P3pro users?

[kevivoe]

You should just call the tech support at p3pro. Something is up with your system.

I may have remedied the bulk of the issues. My ceilings contain large recessed lights on a grid of about 6 feet. Two of them are within 3 feet horizontal of the sensor on the floor. I found some black crushed velvet and covered the baffels and bulbs by tucking under the spring loaded baffel in these ceiling lights. I do not turn them on.

Once these highly reflective surfaces from the ceiling are taken care of I get much better results. 5 iron that used to be 68 MPH and 18 degrees open is now 74 MPH and only 1-2 degrees open. So by killing the overhead reflection I gained about 15-20 yards in distance and closed my club head by 16 degrees. Looking around I have a glass pane on the fireplace in the corner. I may need to place something between it and the sensor also.

The key to making this IR reflex sensor system work is STOPPING all reflections from the IR emitter back to the IR sensor other than the club head. I still wonder about the shafts during the back swing. They may not be over the sensor enough.

A black velvet ceiling would be best it seems.

Still no solution for the software showing black on the one hole.

Regards,

[rdh]

That's great news! A bit of a pain to have to do that stuff, but like you said the IR sensors are very sensitive. It had to be something in your environment or setup (or a defective unit) since P3ProSwing has such a solid reputation for accuracy and reliability.

[chasiv]

For those having issues with wide open readings and reduced club head speeds on their P3ProSwings -- please see this page: http://www.proswingsupport.com/Golf/Support/Erroneous%20Readings.htm It should help you tremendously. If not, then email pics of your setup to tech@p3proswing.com for help.

The http://www.proswingsupport.com site is a personal page I have produced with a lot of helpful information regarding the product.

[chasiv]

Kev - I emailed you regarding the black hole. It is your video card drivers. Updating them should resolve the issue - as long as the video card is compatible.

[Steveh]

Hey Kevivoe, a black crushed velvet ceiling sounds pretty cool. But you won't be able to have the disco ball as it will screw with the sensors, lol. J/k

[kevivoe]

Hey Kevivoe, a black crushed velvet ceiling sounds pretty cool. But you won't be able to have the disco ball as it will screw with the sensors, lol. J/k

It would make my home theater better looking I think. Enclosed is a pic of my home theater/ golf studio now. I had to cover (temp) the recessed lights with black velvet.

Click to enlarge.

[ZMax]

It would make my home theater better looking I think. Enclosed is a pic of my home theater/ golf studio now. I had to cover (temp) the recessed lights with black velvet.

Wow! Nice home theater. I'm in the process of adding the home theater part to my golf studio but my setup will be on the ghetto side compare to yours.

That looks like a theater screen. Are you hitting foam balls into it?

[bubba22]

Good to see you guys are getting your issues resolved. The setup and lighting is so important for the dd and p3pro.

[Steveh]

That looks really sharp. I have to have my setup in the garage as my ceilings are too low in the home. I already told the wife when I build my retirement place (any time in the next couple years) I am putting a golf studio/home theatre in the basement with 10' ceiling.

[kevivoe]

Wow! Nice home theater. I'm in the process of adding the home theater part to my golf studio but my setup will be on the ghetto side compare to yours.

That looks like a theater screen. Are you hitting foam balls into it?

No. Dry firing for now.

I ordered a custom golf catch net. http://www.westcoastnetting.com
It is $77 USD for a 168 lb tensile strength, UV treated net. It will have edge webbing and gromets. Better strength than ANY golf catch net out there I have found. No knots. Comes in 3 colors. I picked white so it dissappears in front of my 2.5 gain retroreflective screen. The retroreflective screen prevents side or overhead lights from washing out the image. I plan to make a PVC frame to hold the netting. It needs to be capable of break down so I need a bit more engineering in that aspect.

[bubba22]

Are you planning on hitting real or limited flight balls? You have a nice setup but make sure if you r hitting real balls you have very good coverage for the occasional stray ball. I use limited flight balls and find the feel quite good .

