Zero Off/Stargazer Upgrade

I have a 2005 Malibu VLX and thought about possibly changing the stock Perfect Pass Wakeboard Pro to one of the GPS systems for one of my winter boat projects for next season. Overall, I like Perfect Pass pretty well but the new GPS systems seem like they would hold speed much better, especially through the turns and double ups. Has anyone else out there performed the same upgrade? Is it worth the money and hassle or should I just hang with the perfect pass?

We did a Stargazer install on a 2008 X-1 with the 310 hp engine. We also installed 3000lbs of ballast to this boat. I did not get a chance to drive this boat though the owner has (for reference the guy is nota newb and has owned multiple inboards) and he loves it.

Aside from that we have only installed this system in ski boats.

Forgot to mention I think it's a good system but I run a very similar boat (same hull and ballast different engine) with Wakeboard Pro and it holds speed very well and I have no complaints about it.

I talked to somebody at Perfect Pass and found out that it will cost about $628 and is a pretty easy upgrade. Now I have to decide if its worth the extra money. I would love to hear from someone who has done the same upgrade and whether or not they feel that it was worth it.

is it possible to upgrade to the star gazer without replacing a whole gauge because i really prefer it to be under the bottom half of the rpm gauge.

i switched to stargazer on my 07 x2. my boat is dbw so all i had to do is replace the module and put the gps puck somewhere and that was it.

yes it holds much better than perfect pass in turns and double ups.

upgraded stargazer on my 07 sv211, dbw, and like it much better than perfact pass. Half the cost of ZO, and a very easy install.

is it worth the money to upgrade?

if the surging that you get with perfact pass bothers you then yes, if no then maybe not. I'm glad I upgraded. Also it is nice to know you are going what you want to be going, and you do not half of calabrate.

Mike, for me, $630 to upgrade something that is already working is not worth the money to me. I have an older PP without the multi line display and it does all I need it to do.

Mine is also the older single line display which has to replaced with the newer display in order to use Stargazer. If you already have the multiline display then it costs about $480 and is an easy upgrade. You just swap the box and install the GPS sensor. I think that I may agree with evilOne that $630 is a little steep since Perfect Pass does a pretty good job.

I bought a pro air nautique with the orginal single line PP Everyone knows the paddle wheel never gets a good reading because of the shape of the hull and how the water flows over it. It would vary speed by as much as 4-5 mph so I upgraded to stargazer and have never looked back. Holds speed perfect. Plus, the multi-line display is awesome.

Also, I have a friend who has a 2005 210 Team with the single line PP. No reason to upgrade because that works like a charm. If it ain't broken, don't fix it (unless to have money burnin holes in your pocket)

Rode behind a Star Gazer on the river last weekend. If you ride in a current, you have to adjust your speed. The paddle wheel compensates for the speed of the current, Stargazer does not...very slow ride downstream.

stargazer rock. worth it? depends on what you have now and how happy you are. current is a factor, but imo minimal. if the river is that fast, the water's not that great imo.

(Message edited by brucemac on September 11, 2008)

G-man touched on a key point for me also. Current.

Supposedly, the three-event (but not wakeboard) version has some offset for that? How does that work, do you have to manually punch in a flow estimate, or do you have to float down the river as the system evaluates the current's speed? Or something else? Either way seems less than optimal, especially on tidal rivers where current will vary in speed or even turn around.

I was out on the lake today and started thinking about this topic and one of the questions was. Was the upgrade worth it? When sitting there I decided that it was for these reasons.

When I installed it I went out the first time and checked it with my hand held gps and they were the same, so no more worries about calibrating, just punch it and go.

No more surging, and saying that I think about the questions of rivers. Now depending on the river and how fast it flows may be different for each river but the river that I go on sometimes can't go more than .5 Miles and hour. Well my PP would surge at least that much and more, so why would it matter (free skiing)

Cornering, depending on how tight I turn depends on how it acts, with pp when you turned port it would speed up, when turning starboard it would slow down. With Stargazer the sharper I turn the more it speeds up. So if it is not real sharp it stays, and if it is sharper, then I need to slow down and I had to do that with PP, so no big deal.

Skiing behind it is where it made the biggest difference the first time. Can't really tell why but it felt better. Now I'm used to it so that is why I said the first time. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the surging.

So to conclude with why I think the upgrade was worth it. Less stress with how my boat is running. I remember with pp I was all was wondering what to do with this thing to make it work better, changing the settings, and everything that I would read, and nothing seemed to work. Now I get home and think about it, and I never thought about how it was working once. Just enjoyed the day.

(Message edited by lztat573 on September 13, 2008)