Interesting ES16 interface

[Chuck]

I was playing around the other day with Mobaxterm, which provides a Linux (Cygwin) interface wrapper to Windows, and found that my ES16 maps to /dev/ttyS6 (or for DOS, COM5. So curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see what was going on between my PC and the ES16. With Mobaxterm I opened a local console and typed 'cat /dev/ttyS6' (or whatever /dev/ttyS matches the COM port the ES16 lands on +1) and when you hit a ball for a normal launch, it will show an ASCII string that can be parsed into all of the launch monitor parameters. This is way cool as it's data that can be fed into any homebrew launch program. This is great info. So basically the ES16 (and I assume ES2020) creates a Bluetooth serial port connection with your PC and uses that as the communication method for data transmission. On a swing, it will generate a string like this; (remove the quotations).

"ES16Prt001CS035.0BS037.4CD000.0TD000.0LA39.2S P018 89SF1.06CL9IrSPA+05.1DIR+05.6LDA00.0AA+0.0DL51.3MH 000.0SC+000.0ST+000.0CPTH+01.9CFAC+07.0SPL45.0HT00 .00BV8.40VER177End"

As it turns out this is pretty easy to parse;

CS=Club Speed
BS=Ball Speed
CD=Carry Distance
TD=Total Distance
LA=Launch Angle
SP=Spin
SF=Smash Factor
CL=Club (a the letter string: Drv, #Wd, #Hy, #Ir, Ptw, Gpw, Sdw, Lbw, Ptt)
SPA=Spin Axis
DIR=Direction (ball launch angle I gather),
AA=Angle of Attack
DL=Dynamic Loft
MH=Max Height
SC=Side (spin) Carry
ST=Side (spin) Total
CPTH=Club Path
CFAC=Club Face Angle
SPL=Spin Loft
HT=Hang Time
BV=Battery Voltage
VER=Firmware Version

What I have yet to figure out is how to SEND the club selection to the ES16 device. But it's pretty easy to read the port can get the data directly. It appears the radar of the ES16 and Garmin R10 are on two separate frequencies, so it looks like they can work simultaneously. It might be good for a head-on-head type match.

[Chuck]

Another interesting thing about the ES16 is that it can work simultaneously with a Garmin R10. Apparently, the Radars of the ES16 and the R10 operate on different frequencies and can be used at the same time. What it shows is the R10 is within 1% of the ES16 numbers for most values, like ball speed, clubhead speed, HLA, and VLA. What I did see was a major difference in SPIN and SPIN-AXIS (or side-spin). Spin-axis is something that has bedeviled me with my ES unit. I will hit something that looks wonderful on launch, dead center of the screen, and in the final quarter of the flight, it will pull left or pull right. It can be a very high sidespin. I don't see that in the Garmin.

I've owned and used the ES16 TourPlus for a few years now, mainly playing TGC2019, and really have no issues with it. They made some technology choices for detecting ball launches that I would not have done; like it uses an audio signal of ball/club impact to trigger cameras wich capture spin based on the ball logo. While effective, if a ball is hit "FAT" (club strikes the matt before the ball), it triggers the cameras prematurely, and the cameras won't read club data or spin. Not so of the R10. Its just doppler radar exclusively.

[oakleyj]

"Spin-axis is something that has bedeviled me with my ES unit."
This is my only complaint. On higher ball speeds it frequently reads 0 degree spin axis. Might be fine if I were trying to hit a dead straight ball but it has made playing events on TGC2019 pretty hard since you can't rewind that beautiful shot that should be drawing nicely to the fairway and instead it dunks in the water. But on ball speed, carry, launch angle (except skulled shots, it gives 0 degree launch angle shots a 20 +/- launch angle), backspin etc. it is spot on compared to numbers I see on Trackman and GC Hawks. Oh, one other fault. On my new 7 wood it gets super confused on backspin. Not sure what is causing it but I keeps seeing shots hit dead flush showing up with 12,000+ rpm backspin which makes it balloon way skyward. More amusing to me than irritating.

[Chuck]

Yeah, I've seen this multiple times with the ES unit, the Spin-axis, 0 spin-axis, wildly large spin-axis. Etc. What is worst is they can be inconsistent and hard to pin down and you wind up with the question; is it me and my swing or is it the LM? ES on chipping is not bad but is it in CHP mode, or 'S' or 'P', It makes a huge difference. Just for consistency, anytime I use a pitching wedge on down, I set the unit into CHP mode (in TGC2019, simply select the lob wedge). So there is all that.

It uses an old-school type optic system to measure ball spin, with an over/under IR camera and IR strobe lighting. It uses the radar for the ball speed and club speed. It uses sound as a camera trigger, however, it seems to use club speed as a trigger as well, (for example; if you are doing a chip and don't draw back the club far enough, it won't engage even in CHP mode). I have to say, I'm liking my R10 a lot more as I don't see as many side spin issues and spin seems to be more consistent with the shot. The R10 is just a different world though.