Simulator Pictures

[gene438]

OK guys, I know I have asked a lot of questions and received a lot of help from the forum, so I wanted to give something back. My favorite thing during the research phase was looking at all the sim pictures, so here is my contribution. I haven't had a chance to decorate or anything, but the system is setup and finished.

Thanks again for everyone's help...this has been a really fun experience so far.

[aja]

Really nice looking set-up! Glad to see another ProTee user!

I like the nice clean look of your place.

[Brettster]

That's great Gene, thanks! Love seeing the full setup - looks like it's in your garage? Nice, is that a ball return at the screen too? Good job!

[gene438]

Not a ball return, just an old putting mat I had in the closet....it gives me something to aim at when putting. I did add a ball dispenser which I will post in this thread below.

[longhornlove]

Thought I woul share some pics of my cave.

[gene438]

Nice setup...only issue I see is that you need some LSU paraphernalia to class up the joint....lol

[Tommyseb]

Just been browsing through the sim pictures for some inspiration, really interested in the wall mounted keyboard / mouse shelf, it looks like it folds up to the wall? Is this a diy or bought option? Cheers

[longhornlove]

DYI Tommy. Found a canvas painting/reproduction, put some hinges and Velcro. When I'm done, fold it up and you can't see the keyboard or mouse.

[mthunt]

Very very nice room long

[longhornlove]

Very very nice room long

thanks, been a long time in the making

[aja]

longhornlove Nice set-up! Got a question about your projector. Looks like its really tilted down at an angle, or is that just in the picture?

Reason I ask is if the projector is tilted then you probably had to use 'keystone correction' to get the image square on your screen.

Everywhere I read it states that keystone correction should be avoided at all costs since it supposedly degrades the image. I use a bit of keystone correction in my set-up but haven't noticed any problem.

Do you use the keystone correction and do you notice a difference in image quality?

[longhornlove]

Yes it is tilted, I use keystone and it does degrade the picture.

[aja]

Thanks! Guess my correction is so minimal that I don't notice.

[longhornlove]

I'd rather have a slightl distorted image than someone destroy my projector

[gene438]

Added a automatic ball dispenser that I detailed in another post...but here is the vid of it in action.

[wbond]

Well, here is my Garage Reno 2.0

I have a two car attached garage with individual doors. House was built in 1949 and it originally had a makeshift ceiling/loft storage area that also held the garage door tracks. Basically it had two sets of 2x14x8 boards sitting on top of the top plate and then bolted together in the middle to support the ceiling. Then it had a few boards going perpendicular to these that went out to the top plates on the sides of the garage. The ceiling had a single opening of about 8'x6'. So i could only swing irons in this opening and it worked for a while. I then got an opti and p3 about the same time and it lasted for a while just using a monitor attached to the wall. From there, i really started looking at better sims and was considering the vector. When i contacted them, they said they were going to be closing but coming out with a new sim late summer of 2014. Well, we all know when they finally came out. So once i had that, i knew i needed to change my garage so at that time, i decided to modify the ceiling so I could swing all clubs freely and give me room for a full setup. That reno took place in December of 2014. With this setup, i probably had one of the smallest sim areas. It was about 14.5' x 9.5', my screen was 7.5' square and I was hitting from 7.5' to the screen. Because of this, i was hitting off center of the screen.

Well, i then found a site that showed the garage doors that went up following the roofline instead of going horizontal to the floor. Once i saw this, I immediately started investigating options to change my setup again. Even though i made the current setup to have everything slide out of the way in case i wanted to put the cars in the garage, i never did. Also, i liked the idea of getting a bigger screen, getting farther away from the side wall and getting a more open type feeling.

Original Garage Ceiling Layout with ceiling opening


Garage Reno 1 with Half Ceiling removed and old sim setup



Garage Reno 2.0 with garage doors following the roofline


Screen Area is 9'8" tall by 10'8" wide. It sits 16" off the wall and has a 10x10 net, my old 7'6" square PR20 in the middle and then it will have the supertex screen in front that will be 10'w x 9'H. Had an issue with the first one and had to send it back, should arrive on Tuesday. Currently it has a harbor freight drop cloth in front for the image. Also, i have another 10'x10' screen that goes from the right front of the impact area to the right side of the garage door. It attaches to the angle iron there, just in case of the dreaded shank.


Projector is Optoma GT1080 Upgraded from a 800x600 res and even on the drop cloth the difference is unbelievable. We will probably watch movies from time to time so I wanted to be able to move the projector and go from 16:9 for those to 4:3 for the sim. Idea is to use full 10' width for image. I first tried using the emt that i had and make the projector slide on it, but it failed. Since the projector mount is not centered in the projector, it wouldn't sit square to the screen. I then looked at how the garage door openers were mounted and decided to use the angle iron, works great. Took some time to get it centered on the screen and also square and level. Now all i have to do is lift up two bolts, slide the projector back and forth and drop bolts back in. There is no chance of it falling since the angle iron sits on top of the runners. For extra protection, i'm going to be looking for a wire basket to mount under it. It will then be bungeed to the track.


