Airguide Speedometer Conversion to GPS

[TRBenj]

I have a hard time envisioning why anyone would have serious speed holding concerns below surfing speeds (9mph?) unless youre in a no-wake zone or pulling a small child like ETS mentioned. Either case would seemingly benefit more from keeping a close eye on your wake/child to make sure speed is appropriate, rather than keeping an eye on your speedo.

Skiing speeds are most important for accuracy, but knowing the difference between 47mph and 49mph are more important to me than <6mph. I have some boats that will peg the speedos and then some... so maybe the opinion of this mouth breather doesnt count?

[madcityskier]

Originally Posted by TRBenj

I have a hard time envisioning why anyone would have serious speed holding concerns below surfing speeds (9mph?) unless youre in a no-wake zone or pulling a small child like ETS mentioned. Either case would seemingly benefit more from keeping a close eye on your wake/child to make sure speed is appropriate, rather than keeping an eye on your speedo.

Skiing speeds are most important for accuracy, but knowing the difference between 47mph and 49mph are more important to me than <6mph. I have some boats that will peg the speedos and then some... so maybe the opinion of this mouth breather doesnt count?

What they're saying, is that not many of us are running at 49 with someone in tow, in fact most of us can't run that. These boats were not designed for those speeds. The difference in 1/2 of a mph while wakeboarding at 20 would likely be much more notable than the 2 between 47-49 while barefooting in my experience.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by 03geetee

Yeah dont need top end, Hooligan might need the 200mph capability but the rest of us non mouth breathers like anything thats accurate to 45mph.

JTR

Originally Posted by TRBenj

I have a hard time envisioning why anyone would have serious speed holding concerns below surfing speeds (9mph?) unless youre in a no-wake zone or pulling a small child like ETS mentioned. Either case would seemingly benefit more from keeping a close eye on your wake/child to make sure speed is appropriate, rather than keeping an eye on your speedo.

Skiing speeds are most important for accuracy, but knowing the difference between 47mph and 49mph are more important to me than <6mph. I have some boats that will peg the speedos and then some... so maybe the opinion of this mouth breather doesnt count?

Don't tell me Hooligan made it back in as TRBenj

[TRBenj]

Originally Posted by madcityskier

What they're saying, is that not many of us are running at 49 with someone in tow, in fact most of us can't run that. These boats were not designed for those speeds. The difference in 1/2 of a mph while wakeboarding at 20 would likely be much more notable than the 2 between 47-49 while barefooting in my experience.

Oh I understand what theyre saying, and I agree about the precision at ski speeds being king. If a compromise needs to be made at either extreme (high vs. low speed), and this change effects all of the Airguides that Dean makes, my point is that those of us who can run higher speeds probably care about that more than the 0-5mph range. Heck, I run about 5mph while in gear, at idle... and the Airguides arent accurate that slow anyways.

[east tx skier]

Originally Posted by TRBenj

I have a hard time envisioning why anyone would have serious speed holding concerns below surfing speeds (9mph?) unless youre in a no-wake zone or pulling a small child like ETS mentioned. Either case would seemingly benefit more from keeping a close eye on your wake/child to make sure speed is appropriate, rather than keeping an eye on your speedo.

Skiing speeds are most important for accuracy, but knowing the difference between 47mph and 49mph are more important to me than <6mph. I have some boats that will peg the speedos and then some... so maybe the opinion of this mouth breather doesnt count?

Tim, you have a good point. The only reason I know what speeds I have pulled the little ones is because I looked at the GPS speedo after the fact, i.e., after I did it by feel and made sure everything looked good behind the boat. High end is probably the better place to know the small differences in speed.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by east tx skier

Tim, you have a good point. The only reason I know what speeds I have pulled the little ones is because I looked at the GPS speedo after the fact, i.e., after I did it by feel and made sure everything looked good behind the boat. High end is probably the better place to know the small differences in speed.

I guess I couldn't disagree here.

Dean.....if you set the speedometer to be correct at 50 mph, at what point would it be accurate at the low speeds?

[CruisinGA]

Originally Posted by TRBenj

Skiing speeds are most important for accuracy, but knowing the difference between 47mph and 49mph are more important to me than <6mph. I have some boats that will peg the speedos and then some... so maybe the opinion of this mouth breather doesnt count?

I agree 100%.

Most boat speedos are not very accurate at low speeds, so not loss there, but it would really, really bug me if the speedo range did not include the top speed of the boat...

[madcityskier]

As long as it's accurate starting at 8-9 it should be fine.

[Classic Boatworks]

Originally Posted by TRBenj

Oh I understand what theyre saying, and I agree about the precision at ski speeds being king. If a compromise needs to be made at either extreme (high vs. low speed), and this change effects all of the Airguides that Dean makes, my point is that those of us who can run higher speeds probably care about that more than the 0-5mph range. Heck, I run about 5mph while in gear, at idle... and the Airguides aren't accurate that slow anyways.

Guys. The speedometer can be calibrated to give you the low end or the high end.

If you choose the high end the needle will settle at 5 mph. So you have a couple mph and maybe a post that the needle will not settle at. This is a visual difference in my opinion. Will you be bothered that your needle is not settling at the bottom of the scale when your boat is stopped?

If you choose the low end of course the opposite is true. Needle settles at the bottom of the scale but can not quite reach 50 mph.

Each speedometer has to be calibrated to its dial scale.
You will have the choice of top or bottom of the scale accuracy. I think it is an aesthetic issue when your boat is stopped an accuracy issue at the top of the 50 mph scale.

Other higher speed speedometers will get a different calibration. I haven't tried yet but an 80 mph model 2025 might have to start at 5 or 10 to reach the full 80 mph (I am guessing here) the scale is very close to the 3 to 50 mph scale. Assume the calibration has to start at 10 to reach the full 80 mph. You would have the same issue. Do I start at 10 and my needle doesn't go to the bottom of the scale or start at 5 and come up slightly short at the top end?

[Classic Boatworks]

The Bad and the Good

First the Bad: I withdrew my participation in the development of the GPS retrofit with the company I was working with. The business terms are simply unacceptable.

Now the Good: I am not stopping work on the development of a retrofit. I have already begun working with two sources to engineer a retrofit board and a frame to hold the board in the proper position. My goal is to have the board fit onto the frame so you remove the mechanical mechanism and replace it with the new frame, attach the board, attach the dial, attach the adjustment knob (if you have one), and close up your speedometer. I will use your input in the design.

Dean