GC2 flash

[ryan983]

I'm not sure if my flash is going out or not but ever since I downloaded the newest update, I've been getting a lot of 0" distance shots.

It's almost always around the green. The unit will display it as a 0" shot when I haven't made a stroke. It happens a lot when the ball is on the edge of the area the unit reads...if the unit goes from green to red, it displays as a shot even though the ball didn't move.

Thinking maybe I should try taking the update off but I'm not sure how to do that either. Can anyone help me out!?!?

Thanks!

[SFR]

I had some issues with the last two updates where for me (I am using the old range and 1 course where you had the hint line and suggested speed for putts) it would not work with the USB cable and only worked when set up with bluetooth. I also seen posts of random shots when there was no swing but I think that update was taken off.

You can go back to older firmware but you need to have the firmware version saved on the computer to use to go back to. Not sure if one can be emailed.

If a flash is going dead it tends to work most times and then might miss a few shots in a row, then work a bit again and get worse till it misses 4 or 5 in a row. That is when they say to change it.

Also the last update no longer shows the flash count so I am using an older one. Nothing was done in the ball flight for the last couple updates for sure but more for other things we may not notice.

Can you look on the about menu and see what version you are running?

[ryan983]

Mine says 3.7.0.0.

I got my GC2 about 9 months ago. Not sure what version was on it when I got it but I had never done any updates until a couple weeks ago. As soon as I downloaded the update, I began having these issues. I should have known better...if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

It is possible the flash is going out. Tonight I had a couple shots in a row that the unit didn't pick up. Restarted it and it seemed to work ok.

[SFR]

If it was a new unit, the flash should be still good but if it was used who knows.

The problem with that 3.7.0.0 version is it no longer shows the flash % used. We could try to email an old firmware and see if that works.

Private message me with your email if you want.

That version messed up my course and range so that I could not use it with the USB cable. I went back to an older version.

As far as the flash goes if you can go back in firmware, it will tell you the flash used in a %.

It could be that the flash is going if you are getting more missed shots where it takes a few for it to work again. It gets worse quick and then won't flash even after 4 or 5 tries. Then the flash is about done. I would get one to have on hand if you don't already.

[ryan983]

Thought I would post an update...finally called Foresight because I wasn't getting any response to the website inquiries. They told me the website technical support request wasn't working. Could be but seems a little unlikely.

Anyway - they sent me a software update to match the firmware update I did a few months back and the software is working great again. When you first open up the software, he had me look in the bottom right hand corner and I was running 1.271 I think. I updated to 1.291 and all is well again.

If anyone needs help with this, let me know.

[SFR]

Thanks for the update. I had also sent an email asking about the issue with 3.7.0 firmware and they asked me to look at my software version. I think it is still original and never updated because that version had the hint line for putting and I liked that option. They never replied back from when I sent the version number to them.

So I then assume that it was more the software version and not firmware version. What I wonder is are there any major changes in the software then to change ball flight?

If not then it's not worth updating. If there were I might if I knew they adjusted things to make for a more accurate ball flight.

[js1010]

I had the same issue with 3.7.0.0 giving zero distance shots in fss. Believe 3.7.0.0 added an onscreen ball locator feature for the gc2 tee marker which in the fsx software which will show you onscreen where the ball is. Believe this somehow caused the issue with older fss - this fss update fixes that issue.

[ryan983]

The only difference I've noticed since downloading the new software is my ball speed is about 7 mph slower on average than what it was registering before. I was hitting drivers minutes before I called support because I was sick of getting 0" shots around the green. I was getting mph reads of 160-165. After the download, the distance the drives are going are pretty similar but I'm only getting 155 ball speed on a good one. Seems odd so I emailed support and this was the response:

That’s really interesting. The way the GC2 measures the ball has not changed, from the very first GC2 device ever made to the latest batch of GC2 devices we’ve created. This device measures the ball data with high speed cameras and takes its measurements from the dimple pattern of the golf ball. We have seen that over time “worn out” golf balls do cause data to change and different brands of golf balls create different data characteristics. I would verify that you are not changing golf balls or using compromised balls.

What you might have seen, that has changed, since we updated your system is a shortened carry distance. The algorithm used to calculate our flight equation has been improved over time to more accurately represent carry distance. This flight equation algorithm still uses the measured parameters of the golf ball that the GC2 captures, but with the feedback of our tour pros and tour coaches the engineering team has really been able to dial in carry distance to accurately represent what guys like Rickie Fowler, Ryo, and Jack Nicklaus were seeing on the range.

Lastly, you might want to verify that the data between the device and the software matches. What happens when you press the volume button on the GC2 device 2-3 times (the little speaker button) and then take a few shots while connected to software? Does the data the device audibly speaks match the data you see on the software?

Hope this information helps shed some light for you.

[js1010]

Thats very strange. What happens if you unplug gc2 from the software and just note the ball numbers on the display? Or you can do what foresight said and turn on the volume on the gc2 to hear the numbers spoken out to make sure they match the software.

Got to be something going on - as foresight stated, how they measure has not changed - just the carry algorithm has been refined. I assume you tried restarting the gc2?

