GC2 Prices going up again next year

[walb0034]

To Anyone on the fence about ordering a GC2, I decided to buy one this week and found out in the process that on January 1st the prices are going to go up again for the second year in a row.

If anyone is thinking about buying one, I guess now would be the time!

[ZMax]

What is the current price now for the GC2 and each of the course packs? Any news on the club cam?

[JJSmith]

It's probably going from "expensive" to "more expensive". I don't understand why the CG2 has to be so expensive. It's not like they are using NASA technology or 8 core processors. The iPhone 4s is more advanced and cost less. Okay, it doesn't read the ball, but still..

[ZMax]

Lack of real competition would be my guess.

[walb0034]

And most of their buyers are companies who don't really care if it costs $6500 or $7500, they are buying it anyways for their club fitting studios. It's the home user who gets hurt by this, but I think they have FAR more corporate users than home users.

[TheGolfer]

Curiuos to get feedback from anyone that has tested the GC2 with their simulator as opposed to just the launch monitor. Two questions.

Understand the error tolerances for the launch monitor, which are great. Great that is measures spin / spin axis.

1. for cuts / draws on the simulator how well does the gc2 unit and its software engine estimate ball flight compared to the same shots you do outside?
* tested a couple sims so far that estimate spin and shaped shots start on path but most of the time the ball never came back

2. company sales rep mentioned today that there are two options with the sim for spin. have the software use the measured spin / spin axis or use estimated spin. estimated spin the sim shot takes off when you hit it with no delay he said. when you use the measured spin he said a driver with > 150mph ball speed there will be almost 1 second delay from hitting the ball to the software projecting the shot. on the surface i like the accuracy over immediate results but not having used it and being new to sims the question is did you find this acceptable or annoying after a while?
* i asked if i can just buy a higher end computer to speed it up and he said its a function of the processing done on the gc2 unit itself

interested in your feedback.

thanks.

[walb0034]

I find it to be extremely accurate. In fact I find it so accurate, that I get different readings depending on what kind of ball I use. I recently switched from a pro-v1x to a callaway iZ based off the numbers (spin and distance) I got on a GC2. slice, face, draw, hook, shank, all showed exactly as I would expect on the sim.

I think it's pretty amazing you can use a launch monitor to pick the right ball. I don't think you need to worry too much about accuracy of shot shape in the simulation.

I didn't notice any sort of lag time on the shots, don't think it's anywhere near a second. It was crazy fast. And believe me it was very, very accurate.

The downside is the cost of the software. Accuracy is king, and you pay for it. And it's only going to get more expensive.

[walb0034]

watch this video to see the 1 second delay in action, it's really not bad at all. I barely even think it's noticeable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpiGwsf2chs

[TheGolfer]

got some great emails on the accuracy of gc2. on the surface sounds great. downside is price. testing the sim on Tuesday. from what i hear should be better accuracy compared to my tests recently on two systems that didn't measure spin especially on shaping shots. we will see...

[bubba22]

Where are your reviews of the sims? Which sims did you test? Let us know your experiences.

[TheGolfer]

will post soon. just want to make sure i do my due diligence before posting anything critical if its based on me actually using it versus me reading marketing literature. tested two so far that estimate spin. sent feedback to the first to confirm there were no problems with the setup. the third company doesn't have any to test in the north east usa which seems odd. i also want to make sure i test each one before i decide to buy and provide any feedback. it's a good idea that i waited before posting my first one since i would have been overly critical since i learned by the second one my expectations on accuracy were too high. plan on testing the gc2 (last one) on tuesday. goal is to make a decision next week. believe me its been an interesting and sometimes painful learning process this past 6 weeks. will let you know soon.

[TheGolfer]

walb0034 - just had a chance to review the video you posted with the delay due to using the measured spin. thank you. i don't even notice it. that's great. i would take that everyday if the shot shapes are simulated accurately. having said that he was swinging an iron and by the video it looks like he was swinging slower (couldn't see the ball speed clearly on my computer) . the rep said its most noticeable when hitting driver when ball speed is > 150mph. can't wait to test on tuesday. thanks again.

[TheGolfer]

gc2 users - since you can hit off any turf using the gc2 curious if anyone has the rough / sand simulated surfaces and if they help when hitting those shots using the sim? which ones do you have? it looks you would need to move the unit for that shot then back if you really wanted to do that. is that realistic? is there calibration you need to do each time you move it like making sure its aligned with the target line each time? this is not a make or break but just curious since for the sim (not launch monitor) since hitting shots from rough and sand from a clean fairway lie then it doesn't matter for those shots if spin is measured since its not real for that shot anyway. yes i know, just keep it in the fairway and hit all gir but that's not even close to reality for me thanks.

[bubba22]

The one thing to bare in mind with testing all the sims is that some may require proper setup and appropriate tweaking. As well the sims such as Protee are constantly upgrading both software and hardware. In any event good luck with your choice.