Open garage area with some items I picked up from a golf store closing. Signs-Ping, Taylormade, Cleveland, Callaway, Titleist, Nike. Mizuno club stand and a Callaway golf seat to try on shoes which I'm using as a table. Note the much taller step ladder i now need to reach the garage door opener.




New stance platform. This came from a friend of mine who never used his sim. It has the CCE strip with a standard mat. It's all framed, the standard mat sits on plywood to make it all the same level. It has handles on the back side to carry it as well as hooks to mount it to the wall when not in use.


Overall, I ain't gonna lie, this was a lot of work, having to move electrical twice, move all the cable lines and 60+ years of dust sitting up there.

To do list
Get a bigger TV for the garage. Current one is tiny, but it was laying around so it's put to use for now.
Get a carpet piece to go from screen to front of hitting mat
Put up insulation
Get a heater for next winter
Get rid of furniture that's currently in there (that's a whole different story) and get some bar stools to put off to the side when parking cars.
Build a permanent DIY skytrak enclosure

[andygg1986]

I love the idea of using the display racks to hold your clubs. Other than finding a nearby store that is going out of business, has anyone found somewhere that sells them? I like the Mizuno style one in the picture above. There is one on ebay right now (searching Forgan Golf Club Display Rack) but it only holds 12 clubs. I also found an online store called Palay Display Industries, but they are all made of birch which doesn't really go with the style of my room. I have found some on sites like alibaba direct from China, but they all have pretty large minimum orders and are targeted towards club companies buying custom ones. I guess we could design a GSF club holder and order a bunch of them

[gene438]

Updated the golf sim room and thought I would share a couple more photos of the layout. Now that the ProTee is dialed in, I am really starting to enjoy the system and feel like my swing is getting better with the feedback.

[LeeRob23]

Hi gene438, that's a lovely looking set up that i'm hoping to create something similar to. I am in the middle of getting my garage converted to give me more height and had a question about your area size. Whats the distance from the back wall behind your hitting mat and the screen, how far back are you hitting from to the screen and whats the width of your screen area?
Thanks,
Lee

[gene438]

Thanks...here are your answers

The total width of the room is 22 ft.
Wall to back of screen is 1.5 feet then from screen to hitting mat is 10 ft then another 10.5 feet to back wall behind hitting mat so that adds up to the 22 ft...I hope that makes senses...my screen is 10ft wide and 9 ft high

[Godfather]

My Skytrak set up. I'm super happy with it! Projector fills the whole screen from about 6-8" from the bottom.

[BamaGambler]

very nice!

[Tbernardmd]

what screen are you using? Also can you help me with how you set this up with the net type and curtain type as well as the material the screen is on. How did you attach the screen to the support?

[Godfather]

Answers in a full reply below

[Ironstrokes]

My Skytrak set up. I'm super happy with it! Projector fills the whole scene from about 6-8" from the bottom.

That looks great! Nice clean set up, liking the couch areas too, get the grandstands (family) to sit around and cheer for you as you play haha. Nice work

[gene438]

My Skytrak set up. I'm super happy with it! Projector fills the whole scene from about 6-8" from the bottom.

Nice job! Looks like you got everything you need in that setup.......great job!

[Joko]

My garage setup has changed several times in an attempt to find a solution that will work in a smallish 2 car garage, but will also allow for cars to be parked when necessary. The wifes car can be parked at any time, my car parked requires some adjustment but I plan on making that simpler within the next couple weeks. Also with the ability to retain storage, shelving, etc.

Basically the idea is to have a compact mostly permanent setup. This setups screen is about 8' wide x 9' tall, has some padding on the sides, and a net is velcro'd to the top of the screen for ceiling protection. This is only a right handed setup and that's fine for me. I'm still working on screen tensioning and should have that dialed in soon hopefully.

My 10 month son is hoping to play on this someday!

[wbond]

Very nice. I struggled with the same issue. I now have to roll up some mats and then i'm good. Probably only do that on really bad snow days.

[Joko]

Thanks. Currently the garage has no insulation on the outside walls (or above it). So I'm getting a quote on a cost to do the insulation tomorrow. Once I get that done... then I can try and "make it prettier" by framing the sides and top with black fabric (curtains potentially).

[Ironstrokes]

Very nice. I struggled with the same issue. I now have to roll up some mats and then i'm good. Probably only do that on really bad snow days.

This. I also have a 2 car garage that I only really use for cars when it snows. I bought a giant blue tarp that I have rolled up on one side of the room and then basically roll it out and over everything like they do with a baseball tarp when I need to and don't have to move any mats or anything around. Luckily my garage is deep enough that I can leave the screen be and just pull right up to it and still have a good foot or two so of clearance