[SFR]

The only difference I've noticed since downloading the new software is my ball speed is about 7 mph slower on average than what it was registering before. I was hitting drivers minutes before I called support because I was sick of getting 0" shots around the green. I was getting mph reads of 160-165. After the download, the distance the drives are going are pretty similar but I'm only getting 155 ball speed on a good one. Seems odd so I emailed support and this was the response:

That’s really interesting. The way the GC2 measures the ball has not changed, from the very first GC2 device ever made to the latest batch of GC2 devices we’ve created. This device measures the ball data with high speed cameras and takes its measurements from the dimple pattern of the golf ball. We have seen that over time “worn out” golf balls do cause data to change and different brands of golf balls create different data characteristics. I would verify that you are not changing golf balls or using compromised balls.

What you might have seen, that has changed, since we updated your system is a shortened carry distance. The algorithm used to calculate our flight equation has been improved over time to more accurately represent carry distance. This flight equation algorithm still uses the measured parameters of the golf ball that the GC2 captures, but with the feedback of our tour pros and tour coaches the engineering team has really been able to dial in carry distance to accurately represent what guys like Rickie Fowler, Ryo, and Jack Nicklaus were seeing on the range.

Lastly, you might want to verify that the data between the device and the software matches. What happens when you press the volume button on the GC2 device 2-3 times (the little speaker button) and then take a few shots while connected to software? Does the data the device audibly speaks match the data you see on the software?

Hope this information helps shed some light for you.

This is interesting as what I have found is that the GC2 itself seems to read right for carry when I tried to compare outside on the course. This was still using firmware version 3.5. something.

However the software seemed to be a lot higher than the GC2 readout by up to 10%. That created carry that was too high compared to my real distance and compared to Optimal Flight. So it would make sense then if they created an update to the software that shortened the carry distance. If that is the case I would not mind having that update. Is it something that could be emailed?

Also if you want to still see the GC2 readout when hitting, you can remove the usb cable and reboot the GC2, then once in the menu screen of the range or course software, you can connect via bluetooth if you have on your computer. Doing this will still let the GC2 readout show. What it does do though is make the ball trail start at the base of the screen and not at impact point. At least for me this happens and possibly the update to the software would fix this.

So if the software has been updated to change carry, that would be a good thing.

Thanks for the update.

[ryan983]

Thats very strange. What happens if you unplug gc2 from the software and just note the ball numbers on the display? Or you can do what foresight said and turn on the volume on the gc2 to hear the numbers spoken out to make sure they match the software.

Got to be something going on - as foresight stated, how they measure has not changed - just the carry algorithm has been refined. I assume you tried restarting the gc2?

yes I have shut it down several times over the past week and the audio numbers match the software when I checked that. The overall distance hasn't really changed...it's just odd seeing the ball speed go down that much. I'm not going to worry about it.

[ryan983]

This is interesting as what I have found is that the GC2 itself seems to read right for carry when I tried to compare outside on the course. This was still using firmware version 3.5. something.

However the software seemed to be a lot higher than the GC2 readout by up to 10%. That created carry that was too high compared to my real distance and compared to Optimal Flight. So it would make sense then if they created an update to the software that shortened the carry distance. If that is the case I would not mind having that update. Is it something that could be emailed?

Also if you want to still see the GC2 readout when hitting, you can remove the usb cable and reboot the GC2, then once in the menu screen of the range or course software, you can connect via bluetooth if you have on your computer. Doing this will still let the GC2 readout show. What it does do though is make the ball trail start at the base of the screen and not at impact point. At least for me this happens and possibly the update to the software would fix this.

So if the software has been updated to change carry, that would be a good thing.

Thanks for the update.

I can certainly forward you the email support sent me. PM with your email address. I don't have Bluetooth on my computer but need to get that added soon.

[ryan983]

Thought I better post the final email. This seems to put it all to bed.

Ok, it all makes sense to me now. Previous software versions had been increasing the ball speed measurements as part of the shot distance boost equation and showing the increased ball speed in the shot analysis tables. This shouldn’t have been published in the shot analysis tables like that as it was part of the calculation for the shot distance boost ball flight and not true ball speed data.

The latest version of the software might still use an increased ball speed as part of the shot distance boost equation however the ball speed posted in the shot analysis tables and that audibly spoken on the device is the actual ball speed measured from the cameras.

I bet if we were able to revert back to your older versions of software and firmware, the ball speeds on the GC2 device would have still audibly spoken +/- 156mph while the software would have been posting ball speeds of +/- 165mph.

Hope that clears up any confusion for you.

Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

[nobblescrunc]

If it was a new unit, the flash should be still good but if it was used who knows.

The problem with that 3.7.0.0 version is it no longer shows the flash % used. We could try to email an old firmware and see if that works.

Private message me with your email if you want.

That version messed up my course and range so that I could not use it with the USB cable. I went back to an older version.

As far as the flash goes if you can go back in firmware, it will tell you the flash used in a %.

It could be that the flash is going if you are getting more missed shots where it takes a few for it to work again. It gets worse quick and then won't flash even after 4 or 5 tries. Then the flash is about done. I would get one to have on hand if you don't already.

By any chance you couldn't send me the firmware file 3.5.1.0 and a quick how to for the firmware downgrade. I hate not having a flash counter.

Many thanks.