Newbie needing some guidance.

[midwest1]

I have a 16 year old son who is in is second year of golf and showing some potential. Living in the midwest (US) we can't typically play from November or so until March. I am considering a system for our house. We have a garage and pole barn with ample space. I am trying to keep a budget of around $2000.00-$2500.00. I am fairly handy and could probably DIY an enclosure. I have been looking at an MLM2Pro and the Square. I am not sure if it is typically better to DIY a system, buy a package from an online retailer, or shop marketplace for something used. I am also beginning to research just running an iPad cast to a TV vs. the full projector etc. I also have my eye on the Mevo plus if I could go that route and then save some money on enclosure. As you old pro's know, the amount of videos and websites is never ending on this stuff....

Right now my main focus is on him getting better but have family members who golf so could see us as a group playing courses and games etc. But most of it would be him dialing in his distances etc.

[waynes]

I am still in the process of designing my simulator room so cannot give advice, but I would suggest searching YouTube.

There are a lot of inexpensive builds with DIY tips to save cost.

[midwest1]

After looking around I am 99% certain I am going to go with an MLM2 Pro monitor. Today I picked up a nice impact screen on marketplace. Brand new and it is 9.8 feet by 8.5 (approximately 117 inches by 102 inches. Being new at this, if I go with an overhead projector do I need to find one with a certin aspect ratio to best fit this screen or can most of them be adjusted to somewhat fit. I have found a Vivitek 765Z on market place at what seems to be a decent price, it says its a 16:9 with an image size of 79"-150". Also has a throw distance of 1.3'-2.5'

[jb1]

This is a rather unique projector. It has a fixed image ratio of 16:9. While you may be able to adjust the aspect ratio through the PC’s graphics card, if you haven’t already projectorcentral.com is an excellent information source. I’d be concerned when it says that it requires a perfectly flat screen (and I can see why with this ultra short throw) is getting an impact screen perfectly flat. Typically you want a screen that is not taut so that there isn’t strong ball rebound. While I’m not a projector expert by any means, the projector central review would make me want to do a lot more checking to see if this would work in your, or any, golf impact screen application.

[midwest1]

Thanks for the info. I just noticed the price (a local church is selling it for a couple hundred bucks and the retail value was over $2,000.00 on a few sites. But I don't want to get something that I won't be happy with. Still in the planning stages so I'll keep looking for something in the used market. I have a lead on a used gaming computer from a family member.

I have been looking for some online discount codes for the MLM2Pro, if anyone knows of anyone who has one. They seem to be stuck on 699.99 right now, some are offering a dozen golf balls instead of the three that I think come with it.

[midwest1]

I was on Tarps.com yesterday ordering some EMT connectors and noticed they now have the MLM2Pro for sale. They are offering an extra dozen Callaway RPT balls so I ended up ordering it from them, since everywhere else was the normal 699.00. I couldn't find any real discounts anywhere. Now on to finding a decent overhead projector. Again, staying on a budget, if anyone has any recommendations for something. I would like to keep it around 500.00 or under. If anyone has any recommendations for a used model to look for, or any off brand items that have a good track record I am all ears.

[midwest1]

I haven't been on for a while but wanted to post an update. Ended up going with the MLM2Pro and I found a good deal on a used Optoma 1090HDR projector. It was a few hundred more than what I wanted to spend but wasn't finding exactly what I wanted in my price range and decided I would rather go a little better than to skimp. I bought my corner connectors from tarps.com and I also custom ordered my enclosure wrap from them once I had it built. They make any custom size and a very reasonable price. I had to build my ecnlosure to slide under my garage door rails. I bought a custom wrap from them that was large enough to actually fully wrap my enclosure so none the pipes were exposed and they made me one for under $90.00 with my exact dimensions. I found some foam puzzle pieces floor tiles on market place and bought enough to build the floor up even with my hitting strip. Carls had a hot shot in their clearance section, it was an open box 5x8 that was normally 700.00 for $500.00. I bought the cheap turf from menards and had a local Amish guy make the pads to go around the screen, it is 2 inch dense foam wrapped in black canvas. I still need to get my projector hung but at least I am to the point my son can hit using his phone. I also need to figure out how I am going to trip up the edges of the turf to make it look good, right now I just have about 6 inches extra on all sides. I wrapped the fromt edge EMT with 3 inch get type mattress topper cut into strips. The floor tiles are taller than the EMT so I didn't have to worry about the pipe on the ground but I did go ahead and build a slight ramp on the bottom of the screen just in case.

The actual enclosure is 10 foot wide by 8 1/2 foot tall, by 5 foot deep. I have about 11 feet from my hitting strip to the screen. I also have some ceiling mounting curtain tracks with netting that I hung for the sides since I took this picture.

[jb1]

This looks nice, you've come a long way! The Optoma projector has good specs and should work well. You may have seen the article on gunghogolf.com on building a screen and frame ("How to build your own DIY impact screen enclosure for your golf simulator"), as well as they have a couple other helpful articles. Centering the hitting matt to the screen (it looks like you've done that) and then the overhead projector in line with the center/hitting matt seemed to me to be a good plan to keep the overhead projector safe from harm.

[midwest1]

Thanks, I’ll take all the tips I can get. Once I get home from vacation I plan to set the projector on a ladder or something to see where it needs to be, then I can fine tune it via the settings once I get it hung. Last week I put the specs in one of the calculators and it showed just under 6 foot from the screen.

[jorswift]

How did the final product come out?