[kevivoe]

Kev - I emailed you regarding the black hole. It is your video card drivers. Updating them should resolve the issue - as long as the video card is compatible.

It wasn't the drivers. I downloaded the latest and installed them.

It turns out my PC will default to the internal Intel video chip set upon powerup. I had to open the Nvidia control panel and make P3ProSwing default application requiring Nvida dedicated video card. It does not work to fiddle with the Windows 7 control panel, that control panel only affects the internal Intel video chipset.

Another thing I learned is I have to disable the touch pad on the laptop. It will cause all kinds of file save issues and lockups due to COM port contention.

As of right now I have everything working reasonably well. I still have to be VERY careful about lighting and reflections. Only back of the room (20 feet away) lighting can be allowed ... still every now and then I see a wild 18 degree open swing just as I expect when the sensor gets a reflection. I would prefer to swing with some more lighting but I can deal with it as is.

I need to create a substrate for my mat and sensor. Don't like the bounce of the sensor when I really come down on it. Think I'll velcro the mat and sensor to a common MDF sheet.

My catch net will be 16 feet wide and 9 feet tall. I will use 1 1/2 inch PVC framing. I plan 10 foot wide center with two 3 foot gull wings coming out on each end at 45 degrees towards the golfer. I need this width to go beyond the edges of my screen. I only want netting between the proscenium, screen and golfer.

I will post a photo of the entire setup when operational.

Regards,

[bubba22]

Good to see it is working out for you kevivoe. Keep us posted.

[Bruce Balog]

Kevivoe you mention light will only work from 20 feet away. I wonder if the light from the projector will cause problems with the sensor. I am thinking about mounting my projector in the back about 8 feet behind the sensor, with the light travelling over the pad. Has anybody had problems with readings from the light of the projector? It appears as if this is the only location in the room that will work for me without being blinded by the light during my swing.

[bubba22]

My projector is only a few feet behind the sensor pad and gives me no issues. I don't think the projector light will be a problem.

[kevivoe]

Kevivoe you mention light will only work from 20 feet away. I wonder if the light from the projector will cause problems with the sensor. I am thinking about mounting my projector in the back about 8 feet behind the sensor, with the light travelling over the pad. Has anybody had problems with readings from the light of the projector? It appears as if this is the only location in the room that will work for me without being blinded by the light during my swing.

I don't think so. I am using a retro reflective screen also so there is less light bouncing down to the sensor from the screen.

Reflections from above the sensor was the most critical.

I have all issues cleared I believe. I will work through others if they come up. I need to build my catch net so I can start hitting some balls.

[Bruce Balog]

My setup is almost complete. Just have to tie my screen down at the bottom and secure my stance mat. I played nine holes today at the Ryder Cup course and had fun. Still figuring out which camera angle I like best. Right now I am leaning towards fixed as it feels like you are watching your ball in the distance, just like real golf. Only issue I had was there was one instance where I was in a sand trap close to the green and it automatically went into putting mode. As a result, I couldn't swing hard enough to get out of the bunker since I have the setting turned on to penalize for sand and rough lies. If I swung too hard there was no reading. If I swung too soft, the ball rolled back to my feet. Is there anyway to disable putting mode every now and then to avoid something like this from happening?

Overall, it was a lot of fun and I am enjoying the P3Pro.

[bubba22]

I don't know Bruce. I have a serial port unit and have to trigger the putting/slow mode. Do you have a usb model? Normally the putting/slow mode gets triggered when you are on the green Did you switch to sand wedge and still have troubles?

[Bruce Balog]

Yes, I did trigger the sand wedge and still had troubles. Putting mode automatically turns on when you are on the green or very close to the hole, but off the green. Since the bunker was so close to the hole, putting mode turned on. That is fine for all cases, except when you are in the sand. Not sure if there is a way to disable putt mode for this reason.

[bubba22]

Bruce you should email Chuck at technical support and get his thoughts. if there isn't then that would be something for them to consider in any future updates.

[alexz]

I have finally ordered the Claret 4.2 with Grass Top.
Next week, I'll receive the 13x10ft impact screen from Cory, and the Versa mat.

