Tweet
I recently finished my 3rd version of a sim build, and I used the direct from mill version 2 screen that dbgolf72 offered. I posted a quick review of the screen in the group buy thread and there were some questions regarding some of the details of my build, so I figured that I should start a new build thread.
As I mentioned, this is the 3rd version of a simulator that I have built through the years and the following is some details of the previous versions:
Version 1:
I put this together about 12 years ago, and home simulators were still in there infancy at that time. There were not too many off the shelf products, so I had to DIY quite a bit, and through trial and error I was able to put together a reasonable system for its time. It consisted of a p3proswing for the hardware, a 10'x10'x10' cage enclosure, a screen consisting of a 10'x10' 1200 denier cordura tarp laminated on the face with white marine vinyl, mounted via zip ties through grommets, and a platform with outdoor turf. I never liked hitting off the hard rubber p3proswing surface, and at the time I had seen how FullSwing was using Fiberbuilt turf, so I disassembled the p3prowing and cut out the IR sensors in a piece of Fiberbuilt turf and mounted it to the p3proswing through the original mounting holes (this was before p3proswing offered a turf option with its system). Like I mentioned previously the system was reasonable for its time, but trying to get the system into putting mode was a pain, I couldn't trust the ball flight, and the screen was very loud. I eventually grew bored/frustrated and retired the system a few years later. I don't have any pics, but can assure you that it was nothing to write home about.
Version 2:
I began getting interested in home simulators again about a year ago, when I had seen how far the technology has come along since my previous version. I ended up purchasing a Skytrak and put together version 2 of the simulator in my garage. This was to be a prototype for a future permanent build that would be indoors (version 3), so that I can see how everything works and what to improve upon. This build borrowed a lot of ideas from PunchoutPro (https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...-sim-with-pics), as I needed it to be able to fold away when not in use, but I still wanted it to look presentable. It consisted of the Skytrak, an Asus G11CD-WA51 gaming computer with Intel i5 6400 Processor and Nvidua GeForce GTX970 4GB graphics card, BenQ W1080ST projector, CCE hitting mat, outdoor turf over 3/4" EPA foam exercise mats, an EMT frame, black automobile carpet for ceiling and wall protection connected to the screen via 2" industrial velcro, and it used a 12'x9' Supertex screen mounted via pipes and nylon strapping through the top and side pockets and was backed by my original diy screen and a moving blanket.
Areas that I wanted to improve:
1) I decided pretty quickly that I didn't care for the CCE mat which was too soft while standing on it and it was beginning to delaminate from its backing at the corners within a couple weeks of use, so I returned it to Costco. I ended up cutting out a 12"x24" spot for a hitting strip and experimented with 3 different hitting strips: DIY Truestrike, DIY Divotaction, and an AllTurf Ultimate Tee. I preferred the DIY Truestrike the most out of the three as it felt the most consistent and realistic.
2) The outdoor turf over the exercise mats, while nicer to stand on compared to the CCE mat, could not stand up to the foot pressure while swinging and the pile showed considerable wear. I planned to have a denser exercise mat and higher quality turf in version 3.
3) The EMT frame worked well for the purpose, but I wanted a more professional look in the final version.
4) The automotive carpet would often come off the velcro due to the pressure of the shots hitting the screen, so I needed a different way to mount this together.
5) The Supertex screen had too muck bounce back, and was not durable enough for my tastes. The bounce back may be attributed to the tarp that was mounted behind the screen, but I kept both the screen and backing fairly loose as that seemed to result in the least amount of bounce back. After 5-6 months of use, the main hitting area of the screen is pretty much worn through with quite a few holes (I do rotate through my golf balls to make sure I am using only clean, unscuffed balls).
