New build and screen/enclosure options

[Drbob101]

I am new to this forum and am building a sim in my basement. I have a skytrak , PC and a net at the moment. My space for the is 12 x 25 x 8'6'.

I have looked at rain or shine swing bay, the sg10, carls and offering on ebay, etc.

I don't like the waviness I see in pics of swing bay and am leaning towards Carls. The ebay guy makes a big deal about not using bungees and grommets yet all the others do.

One side of the bay will be exposed and the basement is finished and I want it to look esthetically pleasing.

Any comments or suggestions on swing bay enclosures in general would be appreciated.

Thank you

[JayJo13]

I have a Carl's DIY 13'x7.7' and I am very happy with it. Very clean and finished product and it has really held up well. I would highly recommend. There are also some plans on the GungHo site to build your own and it looks pretty good as well. Lots of guys on this forum have gone with that.

https://gunghogolf.com/articles/diy-impact-screen-enclosure

[Foreman33]

I agree with JayJo13 . I have a 13x8.5x5 Carl's premium screen with enclosure. I'm very happy with it. It takes some tinkering to get the right screen tightness/limited bounce back balance but I would definitely buy it again.

[Drbob101]

Thanks guys. Cant seem to get someone at Carls to call me back. Left two messages

[Foreman33]

They were always a day or two behind in calling me back when I left a message. I usually sat on hold and listened to that awful/hilarious music until someone picked up. Otherwise service was good.

[JayJo13]

Maybe they are closed over the holidays. I had really good customer service with them - responsive on emails and phone. I've used their live chat a couple of times as well.

[Drbob101]

Had a good live chat with sarah but I still have a few questions, maybe more golf related.

Why would i need 5' depth of the enclosure over 3'?

She has me at 16x10 aspect ration for the screen. Does the sky trak with PC output fill that aspect ratio?

Is that a question for sky trak?

[jasonreg]

- 5' over 3' just gives you more protection from errant shots. If you hit 'em straight every time 3' would be fine. Guests?
- 16x10 Aspect Ratio is more a projector question than software question. Your PC will display whatever you like - match your screen and projector's AR would be my advice. 16x10 gives you a higher picture than 16x9 - I certainly prefer it but it is really a personal choice.

[ACgolfer]

I'm looking at the Carl's enclosure too. Questions for those that have one: are baffles necessary? or the net extensions?

[Foreman33]

Had a good live chat with sarah but I still have a few questions, maybe more golf related.

Why would i need 5' depth of the enclosure over 3'?

She has me at 16x10 aspect ration for the screen. Does the sky trak with PC output fill that aspect ratio?

Is that a question for sky trak?

I believe if you want the best picture you'll want to run your projector at its native resolution. Many projector's native resolution correspond with a 16:9 aspect ratio, less are 16:10 native. My understanding is that you can run your 16:9 native resolution projector at 16:10, but the picture won't be quite as good.

I went with a 16:10 enclosure but run a 16:9 aspect ratio, consistent with the native resolution of my projector. The result is that the image doesn't fill my screen vertically. I went for the extra height for two reasons: 1) more balls hit the screen instead of the ceiling of the enclosure 2) more flexibility with mounting the projector higher than the top of the enclosure (be mindful of how high you need to mount your projector - if it sits higher than your enclosure the enclosure will block the picture).

[Foreman33]

I'm looking at the Carl's enclosure too. Questions for those that have one: are baffles necessary? or the net extensions?

I don't have baffles and I'm comfortable hitting sand wedges into the top of my enclosure. The only thing to be aware of is hitting the crossbar, which I imagine doesn't happen with baffles. There are relatively easy solutions to pad the crossbar, though.

Net extensions depend on the quality of players using the sim and how close you are hitting to the screen/enclosure. I hit from 11' back and have the 5' enclosure. My 11 yr daughter has missed the enclosure once or twice. My sim is in the garage so it's not a huge deal to have a couple small dents in the wall, but your situation may be different. I think if you're hitting from any closer than 10' it's going to be hard to miss the enclosure. I, personally, do not find net extensions necessary but I imagine it's easy to add them later if you change your mind.

[ACgolfer]

Ok. Thanks. The enclosure comes with the net extensions so I’ll decide if I want to install them or not. This is the DIY Uneekor bundle. Thanks.