Hydrophase Ridesteady or PP Stargazer

[kylem03]

Putting a gps speed control system in my '94 sport this spring. What are your thoughts on which I should go with? I like the air/water temp and ride stats features of ridesteady, and the fact it's a US company, but PP has been around for a while and the system is tried and true. Replacement Parts are also easier to source. With that, assuming equal price points with various group buy discounts or rebates, are the added "bells and whistles" of ridesteady worth the "risk"?

http://www.hydrophase.com/ridesteady

http://www.perfectpass.com/sites/all...Wake-Flyer.pdf

Thanks for your thoughts!

[beretta5spd]

Canadian bias aside PP has some of the best customer service. I have ordered three systems and some replacement parts from them. Every time I hang up the phone I'm impressed.

Quality product + Best customer service = Brand loyalty for me (It's why I've only owned Nautiques!)

At the end of the day, the PP headquarters in eastern Canada are about the same distance from Wisconsin as Hydrophase in Austin.

I have no doubt that Hydrophase is making a quality product and I don't think there will be any "risk" associated with buying from them. FWIW I would stay with PP.

[shonuff]

If you have an existing PP system and are upgrading to Stargazer then you would have water temp also. The old paddlewheel stays and its used as a water temp by the Stargazer unit.

If it's a new install then I guess the question comes down to do you want to drill into your hull or not? If Ridesteady is offering water temp then I'm assuming you're going to have to drill a hole for the temperature probe.

[jtryon]

from my understanding it is an external sensor, much like you would run a depth finder to the back of the boat.

[NCH2oSki]

I was not familiar with Ridesteady, so I took a few minutes to check it out. It appears to be a very close copy of PP. I did notice that for water temp it uses the sensor on the paddle wheel, it also had a setting for paddle wheel speed instead gps if you prefer. I do like the way the PP controls the speed better, that it pulls back the throttle, and can never mechanically add more speed than you have applied with the throttle. Ridesteady says they have the same feature built into the software.

My choice would be PP, since its the industry standard in speed control for retrofitting.