Please post your Simulator Setup Pictures

[stevnkrn]

Thanks MikeM. I appreciate the compliments. I'll try and post some updated photos at some point soon so you can see my sim room in a more mature state. It took the photos you referred to right after I got the room functional. To answer your question about the overhead net, after nearly three years of use I have never had a ball go through the overhead net so my speakers have never been hit. The net works really well. While I have never used overhead padding like some choose to do, for me this always seemed like a better option. It was inexpensive and it absorbs most of the energy of the ball so they don't come shooting down at the same speed they went up. What you need to keep in mind is that shots that are hit high enough to hit the net are typically wedges, which don't have the high ball velocities to begin with. One thing about the overhead net is that it does require some semi-regular tensioning to keep it tight. Over time it tends to stretch a bit so I just need to tighten the zip ties a few notches every so often to keep it taunt.

[sprigs]

Hey Guys,

Heres my setup in the garage. Thanks to Aaron from Foresight Sports for all his help.
Studio.jpg

[Mookie17]

Nice setup Sprigs, Just finished my garage setup, well almost still trying to get the lighting right and make it a functional garage too.
IMG_2827.jpgIMG_2783.jpgIMG_2817.jpg

[wbond]

Mookie, what size screen do you have and where did you get it from? Price? What kind of projector are you using and how far away from the screen is it? How far away from the screen are you hitting? I am looking at modifying my garage as well and adding a screen and projector. Also, my garage still has to function as one first. I will also be trying to find the optimal lighting for my optishot. I can't seem to get it to read properly with the existing lighting. My p3pro is way better at reading swings more consistantly and I've got my 6 and 7 iron dialed in closely to match my skytrak numbers.

Nice setup Sprigs, Just finished my garage setup, well almost still trying to get the lighting right and make it a functional garage too.
Attachment 47454Attachment 47455Attachment 47457

[wbond]

Sprigs, Awesome setup. Looks like you have hmt as well. Are you running protee software with the gc2, if not, which software package do you have? A couple of friends of mine both have the foresight software with the fitting package and one course. GC2 is great, wish it didn't cost so much.

Hey Guys,

Heres my setup in the garage. Thanks to Aaron from Foresight Sports for all his help.
Attachment 47453

[sprigs]

Sprigs, Awesome setup. Looks like you have hmt as well. Are you running protee software with the gc2, if not, which software package do you have? A couple of friends of mine both have the foresight software with the fitting package and one course. GC2 is great, wish it didn't cost so much.

Hey Bond,

Yea I the hmt and absoutely love it, im blown away by how accurate it is.

As for software , I have FSX, and also access to the older fr1 and 1 course

[Mookie17]

Mookie, what size screen do you have and where did you get it from? Price? What kind of projector are you using and how far away from the screen is it? How far away from the screen are you hitting? I am looking at modifying my garage as well and adding a screen and projector. Also, my garage still has to function as one first. I will also be trying to find the optimal lighting for my optishot. I can't seem to get it to read properly with the existing lighting. My p3pro is way better at reading swings more consistantly and I've got my 6 and 7 iron dialed in closely to match my skytrak numbers.

My screen is 8' X 8', I got it from par to pro online, around $200. My projector is a Benq MX813ST, the distance ito the screen is 4'6" and I'm about 13' away from the screen. If your looking at projectors go to projector central, they have an online tool for calculating distance and ambient lighting for optimal picture quality. The image I get fills the screen but it's recommended that only 9% ambient lighting is used. This makes it difficult to get a consistent reading on the OptiShot. I've just installed a 4' fluorescent light and will be trying it out tomorrow. I may need a gobo, thanks FaultyClubs I looked it up, lol.
Good luck wbond

[mthunt]

Hey Guys,

Heres my setup in the garage. Thanks to Aaron from Foresight Sports for all his help.
Attachment 47453

Nice looking garage. What are the room dimensions? Last question. How far from the screen?

Looks amazing. I dealt with Aaron as well. Great guy.

[sprigs]

My garage is 20X23.

I beleive Im around 9 feet from the screen.

[wbond]

Do you have anything protecting the projector from errant shots? I got a cheap projector from CL, i didn't realize how much info was on projector central and didn't see the ambient hlight. I will have to see how well it works when i get it going. Let me know how the fluorescent lighting works. i can't find anything to work yet to get opti to have somewhat consistent accurate readings.

