Stargazer info

[djbartholomew]

I have a "03" 196 SE that I have had for about one year. When I got this boat it had a perfectpass 6.5 ng upgrade. We use a portable course here on the lake and have to remove it after each use. I would like to upgrade to the stargazer and would like any info on how well it holds times and if you still have to change crew weights and skiers settings every time you change skiers :?: Getting to old here to remember all that stuff and we do have long setups into the course. I saw east_tx_skier post on install but no post on how well it did on times. Thanks

[east tx skier]

I haven't skied it in the course yet, but have free skied behind it on the river. Skier weight is gone, but crew weight is still a variable to input. Its importance is only really relevant on short setups and even then, I think you can get away with ballparking it. The point being to get close to the right baseline from the get go so the systems corrections based on the speed overlay from the paddle wheel and gps is less noticeable running up to the gates.

Without a skier, the worst time was +.02 seconds of actual.

Perfect Pass is now shipping updated master modules which have tweeked the pull, predominantly for heavier skiers. I called them with my credit card as a deposit (this ensures I will ship them back the original SG MM). This is being handled as a warranty update.

In communicating with Gary at PP about how the pull felt, I sent the following email describing the pull of the original version (2.7.2 I think). He later responded that outside the course, the system would run about .3 mph faster, but I'm not one that would notice that. As for what you'd get if you bought today, this review is somewhat of a nullity since the software is changed. But that may only effect course skiing, which is, of course, what the focus of speed control is all about.


.... [A]s I mentioned previously, I'm not one of you all's hard core slalom customers, so I may be less prone to noticing what some other skiers I know have noticed about the system that is apparently prompting the upgrade.

Another caveat I must mention is that we were skiing against a fairly strong river current that I know was making my 32 mph pull into a 36 mph pull until I finally skied in the opposite direction Saturday afternoon.

So I get up and start having thoughts like, "How do I ski." After about 15 seconds of that, I decide to just see how much I remember.

I pull out and make six turns. I'm feeling great. My wife is driving and there are two toddlers in the boat with her. Kx is normal and I didn't bother with the crew weight, which was set at about 170. I take six more cuts and am loving life. Six more and I'm starting to get a bit winded. I rest and ride behind the boat while I wait for another straight segment of the river. While I'm doing that, I remember what a friend of mine had mentioned about the boat getting a bit ahead of him and decide to take some cuts and see if I can feel the boat running away from me. My next set is less than remarkable. By my second offside pull, I can feel that I am out in front of the ski and almost fall. On my off side turns I can definitely feel that I'm being pulled down course before I can get my handle locked for the hook up. I notice this again on my next set as well. I'm pretty tired at this point and decide that that may be affecting my perception of the system, i.e., I'm just getting sloppy and not getting the handle to my hips quickly enough. But it was definitely something I felt when I thought about it. Maybe I shouldn't have thought about it. But drop some buoys in the water and I awareness of this might be less than mental. (?)

We get out again on Saturday. There is still a pretty strong current and some wind. Kx is still set at normal. I have a really nice first set and am not thinking about the boat running away from me though I did get pulled out in front on my off side turn at least once. I crawl back into the boat and take a break. Later, I take another set, but set Kx at ++. During this set, the pull is nice, but I am very conscious of the river current. Basically, I know I am running faster than 32. I suppose practice mode would have been the ticket here so I could adjust for current since it is my understanding that the GPS and paddle wheel are going to be trying to measure two different things here. After 3.5 miles down the river, I drop and take another break. I would've quit at this point, but I wanted to try a run with the current.

During my next set, I'm getting almost too free of the boat's pull. But generally, things are very good.But then again, going with the current for the first time, I may have been going slower than normal. It's just hard to tell. In short, Kx++ was softer than Kx normal. In classic perfect pass, Kx normal was seemed a bit softer than the "normal" pull in Stargazer. I'm guessing this is what the upgrade will address. I'm hoping to ski the system again soon, but am very much looking forward to what PP has in store with this upgrade. Hopefully, this "regular guy" review can give you all some sort of insight."

[djbartholomew]

thanks east_tx_skier, the ballpark on crew will fit my Bill on this and make things better for me