Speed Control and short set up

[h2oskifreak]

I have a 1994 MC Prostar 190 (new to me) and a short lake, roughly 1,700 +/-.

I don't have a lot of experience with speed control but the few times I have skied a boat with it it seems to get to speed + and then "burn speed off". I don't want to spend the money if I am going to have hot gates and then have a slow mid-course and hot again at the exit gates. Does anyone have a suggestion? Is there any brand of speed control that gets up to speed faster or smoother? Or, should I save my money and just not worry about solid times. I should add, I am purely a course skier on a private lake, but 46 y/o and not a competative skier. I ski 22-35 off and have a p.b. of 1 1/2 @ 38.

[east tx skier]

I have used a 1993 MC on an 1,800' lake with old school Perfect Pass. We would start off in a turn. Ran good times and good segments. Old school PP used to bring you in a little slow and ramp up a little over a quarter of the rpms attributable to skier weight at the gate.

 

Not really relevant to new GPS speed controls. But other than Nauticlogic, about which I know nothing, you don't have many options other than Perfect Pass.

[Triplett]

I wish I could give you an opinion on stargazer but my experience with it is limited. However, to get an idea on

GPS based systems, Zero Off doesn't have a problem on short lakes, it really depends on your engine and how you enter the course. I am not sure this helps you much.

[crashman]

I'm running PP stargazer on a short lake- not quite 1900 ft. We don't currently have timing magnets but we pretty much just ski for fun so as long as the speed is about right when we hit the gates and stays there we consider that good enough.

 

If I mash the throttle it comes in hot to the gates but if once I learned how the engine should sound and feel coming into the course it's been spot on if I just give it a progressive throttle and stop when the engine feels right. I thought about decreasing the baseline RPMs but instead I just set the crew weight a little lighter than it really is and it works great.

[Chuck_Dickey]

PPSG with Zbox is the only real option, virtual gates instead of magnets. Adjust the base lines to avoid hot starts and there you are! You can search this forum for lots of info on PPSG and the new Z-box add-on.

[h2oskifreak]

East Tx, Good to see you here.

OK guys, sounds like there is good reason to invest and options for adjustment. Thanks a ton.

 

[Chef23]

I am still working on getting my PP SG adjusted to a short setup. You need to be careful bringing the boat up to speed if you over shoot on the short setup it takes time to settle down. I haven't tried to run the tach inverted yet as I haven't found out where to make the change.

 

If you have or can put magnets in you can run PP Classic and that works fine in short setups. Stargazer has classic mode that you can always run.

[Marco]

@chef23- To switch between inverted and standard tach signal, push the menu and up button together, scroll down (to 3rd screen) to user settings, press the up button, scroll down to engine set up, press the up button. From there you can change between standard and inverted tach signal.

[Chef23]

@Marco thanks.

[Laz]

@crashman For PPSG, you can get a little switch you can put on your dashboard instead of magnets. You just press the button as the driver goes past the gates and it will start timing the segments.

 

We use this always for our portable course.

[Dusty]

h2oskifreak- PP Classic is designed to reach a target rpm, and engage- usually about 200 rpm below what it will need in the course. With a relatively newer chip, it will not overshoot due the gate factor, but you will need magnets at gate and one ball. If you don't have 3 ball magnets you will not be able to adjust second segment balance. IMO- find good, consistent strength magnets, orient them the same, keep them the same depth and you will make your life easier. 1700 feet is doable, but is going to require some aggressive throttle to set-speed before the 55's. What engine do you have? I had no issues with a '93 MC with standard (240? hp) engine and no slot, on a 1900 foot lake- (except maybe for one guy at about 240 lbs... ;-) YMMV

[Ham_Wallace]

Smoothly throttle it up to speed and when it engages, push it a touch more. If you are getting accurate 1 ball times and slow 3 ball times, correct end course times. Adjust your baseline. ie: 1:77, 7:15, 16:95 then take 5 RPM's out of baseline. It should compensate nicely.

[h2oskifreak]

All good input. Some of the comments are a little above my head as far as the system goes. I will print this page however and when I get up to speed (literally) this will come in handy. My friend has magnets he said he would give me, so sounds as if I better get my hands on them.

[GregHind]

I would never buy a new PP Classic System. Stargazer has that mode built in. If you want it, use Classic mode but you also have all the other new stargazer modes available if you want them.

 

If you buy a new 3 event stargazer system they are prepared to install the no magnet software even without needing to buy the Z box component. I'm almost certain that you could run Stargazer in classic mode, using GPS positioning instead of magnets.

 

PP can be dialed in to work on nearly any boat, its even pretty good on jet boats!

 

On an old boat you may need to install a new ground wire, in ignition switched new relay with a nice big positive wire and a return spring to really dial it in. If people telling you of problems with mechanical stargazer haven't done that, well thats the root cause of nearly every problem I've ever heard of with PP.

 

Most boats have really, really bad 12 volt wiring. PP is a pretty tolerant system but honestly I've seen some shockers. Fixing the wiring has transformed the pull of the boat.

 

I recently posted on here info on how to do relays etc for PP