted in the manual, you can adjust KX and PX in both the Auto/GPS Mode as well as the Practice Mode. I am going to call and find out; but, the way I see it is you have to be in Auto/GPS mode 1st. This is where your KX/PX is set. Then you switch to practice mode for your incremental speed changes. I am assuming that practice mode holds the settings of Auto/GPS mode. I will post after I call today.ÂÂÂ

I just got mine yesterday as well. I missed the part about the KX though. I will have to go back through the manual. It would probably be best to just call the guys at PP. Post the answer if you do; otherwise, I will call them tomorrow after I read the manual again, so at least I sort of sound like I know what I am talking about.......

Just phoned my oder in (Mechanical Upgrade System) today. They took the order and put me on the list. They said the upgrade systems won't be ready until sometime next week; but, they will be filling orders in the order they were recieved.

This is the email I got from PP, just passing on the information.  We are pleased to report that Star Gazer Systems and Upgrades will be available starting mid next week. We will begin taking orders on Tuesday February 5th with shipping to follow within one or two days for most boats. PRICING: Upgrade Prices for Mechanical Engines with Servo Motor --$429  Upgrade Prices for DBW Engines -- $429 - $469 (Depending on model) Note: Your existing PerfectPass must have a Graphic Multi-line Display in order for it to work with Star Gazer. $199 extra if required. Note: For upgrades to 2006 or 2007 Nautiques Limited / Team Editions, Star Gazer upgrades will be available the week of February 10th. Thank you. PerfectPass Control Systems Inc. Phone: (902) 468-2150 Fax: (902) 468-8837

I guess I would rather have (3.5) $1000 skis than (1) $3500, what if the (1) $3500 ski turned out to be a dud?  Then most top end ski in the year 2000 was probably about $800 - $1000; but, more realistically the average price was probably about $500. A top of the line slalom boat loaded to the gills, in 2000, was probably $40,000. Now the average ski costs about $1000; with the top end being $3500. A top end slalom boat, again loaded with multiple $1500 speed control options, towers, soound systems etc., is probably around $55,000. I don't need to do the math to illustrate which product has outpaced the other.ÂÂÂÂ

Can anybody besides a top end, pro skier justify $3500.00 for a ski? At a minimum, I would need some guarentee that it would put me into 39.5 off consistantly, and my PB (non tournament) score is between 2-3 at 32' off. You gotta draw the line at some point. The one positive I can see though is the advancement of ski construction technology across the board.ÂÂÂÂ

Just to clear thing up a little. Ed's ski break and injury was on a different lake in a different year. The two skis that broke on our lake this year were about a week apart at different points in the course. There were no external factors involved. They did both break between the bindings. ÂÂÂÂ

lkb, I am not sure I should or can comment accurately on all the details. What I do know are the views and comments Ed N. expressed about the whole situation, already stated in the earlier portion of this thread. Sorry, I don't want to overstep my bounds or put any bad juju out there.   ÂÂÂÂ

Great! I look forward to the feedback. I also find it pretty interesting that the boat has both ZO and StarGazer. That should give a real good comparison of product since the only variable will be the control system. There won't be any guessing on power options or boat hull, etc. Do you think that you or your friend will be able to communicate the pros and cons of each; as well as majority skier preference?

The Monza broke cross-ways or I guess in half; between the bindings. The X5 broke in the same manner.

GalaxyToad, I would be foolish to take that bet.........