Impact Screen Size for new Sim Room

[Unkynd]

Hey Guys, it's finally happening. My new house has a built in theatre room, and I'm going to start piecing my sim room together. First order of business is the impact screen. The room is 152 inches by 209 inches, and it's 118 inches high. I plan to put the impact screen on the 152 inch wall.

My question is, how big should my impact screen be? The whole wall, ceiling to floor? Should it big longer so that it sags at the bottom to catch low bullets? Also, do you recommend netting either behind or on the sides/top?

Thanks in advance!

[Golfmaxxx]

Hey there, I would find the impact screen thread on this site and research. Go as big as you can but leave room (about two feet ) behind your screen. I hung strong netting right behing mine to reduce spring back and make the screen last longer. Check how big your projector can go and size your screen from there.

Good luck

[mcook]

Unkynd, I feel a lot of it depends on how you are going to fasten the screen to the sides and top. For example, I screwed angle iron directly onto my side walls and ceiling and secured the screen using 6" bungees. I then used black curtains to cover the sides and a black curtain baffle to cover the top angle iron/bungees. I bought my system (ProTee) thru Cory at Par2Pro and he was very useful in helping me determine the size of the screen based on my room size and setup. I also don't feel you 'need' 2 feet behind the screen. I have 18" but feel it could have been closer to the wall (this would also take into consideration how your screen is secured/tight/loose etc). Plus, if length of room was an issue you could always move the screen closer and hang 2" memory foam mattresses behind the screen for extra protection again bounce back (and help with noise). My screen does not sag at the bottom and there is about a 1/2" gap. Because of this I put a black foam barrier down behind the screen to prevent the ricochet worm burn bullet from firing back

[Unkynd]

That setup sounds perfect mcook. I'd love to see pictures of it. The black foam seems like a much more elegant solution than the sagging screen on the floor.

How big is your screen and how many 6" bungees did you use?

[mcook]

Unkynd. Glad to help! My screen which came from ProTee is 13'7" x 9'5". Here's a couple pictures for you. In one of them you can see how I have the angle iron attached to the wall and I've secured the screen with 10" Bungees (click on bungees to see link from Amazon). I would say I have 50-60 of these little bungees total on the 2 sides and the ceiling. The Angle Iron I believe is 6' pieces...I didn't need to cut them just overlap and screw into the wall. Another picture attached is a shot from closer to the screen so you can see the ceiling baffle and the side curtain covering the side angle iron. We have not had any shots hit the angle irons as the curtains do a great job protecting. The ceiling baffle works well to cover and protect the ceiling angle iron....and you don't see the bungees from normal hitting locations. My screen is about 1" off the floor. I just put some foam pieces that I have left over in the house. These foam pieces are rain gutter filters that I stacked/secured on top of each other creating square block underneath/behind the screen going wall to wall. I don't have any issues with kick back and it prevents any balls from going under the screen. I'm sure there are much better foam ideas and probably less expensive but this is what I already had and it works great.
ceiling baffle protect angle iron.JPGAngle Iron bungees.JPGphoto.JPG

Here is a link to some of my other pictures posted on this site (#348 in the Simulator Pictures link):
http://forum.ottawagolf.com/showthre...l=1#post479593

[Unkynd]

Thanks for the pictures mcook. The setup looks pretty damn awesome.

I'm thinking I'll use mine for movies (HD Projector) as well. I'm a little concerned about the wrinkling that I can see in the pictures on your screen. Did you intentionally leave it a little lax to help absorb golf balls?

[mcook]

I haven't played with the screen to try to take out the wrinkles that you see. I might be able to adjust/reposition bungees to keep it more taut. I would imagine if it was too taut you would have considerably more bounce back...but maybe with the memory foam hanging directly behind the screen it would lessen any bounce back from a taut screen. Honestly, It's easy to see the wrinkles when their is no projection but you hardly notice them when the image is on the screen. Keep in mind the screen is going to take some abuse especially when using real golf balls. I've heard of some people using two screens. They would have an electric screen that would roll down from the ceiling when they wanted to watch movies. If you are pre-construction project with your sim room that 'could' be something to consider...having it embedded into the ceiling. Post construction I could have it attached on the ceiling and have it protected/hidden with curtain baffle and foam for protection. An electric screen will add to the cost...my thought would be to get a high quality screen (i.e. HQ screen from Par2Pro) and keep it taut with bungees...the memory foam behind will preserve life of screen and help with sound. Others with more experience than myself may have better suggestions.

Entertainment.jpg

[Golfmaxxx]

Sweet pro setup Mcook ! hows the sound off your screen ?

[mcook]

Thanks Golfmaxxx. The crack of a real ball and hitting the screen is still loud. It's deadened by the carpeted walls and ceiling though. The sound of the club hitting the ball (Driver) is louder than the impact on my screen. Someday I'd like to do the memory foam behind the screen as even more of a buffer for that noise.

[golfsimxpert]

image.jpgbill3.jpgIMG_0680.jpgIMG_0163.JPG.jpg

as mentioned below there are many factors to determine what will be the best spec. You have a cage option or a custom design. My personal preference is the custom design as it always gives the room that finished feel.

The important thing is to choose the right system. with a 152" wide room a hardwall with acoustical wall treatment is awesome for sides. For screen size yu want to optimize your image based on the aspect ration and create the padding system so there is no whit space just like your TV. Adds a lot to the finished product and something you rarely see.

With a 118" height you can use a net for protection but will need at leastb6" from ceiling or more depending on framing and attachment. A better option for the same protection is a skin system. Let's you get to 4" and offers the same protection.

Do not forget baffles. They are key to preventing bounce backs and protecting the edges where screen meets ceiling. For the bottom of the screen a proper screen system will stop low shots from getting under and also offer side and top protection for the gaps while fitting the image to the screen shape.

True custom design takes all of these factors into account and gives you the full system for the best possible results, durability and image quality.

[golfsimxpert]

No wrinkles, no gaps, custom design and flexibility. Extermely quiet with minimal bounce back when pulled tight from as close as 8 feet with driver.

Built with quality, built to last

[Jsgregg]

Those really look great. What are the dimensions on the pic on the left?

[Unkynd]

those look really good golfsim, are you using bungees to attach to the side/top walls? Do you prefer to have the screen drape onto the floor at the bottom? how much does a custom setup like that with the acoustic side walls, baffling, etc generally run? I'm thinking I need to stay under budget on the screen setup, so I have more to spend on the actual simulator; but I could be convinced otherwise.

[Luca2013]

Mcook anyway I can get in touch with you to talk. Can I send you my email or is there another private way of chatting. I'm new to this. Thanks

[mcook]

No problem. I sent you a private message with my email address. Feel free to ask any questions.