[TheGolfer]

bubba22 - Yes, I am learning they need to be properly set up and that is also another reason why I am double checking with the companies. First one I tested is for a club fitter who uses it for fittings. Since it was off we did spend time with tech support to insure everything was setup correctly. it was a l little frustrating to need tech support but in reality things happen and it was a good sign that the company not only has a sales team staffed but a seperate tech support team you can call. They were very knowledgeable and stepped through the setup and got it configured. Second one was in a commerical setting for sim players (12 simulator bays). The gc2 on Tuesday is also in an environment for club / shaft fittings. They should also be configured since they use them for club / shaft fittings but I want to learn ahead of time any nuances (ie does it need to be exactly aligned to target line or not) so I can double check while I am there. As always thanks again for the feedback.

[TheGolfer]

gc2 users -

is there a recommended distance that your tee should be away from the screen when using their spin for the simulator?

just realized i need less space that with gsa px5 with the +5 feet way from screen for trigger + 2foot putting + 1 foot rough + 1 foot fairway +1 foot sand + 3 foot sensor pad. still looking at possibly to use trustrike divot matt + fiberbuilt rough and sand inserts.

Thanks.

[TheGolfer]

gc2 users - looks like company is putting all the cost for integrating with redchain and their club fitting / range specific changes all into the software rather than hw and sw to keep the unit lower for fitters based on discussion Thursday with sales rep. on these forums the redchain fans are talking about a very big software revision coming out soon. if you buy the gc2 redchain course packs now do you get free updates for the major revisions to redchain or do you need to rebuy them or pay a delta cost to get those software updates?

[walb0034]

You need to rebuy them, but whether you pay full retail or just upgrade fee is unknown. They haven't decided yet. I know this from speaking with one of their reps who got the info directly from the partners.

[TheGolfer]

Thanks. Its unfortunate we need to rebuy since I just got a quote for the first 5 for$2650 and the next 10 for $1100 rather than GSA redchain all 70 for ~ $1k. I see on this forum several people talking about "a big upgrade" coming soon from redchain. Anyone know what is planned for the upgrade? How to find out?

I searched for redchain software and found their site I can't get past their initial page that has no information or contacts.

Makes a difference if they are upgrading in a few weeks then buy just 1 course then buy the others when its available maybe?

Thanks.

[bubba22]

I don't think you will find out when the new Red Chain engine will happen. Probably rdh will be the begs bet to keep us informed.

[js1010]

Just realized there was a hardware section od the forum.

You can be as close as you want to the screen. Can't see why this would matter outside of the ball bouncing back type issues.

As far as hitting off different suraces - you could do this i suppose - think it would be a bit of a pain. No need to re-calibrate the gc2 just move around and put the ball in its field of view.

[bubba22]

Let us understand this js1010, with the GC2 it would be difficult to play from different surfaces because you would need to move the unit for fairway, rough and sand surfaces? So the calibration area from the ball is fairly specific in location? Is there any way to use multiple surfaces without moving the GC2?

[js1010]

The area of view for the gc2 is about 8 or so inch trapezoid shape. I enclosed an image from the manual showing this . The Light blue area is where the gc2 would be able to see the ball.

So you don't have much room to work with without moving the gc2 around. can be done, I just wouldn't bother with it personally. Maybe some kind of rolling platform to move the gc2 back and forth in one direction so its easy to keep aligned might be cool.


I am curious how much room one has with other camera based systems like aboutgolf? Anyone know this? How much of an area to you have to hit from?

[bubba22]

That is a very good question JS. I know from using the about golf system they are able to have these different surfaces so the area must be somewhat larger than gC2.

[ZMax]

Wow! I'm shocked. All this time I had thought that you could hit from any surface without having to move the GC2.

The AboutGolf system's camera is overhead so obviously, the FOV is much bigger than the GC2. But there still must a limit to where you can hit from. I need to pay more attention during the next Michael Breed show.

[bubba22]

You see why its important to get a good review. That was a shock to me as well Z. I just assumed that the GC2 could hit from anywhere. The next question is if one has a sand or rough surface, will the height of the ball on this surface be an issue?

[ZMax]

The next question is if one has a sand or rough surface, will the height of the ball on this surface be an issue?

And also, I know that the 2 cameras take snapshots of the ball after impact, but what does the GC2 use to detect that there's a ball, to put itself in ready mode? Does it also take a snapshot of the ball prior to impact, as an initial ball position/state?

[js1010]

I don't think height of the surface will be an issue. I have my gc2 up a bit above my hitting surface with no issues and I know you can have it on the same level as the surface as well.

As far as it detecting the ball - I assume its the cameras that do this. If I have the ball in the zone that the gc2 can see - you can move the ball around within this area and see the Gc2 screen update its display dynamically to where the ball is within the zone.

Once you have the ball in this zone - there is a light on the gc2 that turns green which means its in ready mode otherwise it is red.

[ZMax]

Ok, let me see if understand this correctly. One of the camera is free running. when a ball is detected and in place, it takes a snapshot of it. Two more snapshots of the ball are taken after impact. Then all three snapshots are analyzed to determined what the ball did?

Thanks JS.

[js1010]

I don't know if its just one camera is free running or both. Based on me being able to move the ball and its display updated as I move it tells me that at least one of the cameras is locked in to this zone monitoring this area.

As far as the snapshots go - I was told the gc2 can take upwards of 10-12 images at and after impact - I am not sure if its one or both cameras doing this .