My screen is 8' X 8', I got it from par to pro online, around $200. My projector is a Benq MX813ST, the distance ito the screen is 4'6" and I'm about 13' away from the screen. If your looking at projectors go to projector central, they have an online tool for calculating distance and ambient lighting for optimal picture quality. The image I get fills the screen but it's recommended that only 9% ambient lighting is used. This makes it difficult to get a consistent reading on the OptiShot. I've just installed a 4' fluorescent light and will be trying it out tomorrow. I may need a gobo, thanks FaultyClubs I looked it up, lol.
Good luck wbond

[mthunt]

How would you damage a projector with an errant shot?

[wbond]

If i understand his dimensions correctly, the projector is ceiling mounted and is between him and the hitting screen. If someone were to hit a skyball off the top of the crown or a try a flopshot, couldn't it be hit?

How would you damage a projector with an errant shot?

[Ezek7]

Very Nice looking sim room!
I am wondering what kind of turf carpeting did
you use around your hitting mat? And where did
You buy it? It looks awesome! It is pretty much the
Only thing i am missing in my garage setup ...
Thanks!

Hey Guys,

Heres my setup in the garage. Thanks to Aaron from Foresight Sports for all his help.
Attachment 47453

[Mookie17]

I don't have anything protecting my projector as I'm using foam and almost golf balls. I had thought about fabricating a cage to protect the projector, but as the only shots that could hit it are when I'm using a wedge, (not much velocity). The lighting changes that I've made do make a difference, I'm not noticing big miss hits that I had in the past. Calibrating the clubs has helped, I also applied a white tape to the bottom of some clubs. As far as trying to create an accurate shot, I went to golftown and hit some balls, took the info, club head speed, distance etc, and tried to recreate it with the OptiShot. I found that my club head speeds were a little unrealistic, I lowered the speed setting to 90% for both my driver and 3wood. I'm now getting accurate distances, although I did like the 101 mph club head speed and 297 yard distance. I built this simulator to help keep me swinging the club over the winter and wanted to receive accurate feedback without having to spend a fortune. So far so good it's been fun setting it up, looking forward to playing online too.
Cheers everyone have a safe New Years

Do you have anything protecting the projector from errant shots? I got a cheap projector from CL, i didn't realize how much info was on projector central and didn't see the ambient hlight. I will have to see how well it works when i get it going. Let me know how the fluorescent lighting works. i can't find anything to work yet to get opti to have somewhat consistent accurate readings.

[sprigs]

Hi Ezek7,

I got the Turf from Aaron @ ForesightSports. Im very impressed with the quality. Its a very heavy Turf, I had a roll 15x25 and it weighed over 300lbs.

I couldnt be happier with the quality, and the ball roll greats on it.

Sprigs

Very Nice looking sim room!
I am wondering what kind of turf carpeting did
you use around your hitting mat? And where did
You buy it? It looks awesome! It is pretty much the
Only thing i am missing in my garage setup ...
Thanks!

[wbond]

Well I finally finished changing around my garage so I can now swing all my clubs. I have a 2 car garage that is about 20' x 20'. Originally it had a ceiling that was about 8' high and it had a portion that was cutout which was about 8' x 9' or so. This is where i was swinging before, but only up to hybrid. Once i got skytrak i knew i wanted to be able to use all clubs. I still have to be able to park cars in there when needed so everything had to be able to be moved aside easily. I also can now use it for my kids softball, baseball and volleyball training.

Here you can see the cutout in the original ceiling and the height of the ceiling.


Same view with ceiling now removed. You can see the computer mounted to the wall and I'm using a heat dish to keep warm. The dish works amazingly well. The projector is mounted about 10' off the ground and it's about 15' to the screen. I have about 8' to from mat to the screen.


View from behind the mat. I have one net that slides out to go along the side and one that goes straight across. This one the kids can hit baseballs and softballs into. I then slide the screen out. These are mounted to steel cables.


Nets slid into position.


Screen slid into position. This is a harbor freight canvas drop cloth.


Computer station. There is a window behind the moving blanket. The keyboard drops down out of the way.


Here is the mat, it's a P3proswing mat that i modified to accept a p3pro with jagman joe cover, an optishot with a jagman joe cover and a piece of real feel turf. The mat sits on a piece of 1" styrofoam insulation. This was needed to bring the height up to the JJ covers.


Here is an image from skytrak using the ipad adapter to hook up to the projector. It's acceptable for now. I plan on getting an impact screen later so hopefully the image will improve quite a bit over the canvas cloth that i have now. The image is 8' wide and about 5' high or so.


I purchased opti, p3 and projector from craigslist.
Optishot $180, this is now an optishot 2!
P3proswing and Mat $280
Jagman Joe Covers $125
Viewsonic Projector $60
Projector bulb $61
Skytrak $1500
Screen and grommets $19
Garage Reno $250 (lumber, lights, outdoor carpet etc)
Just under $2500, not too bad since skytrak was biggest expense.

