Extremely frustrated - no reads and flashing top light / dot

[weakhead]

I'm extremely frustrated with my Skytrak. I can't play a hole on TGC right now without getting at least one no read (no trigger) - it happens in the Skytrak range as well. Last night I would say that there were at least 20 no reads, that's when the dot would stay on long enough for me to swing. The other thing that is happening is the top light / dot flash off and on and won't stop. I looked at the window using my phone camera while this is happening and can see the 9 LEDs in the middle flashing like there was a trigger but all I'm doing is looking at it. I've read most of the posts where people were having similar issues and tried their fixes but nothing is working. The unit has never been hit or dropped.

I've tried
- brand new white golf balls
- moving the ball closer to the unit / behind the dot / in front of the dot
- different combinations of lighting - more / less; led / no led
- reset the unit
- I've tried different heights compared to the mat
- protective case / no case
- new USB cable
- while the top light / dot are flashing I've turned the unit around towards the wall in case it is something behind me causing it but it still doesn't stop
- I've tried USB mode, network mode and direct (in the Skytrak program)

I am setup in my garage and the wifi is pretty good (2.4GHz). I've made sure that the computer power plan is set to high performance.

What are my options with SkyGolf? My warranty expired six months ago. What else can I try?

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear about your trouble. This is a new one for me. At first I thought it was simply dropping connection, but your troubleshooting was excellent, particularly with the viewing of the flash. Something is causing the unit to 'false trigger'. Is this the same room you've always used it in? This being an almost certain hardware issue, I would recommend that you contact customer support and have the unit checked out. I know that is not ideal, but it's really the only way I know to get to the bottom of it.

[weakhead]

Thanks Seth. Yes I've only ever used it in my garage, but I have rearranged the things in the garage and set up my cage this year. I'm going to try and find a black tarp or sheet today and make sure that it is nothing behind me causing the issue.

I found one thread where the person was concerned about the reflection coming from his mat. Is there any real concern about that? You had replied that real grass is very reflective and I think in the end it was a leveling issue for him. I have a Fiberbuilt mat if it matters, and I have tried putting down a piece of cardboard to get it to stop going on and off. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

The other thing I noticed when using my camera phone was that only the first camera was illuminated (the laser curtain if that makes sense). I'm sure that is normal but just wanted to make sure.

I'm going to try a few different things one last time tonight when I get home from work and if I'm still having issues I'm going to have to send it in because it is basically unusable right now.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Yeah, that first laser curtain is on because that's the only one that needs to be active for a RH hitter. If you switched the unit to LH, then the other one would be on. I know that fiberbuilt is a bit taller/more reflective than some, but still shouldn't be causing that type of issue. What if you just take the unit into a different room - does it false trigger there too?

[weakhead]

I tried a bunch of things last night including taking a video of the unit face while trying to hit shots. The unit was doing the laser on / off cycle with the case on and I couldn't get it to stop. I took a dark sheet and built a tent over the unit and mat and it still wouldn't stop, so I don't believe it is anything in the background or lighting that is causing the trigger. I removed the case and the on / off stopped and I was able to hit shots. The only misreads I had were due to launch angle or ball position and I can't think of one where it was unreasonable that it didn't trigger.

So at this point I have to believe that the issue is being caused by the case. I am uncomfortable running with no case long term since I have kids that are learning to golf and the sim was to be a way for us to play golf at home. I have the plastic Skytrak case and just got an Armour case. I will continue swapping cases and running no case to see if I can figure out what the issue is.


I did notice an increase in delay between the Skytrak and TGC with the case off but this is the first time I have ever experienced it. The delay to TGC was at least 15 seconds. I would hit, go pick up the ball, set up for the next shot, wait 5 seconds then it would show on TGC. I don't think this is related to the other issue, and is hopefully a one off.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Whoa, crazy. So when the on/off was occurring, was the plastic case or the armour case on? I certainly haven't experienced anything like that with either the SkyTrak plastic or FMJ case.

[frackh]

FWIW, a few month back when it was colder, during one session I noticed that my Skytrak was getting a whole bunch of no-reads, significantly more than usual. Didn't change anything with the setup (balls, lights, mat, location, etc..). Turns out it was the sweat pants, it's the Nike dri-fit material and it was doing something weird w/ the laser reflection? Anyway, switched to shorts and everything went back to normal.

[weakhead]

Thanks. Thought that might be it too. I've tried shorts and pants and taking off my running shoes in case it is picking up a reflection. Nothing conclusive - I can be standing off to the side and it is still triggering.

[weakhead]

Seth,

It was an Armour case. I've asked Gary and he has never heard of anyone else have the same issue. I've PM'd you a link to a video from last night.

I'm going to continue isolating variables and try to figure out what it is.

