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GPS Speedo


turbophil

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I've been thinking about replacing one of my pitot speedos with a Livorsi GPS speedo. Anyone tried or seen one of these?

The reviews on them seem to be very positive. It looks like they can be purchased for about $225. There's a skier version that has 1/2 mph increments too...

Any thoughts?

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Right or wrong, I use my Garmin hand held to calibrate my speedo. when I'm not in the course.

I just used my Garmin to calibrate both my boat speedo and Perfect Pass. They had disagreed since the day I bought the boat. Now all three agree at 22mph and are quite close from 10mph up to about 36mph.

Jeff/AirChair1

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I have the OEM GPS speedometer in my '05 VLX, and I love it. I'm not sure how it compares to an aftermarket GPS speedo, but it's very nice. It actually reads out in 0.1 mph increments.

One thing I noticed about a gps, if you calibrate your speedo, you need to try to be on smooth water, that is not flowing. If you're on water that is moving the same direction as you 2 mph for example, when you calibrated to GPS, it will be 2 mph off when you get on still water.

I.e. the boat speedometer measures your speed in relation to the water, the GPS in relation to the earth.

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I have the OEM GPS speedometer in my '05 VLX, and I love it. I'm not sure how it compares to an aftermarket GPS speedo, but it's very nice. It actually reads out in 0.1 mph increments.

One thing I noticed about a gps, if you calibrate your speedo, you need to try to be on smooth water, that is not flowing. If you're on water that is moving the same direction as you 2 mph for example, when you calibrated to GPS, it will be 2 mph off when you get on still water.

I.e. the boat speedometer measures your speed in relation to the water, the GPS in relation to the earth.

Livorsi has a digi version as well. The cost is the same as analog, and I bet the digi reads out in .1 as well (I'll have to call to find out). It seems like having a true GPS speedo with a fast refresh rate (much faster than most hand helds) and that's built in would be just the ticket....Especially for us with older boats that may only have pitot speedos... ;)

Here's a link: http://www.livorsi.com/catalog/gps.htm

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GPS to measure speed is the most accurate thing around but only when the water isn't moving. I calibrated my PP paddel wheel with a GPS and they agree great when there is no current.

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Phil,

This is really interesting, especially since I just dropped 170 bones on a new handheld GPS unit to replace our old one that died (I have 2 weeks to take it back). Can you point me to some of the reviews that you've found? Do you know if they have a gauge that would fit in our stock dash holes & if they can match our gauges (or at least if that digital unit comes in black)?

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Phil,

This is really interesting, especially since I just dropped 170 bones on a new handheld GPS unit to replace our old one that died (I have 2 weeks to take it back).  Can you point me to some of the reviews that you've found?  Do you know if they have a gauge that would fit in our stock dash holes & if they can match our gauges (or at least if that digital unit comes in black)?

Well it's still _cool_ but there are some catches, albeit, not deal killers. It doesn't come in black (white or platinum), so it'll stand out a bit...but that could be a good thing...

The digi unit reads in tenths and is accurate to the .5 mph with near instant refresh rates (so it will show smooth accelleration).

From what I gather, they have a ring to make it fit in our stock dash holes, so install won't be a problem (I'll investigate this more to be sure). The antenna can pick up through most boat hulls, but it will work better if mounted above deck.

I just googled "GPS speedo" and found the reviews in a few different online boat mags. Can't remember which ones though...

Here's the big catch, the prices they list are only for the guage. The entire kit is more in line with $500. It would be worth looking into a group purchase if enough people were interested...

What do you think?

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I have seen some of the offshore race boats listed with Nordskog GPS units, but I wasn't sure how the GPS would respond to a quick slalom run because the unit having to zero into the satellites.

Edited by Jesse
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Phil,

This is really interesting, especially since I just dropped 170 bones on a new handheld GPS unit to replace our old one that died (I have 2 weeks to take it back).  Can you point me to some of the reviews that you've found?  Do you know if they have a gauge that would fit in our stock dash holes & if they can match our gauges (or at least if that digital unit comes in black)?

Well it's still _cool_ but there are some catches, albeit, not deal killers. It doesn't come in black (white or platinum), so it'll stand out a bit...but that could be a good thing...

The digi unit reads in tenths and is accurate to the .5 mph with near instant refresh rates (so it will show smooth accelleration).

From what I gather, they have a ring to make it fit in our stock dash holes, so install won't be a problem (I'll investigate this more to be sure). The antenna can pick up through most boat hulls, but it will work better if mounted above deck.

I just googled "GPS speedo" and found the reviews in a few different online boat mags. Can't remember which ones though...

Here's the big catch, the prices they list are only for the guage. The entire kit is more in line with $500. It would be worth looking into a group purchase if enough people were interested...

What do you think?

Hmmmm, for myself that's way too much to justify (even with a group buy discount of say %15). I just use the GPS to calibrate the analog & PP speedos since we use PP most of the time. For those without PP, you can buy the very basic unit (Cruise) for under $1000, you'd be halfway there. I'd be curious to hear from anyone that has put one in a ski boat.

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Now those seem like nearly the same product for a lot less. Thanks for the link. These may be a better sollution Shocking.gif

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Let us know if you decide to install. I am curious.

Oh sure, make me the guinea pig ;)

I've come to the conclusion that the nordskog unit from summit has got to be the same as Livorsi...just $150 bucks cheaper. Nearly every feature about it seems to be the same. Summit has free shipping, so it would 375 to the door and they have black face guages. This unit and the one from Livorsi has a digi tach, compass, volt meter, and the GPS speedo of course. They both also have the high speed memory recall as well.

Now I just have to justify to myself and the boss that we need a XMP prop and the GPS speedo... Innocent.gif

Phil

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Well I bit the bullet and ordered the digital nordskog from summit. I actually learned the Nordskog does make the Livorsi unit (this is not verified by Nordskog, but you can bet that it's true).

The entire kit runs $380 from Summit or straight from Nordskog. Talking to the tech guy at Nords, he said that the speedo is more accurate than radar (that may be a stretch???) and refreshes 8 times per second. He said that we'll see zero lag time in our boats, furthermore it takes a vehicle that's in the sub 5 second 0-60 before we would see any lag...

I'm kind of a gadget junky, so the fact that I've got one lazy speedo and another that seems to find air pockets from time to time made the price of admission for the GPS worth it. I'll report back after I test it out next week...

Phil

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