[fhann]

Hi:

I have viewed your photographs and it appears as if the ceiling joists have been removed. If so, you have created a very dangerous and unstable condition with this building.

I am a structural engineer and I am very concerned for you and your family's safety. Please have a building official and/or engineer do a building inspection. I think that any insurer would refuse any claim if it collapses, which can easily happen with strong wind/snow loads. Your municipal building department would probably condemn this building.

[wbond]

There were no ceiling joists whatsoever in this garage and there has never been any. The house and garage were built in 49 and i have no idea what the code was then. When you picture a traditional rafter with ceiling joist, you have a triangle with rafters on sides, ceiling joist on bottom and ridge board in the top middle and then a collar tie. This had none of those. It only has the rafters and ridge board and on every other one, it has the collar tie about a foot or so below the peak.

See the first pic. There were only two 2 x 6 x 12 boards that went from the left to right (Front of garage to back of garage) in the pic that were bolted together in the middle. They were not part of the rafter/joist system at all. The ends of the board rested on top of the bearing wall about halfway between two rafters. Then you had a couple boards that came of the side of the garage. The only thing this appeared to do was support the garage door supports.

I also had this reviewed before the work was done.

Hi:

I have viewed your photographs and it appears as if the ceiling joists have been removed. If so, you have created a very dangerous and unstable condition with this building.

I am a structural engineer and I am very concerned for you and your family's safety. Please have a building official and/or engineer do a building inspection. I think that any insurer would refuse any claim if it collapses, which can easily happen with strong wind/snow loads. Your municipal building department would probably condemn this building.

[wbond]

Here are a couple pics of what i was trying to explain. This is at the front of the garage where nothing was touched. In the first pic, you can see the rafters and one would expect to see a ceiling joist. However as i mentioned this garage has none of them.

There were no ceiling joists whatsoever in this garage and there has never been any. The house and garage were built in 49 and i have no idea what the code was then. When you picture a traditional rafter with ceiling joist, you have a triangle with rafters on sides, ceiling joist on bottom and ridge board in the top middle and then a collar tie. This had none of those. It only has the rafters and ridge board and on every other one, it has the collar tie about a foot or so below the peak.

See the first pic. There were only two 2 x 8 12 boards that went from the left to right (Front of garage to back of garage) in the pic that were bolted together in the middle. They were not part of the rafter/joist system at all. The ends of the board rested on top of the bearing wall about halfway between two rafters. Then you had a couple boards that came of the side of the garage. The only thing this appeared to do was support the garage door supports.

I also had this reviewed before the work was done.

[chughes82]

I have been using an Optishot with foam balls for about 18 months, but wanted a SkyTrak and the ability to hit real balls, so I added netting. Due to some awkward space limitations, I have to hit across the parking spaces in my two car garage. I also have to keep one space available for parking a car. As a result, I built a net setup that retracts nearly flush with the ceiling. I stole many ideas from this thread and added a few of my own. It takes about 3 minutes to set up or store.

The first photo shows the setup retracted.

20150109_183130.jpg

These show it fully set up.

20150109_184219.jpg 20150109_183837.jpg 20150109_183824.jpg 20150109_184331.jpg

I began with a 30’ x 10’ net creating the back and sides of the hitting cage. There is a 10’ x 5’ net at the top of the cage. The sides and top are attached to a flexible curtain track for quick setup and storage. I added stability and support at the top with lightweight aluminum rods threaded through the netting and hung from short lengths of rope in the front and rear corners hanging from the ceiling. (Photos in the next post)

The right side of the netting extends to the hitting area to protect against shanks and my elementary school age boys’ creative golf shots. The hitting mat is a Monster Tee 4’ x 5’ that I modified to fit the Optishot, on a base of double layered foam squares from WalMart. This modification is now a little in the way of the SkyTrak setup.

At the foot of the netting is a rectangular, ladder-style frame made of ¾” PVC. It is wrapped in a 9’ x 5’ canvas drop cloth from Home Depot. The frame, netting, and rolled up faux grass are lifted by two ceiling-mount bicycle lifts that I modified to the task. (Photos in next post). To prevent sagging, I placed electrical conduit in the long pieces of PVC in the frame.

For the moment, the screen is roughly 10’ x 8’, made from a giant piece of white linen that I picked up at a fabric store and hung double over a 1 ¼ piece of PVC. I’ve had it for at least 18 months, hitting foam balls regularly, and it has held up without any damage. For now, I hang it against the garage wall when the net is stored and move it to a couple of hanging loops immediately behind the netting when I am hitting. There is only minor shadowing on the screen from the netting. It’s not perfect, but it allows the fabric to avoid damage and the wrinkles that would be caused by retracting it to the ceiling.