[bjohnson1102]

I experienced something new with skytrak today that I have never had happen. I wonder if it's related to the most recent software version. I normally do not charge my skytrak while using it. I have occasionally charged it in the past while using it, and do not recall any problems. Today, however, my sktrak was low on battery. I had hit approximately 75 shots with no problems. I then noticed the low battery in the skytrak software. As soon as I plugged in my usb cable, the skytrak quit reading the ball strikes. I exited the software, then re-entered. Skytrak would read about 2 or 3 shots, then quit reading again. I then unplugged the USB cable. The skytrak went back to functioning perfectly. After about 20 more strikes, I plugged it in again. Then the no-reads started again. I have never had this happen before, so I thought it would be worth asking if you're always plugged into USB charger when you try and use the skytrak?

Seth,

It was an Armour case. I've asked Gary and he has never heard of anyone else have the same issue. I've PM'd you a link to a video from last night.

I'm going to continue isolating variables and try to figure out what it is.

[weakhead]

I think this may be the problem, see below. Thank you.

[weakhead]

Yes, 90% of the time it is connected in USB mode. I will give network mode a try.

[weakhead]

It's not the Armour case.

After talking with Gary I set up the unit in the case and then went through setting up everything again. Skytrak worked great in direct, and network mode in the Skytrak app and TGC. When I tried USB mode the false triggers started. I tried two USB cords and ports and it was still doing it. When back to network mode and it worked well again.

Played a round in network mode and there were no false triggers. A couple of no reads but that was probably just ball position.

I would say that the no reads I was having before was probably a combination of ball position and the false triggers in USB mode. Placing the ball inside and forward of the dot is the best position for me.

Hopefully USB mode is the issue since most of the troubleshooting I was doing was in USB mode thinking this would be the best connection between the Skytrak and PC.

[Lgnir]

It's not the Armour case.

After talking with Gary I set up the unit in the case and then went through setting up everything again. Skytrak worked great in direct, and network mode in the Skytrak app and TGC. When I tried USB mode the false triggers started. I tried two USB cords and ports and it was still doing it. When back to network mode and it worked well again.

Played a round in network mode and there were no false triggers. A couple of no reads but that was probably just ball position.

I would say that the no reads I was having before was probably a combination of ball position and the false triggers in USB mode. Placing the ball inside and forward of the dot is the best position for me.

Hopefully USB mode is the issue since most of the troubleshooting I was doing was in USB mode thinking this would be the best connection between the Skytrak and PC.

I thought that myself when I first got my SkyTrak, but then became very frustrated by the amount of no reads I would get. It seemed every other or every third shot would be a no read. I read on this forum how network mode is the best, and didn't believe it. I mean, how could you get better connection that way? I likened it to a computer connecting to the internet. You will get better speeds with a direct connection over a WIFI connection. Boy was I wrong! Once I went into network mode, The only misreads I get are when I top the shot, or hit it really fat, and those are rare now as I'm improving in my ball striking!

I constantly stay in network mode, but I do keep my SkyTrak plugged in to electrical power through the USB cable all the time.

I hope going network solves your issues!

[YonexMan]

I'd be really interested to hear the results on this one. I've always connected in USB mode with my laptop. But the other day I decided to try WGT golf on the iPad and setup the SkyTrak for network mode to see if I could get WGT working. I didn't think about it, but after that is when I started to get a lot of misreads and crashing of the skytrak software on the PC.

I'm wondering if I need to reset the Sktrak back to USB mode only and remove the network mode settings from it? Maybe this also will help stop the skytrak software from crashing on the laptop?

Or maybe just use network mode all the time, even with my laptop.

That said, my son has the old version of SkyTrak still loaded on his laptop and he hasn't had any problems with crashing or misreads. Whereas it is my laptop with the new version that is crashing. Not the very latest version though. I've been away for work since the latest version was released by Seth, so haven't had a chance to test it as yet.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

I use network mode a lot here on PC and have never had a crash. Even if the unit has network credentials programmed to it (is set to boot up in network mode), if it is plugged into a computer via USB when you turn the unit on, then it will override to USB mode. So no need to clear the creds. Please try the new version and report back.

[weakhead]

It's been a week now using only network mode and mostly direct mode and things have been really good. The false triggers are gone.

Still having some no reads because of ball position and loss of connection. I have to have the ball inside and forward of the dot for good readings. I was having issues with the driver but I think it was because of the tee I was using, I had made a post about this last year, and I'm just going to stop using them.

I bought a USB wifi adapter to connect the Skytrak in Direct mode. It works really well when it connects but it usually drops the connection on the first hole of TGC and I have to mess around trying to get it to reconnect. I have to task manager end the Skytrak interface with TGC running, open the Skytrak interface and reconnect the box. It usually takes a couple of tries doing this to get it to connect. When it finally does reconnect it's good for the rest of the round. No issues when connecting in Direct mode with the Skytrak range program.