I have connected it to my PC (DualCore 2,5 GHz - 1Go RAM - Nvidia 1Go DDR2) and Full HD projector.

I have some problems :
- erroneous readings : club face open more than 10°, short distances, ...
I have taped my 7 iron, turn off all the lights, but no difference. I try to find the reflective surfaces.
- I have only access to the Practice Range. With the 4.2 version, I should have Practice Golf Course, Skill Competition, ... but the program says "must have enabled dongle", which I have. And I can't find the Desert Dunes icone.

I hoped it would be easier !

[bubba22]

Clean your sensors, check your alignment, make sure your lighting is good, make sure your t heights are right in the program. Contact Chuck at technical support for p3pro if still and issue. Remember that the reflective units are very light sensitive and must be cleaned regularly.

[alexz]

Thanks Bubba.
The dongle problem is solved : I have updated the SmartDongle UMDF driver.

I play directly on the Grass Top and have 1" grass height and 1" tee height. Is it right ?

For the open club face, it was my fault. I now play with a ball and it's OK.

The dynamic distance is 1.10, but my carry is still 10 procent too short.

Is there a place to say if I play with or without a ball ?

[Steveh]

Alexz, how do you update the driver for the dongle, some of my practice games features don't work either ?

[alexz]

Here is the procedure :
http://www.par2pro.com/downloads/SmartDongle_Update.pdf

I haven't find the driver on Smartdongle.com, so I take it here :
http://www.opensourcesecurity.com/dr...ws/README.html

I have simply create a new folder C:/SmartDongle and copy this file inside.
In my case, it was unzipped without asking it.
Hope this work for you !

[bubba22]

Good to see Alexz. Tee heights are right. There is no ball options.

[bubba22]

The features of the swing analysis on the p3pro really do impress me. The accuracy of the club through the angle of impact with measurements of club speed, face angle, path , angle of attack and clubheights with position of ball on face contact is really an excellent tool for swing analysis and swing improvement. The ball data would be nice and hopefully they will expand the launch to include the GSA courses. The launch angle device for the p3pro courses works very well and contunues to impress me the more I test and use it. Anyone wanting any added info on the dd and p3pro can pm me.

[ZMax]

I am now a proud owner of a P3proswing simulator. I found a used serial version with 2.0 software. 36 courses/4.2 update will be here on Friday.

When I first hook it up, I could hardly get any readings on any club. When I did get them, club face was usually way open. The previous owner suggest that I tape a few clubs.

I taped a driver and a 6 iron. The taping made all the difference. I now get consistent readings with accurate club face and path. The only problem now is the swing speed. It seems to be about 10 percent too low. I've increased the distance to 1.10 to help but is there a way to adjust the swing speed, like in the Optishot?

I'm going take off the rubber pad and do some cleaning to see if that helps. The DD, which I still have, was good enough as a simulator and didn't need any taping. I don't have a problem with taping. I'm just hoping that I'm stepping up to something better. Perhaps the 4.2 upgrade and the courses will show me that the P3pro is a better simulator.

Alexz,

Did you ever solve your swing speed issue?

[Bruce Balog]

Congrats ZMax, I think you will really enjoy once you get setup. The short distances problem seems to be shared by many including me. I adjusted the 10% setting and I find that to be quite close to real life, but maybe 2%-3% short even after the adjustment. There is no swing speed adjustment.

[Par2Pro]

Hey Alexz,

Congrats on the new system. There isn't a place to adjust the swing speed, but at least you can have the distance tuning.

We have found that most people swing slower indoors, as they are either afraid of damaging something (sensor pad, walls, clubs, wrists, etc.) or they are just not used to swinging indoors. It can be quite a mental adjustment and most have found their speed increases once they are more comfortable.

Since you have had the Optishot, it probably doesn't apply to you, so I would be interested to know what you are using to measure your swing speed to compare it to. Also, have you used the same device in the same area as the P3Pro?

Always learning something new,
Cory