In the future, I may well try moving the fabric between the netting and the projector, to see how it stands up to real golf balls. If/when the fabric wears out, I may switch to an impact screen if I can devise an easy method for moving it back and forth from the garage wall to the cage.

Sorry for the mess in the garage, but it’s a combination garage, workshop, kids game room, kids’ batting cage, and driving range.

[chughes82]

Additional photos:

Better pics of the curtain track, aluminum rods, and supports.

20150109_184405.jpg 20150109_184411.jpg 20150110_170931.jpg

The setup halfway from fully retracted to the ceiling.

20150109_183434.jpg

The bicycle lifts holding the frame to the ceiling.
20150109_183338.jpg

[wbond]

Chughes. Sounds like you have a similar situation. I am currently using a cheap canvas drop cloth in front of my net to project my image onto. It is not lasting, already has a rip in it from balls. Can you take a pic with your projector running, I'm curious to see how bad the image is with the net in front. I may go this route for the time being. Need to start looking into a screen that can be slid in and out of position. My garage is multi use as well, the joys of coaching and kids in sports.

In the future, I may well try moving the fabric between the netting and the projector, to see how it stands up to real golf balls. If/when the fabric wears out, I may switch to an impact screen if I can devise an easy method for moving it back and forth from the garage wall to the cage.

Sorry for the mess in the garage, but it’s a combination garage, workshop, kids game room, kids’ batting cage, and driving range.

[chughes82]

Chughes. Sounds like you have a similar situation. I am currently using a cheap canvas drop cloth in front of my net to project my image onto. It is not lasting, already has a rip in it from balls. Can you take a pic with your projector running, I'm curious to see how bad the image is with the net in front. I may go this route for the time being. Need to start looking into a screen that can be slid in and out of position. My garage is multi use as well, the joys of coaching and kids in sports.

I will post a pic soon. It's okay for now, but I will want an unobstructed screen.

[chughes82]

Here are three pics of Optishot screens. I don't yet have the correct adapter for the SkyTrak to my projector. Note that the projector is a fairly old Epson PowerLite 1705c. VGA only. No HD.

20150112_200402.jpg20150112_200330.jpg20150112_200314.jpg

It's a bit hard to tell from photos, but it's okay. Not likely my permanent solution, but it'll do for now. A better projector might have better results.

Without a doubt the kids' favorite part is hitting into the projected image.

[wbond]

Thanks for the pics. Thats not too bad at all. I think I will definitely be switching to have my net in front. I bought the ipad adapter off of ebay for about $27, works great.

Here are three pics of Optishot screens. I don't yet have the correct adapter for the SkyTrak to my projector. Note that the projector is a fairly old Epson PowerLite 1705c. VGA only. No HD.

Attachment 47573Attachment 47574Attachment 47575

It's a bit hard to tell from photos, but it's okay. Not likely my permanent solution, but it'll do for now. A better projector might have better results.

Without a doubt the kids' favorite part is hitting into the projected image.

[Ezek7]

Hi everyone. Id like to thank all the people here for
the countless cues/ideas that you guys provide.
It has made the creation of my optishot setup much
faster/cheaper than expected!
Here are a few pictures of how I built my setup. It is far from perfect but my goal was to make it fast and cheap!




Here is a link to a quick video describing how I built the mat..

http://youtu.be/xyoPFOgbd5I

Happy golfing to all!

[chughes82]

Hi everyone. Id like to thank all the people here for
the countless cues/ideas that you guys provide.
It has made the creation of my optishot setup much
faster/cheaper than expected!
Here are a few pictures of how I built my setup. It is far from perfect but my goal was to make it fast and cheap!




Here is a link to a quick video describing how I built the mat..

http://youtu.be/xyoPFOgbd5I

Happy golfing to all!

Nice setup. Thanks for the stance mat video.

[nosevi]

My setup - GC2A running through a laptop on a 'The Net Return Simulator Series' bought from Cory at Par2Pro. I'm in the Uk but will go through Cory for any golf sim kit/software/etc in the future - customer service is second to none (even if my wife says he sounds like Kermit the Frog in his videos, got to say, it's uncanny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_yWYwy5AfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_AUn5poOmA )

Anyway, I digress. My setup:

d5.jpg

Important thing for me was the whole setup had to be able to be broken down, even the 'turf' is astroturf tiles designed for mobile indoor pitches so it can be taken apart. Reason being the sim shares a room with my 'baby' so wanted to be able to pack away on the odd occasion (like every other week) when she decides not to work in order to get my attention......

d7.JPG

[mthunt]

Sweet car.

[nosevi]

Sweet car.

Thanks mate. Really is my haven in there