Here is a pic of V2:
Version 3:
My major goals for this version were that I wanted it to be professional in appearance and be as functional as possible. My room dimensions are 15'W x 27'L x 12'H, but part of the room (12' x 15') is reserved for games for the kids. I began by playing around with the layout (the left half consists of arcade basketball, skee-ball, air hockey, and table tennis):
Sim Room Layout 3.pdf
And, developed a parts list:
Sim Room Parts List.docx
Then, I began on the build. I'll admit, I'm horrible at taking photographs when I am in the middle of working, so you will have to use your imagination on parts of this. I started by removing the laminate flooring that was in the room, and laid down the exercise mats. Recall, I didn't like the softness of the EPA foam in the area of my stance in version 2, so I laid down a 4'x4' dense rubber mat under the stance area and everywhere else were the 1/2" EPA foam mats. I ran any cabling underneath the mats through channels that I precut through the foam. I wanted actual putting cups recessed in the floor to practice putting, but the mats were only 1/2" thick and the floor was concrete, so I needed to use a 5" core bit to drill though the concrete to make room for the cups. Since the 5" core bit was larger than the cups, I wrapped the cups in a layer of the 1/2" exercise mat foam and slid the cups into place (they are held in place by friction):
And, I cut out an area for the motorcycle seat gel for the DIY Truestrike (I don't have a pic with the gel in place unfortunately:
Next, I began work on the ceiling protection. I decided to use baffles on this build and chose to use 26" wide carpet runner as the material. They are mounted via 1" crown staples to the backside of 2"x2" mdf backers that are screwed into floor joists through the ceiling. The backers and ceiling were wrapped with black automotive fabric prior to installing the baffles for a finished appearance:
The following step was to lay down the turf. I wanted a durable, nylon turf with a strong backing and chose to go with Starpro Master Putting Green turf. I also wanted a chipping area, so I bordered it with Starpro SPG4100 Centipede SW turf and seamed the two pieces together using 6" rubber flashing tape. I checked the speed of the green with a DIY stimpmeter, and it seems to be reading at about a 12.5.
Once that was complete, I moved on to the screen. The screen has final viewing dimensions of 160"W x 120"H, but I ordered a piece that was 20' long so that I would have enough to advance the screen as the main hitting area would develop wear. The challenge was developing a way to mount the screen that would not involve considerable effort when it comes time to advance. The mounting consists of the screen material wrapped across 144"x4" pvc pipe on the sides (that are mounted to the ceiling and the floor via swivel mount toilet flanges and coupled using inside couplings), and the top is attached with velcro to a 2' wide piece of carpet runner that is mounted to the ceiling through grommets and screw hooks every 18". The 2 ends of the screen are tensioned together using tarp clips and bungee straps on the backside, and there are two moving blankets and a piece of automotive carpet in between used as backing. When the screen wears, I will advance it 18" by unhooking the grommets and advancing the screen by turning the pvc pipe, then rehooking the grommets.
The final step was to put together the wall protection. I used foam body wedges that user brg1875 posted about in this thread: https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...-up-garage-sim. I ended up ordering the 10" ones, and used spray adhesive to mount them to 1/8" hardboard panels which I upholstered using the automotive fabric that I used on the ceiling. I then hung them up with screws. Sorry no pics of putting them together.
And, here is the final product:
I will be using the same BenQ projector and gaming PC as in version 2, and I've recently been playing around with an ES16 (but I'm not sure if I will be replacing the Skytrak with it yet, more testing needs to be completed first). If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!
As I mentioned, this is the 3rd version of a simulator that I have built through the years and the following is some details of the previous versions:
Version 1:
I put this together about 12 years ago, and home simulators were still in there infancy at that time. There were not too many off the shelf products, so I had to DIY quite a bit, and through trial and error I was able to put together a reasonable system for its time. It consisted of a p3proswing for the hardware, a 10'x10'x10' cage enclosure, a screen consisting of a 10'x10' 1200 denier cordura tarp laminated on the face with white marine vinyl, mounted via zip ties through grommets, and a platform with outdoor turf. I never liked hitting off the hard rubber p3proswing surface, and at the time I had seen how FullSwing was using Fiberbuilt turf, so I disassembled the p3prowing and cut out the IR sensors in a piece of Fiberbuilt turf and mounted it to the p3proswing through the original mounting holes (this was before p3proswing offered a turf option with its system). Like I mentioned previously the system was reasonable for its time, but trying to get the system into putting mode was a pain, I couldn't trust the ball flight, and the screen was very loud. I eventually grew bored/frustrated and retired the system a few years later. I don't have any pics, but can assure you that it was nothing to write home about.
Version 2:
I began getting interested in home simulators again about a year ago, when I had seen how far the technology has come along since my previous version. I ended up purchasing a Skytrak and put together version 2 of the simulator in my garage. This was to be a prototype for a future permanent build that would be indoors (version 3), so that I can see how everything works and what to improve upon. This build borrowed a lot of ideas from PunchoutPro (https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...-sim-with-pics), as I needed it to be able to fold away when not in use, but I still wanted it to look presentable. It consisted of the Skytrak, an Asus G11CD-WA51 gaming computer with Intel i5 6400 Processor and Nvidua GeForce GTX970 4GB graphics card, BenQ W1080ST projector, CCE hitting mat, outdoor turf over 3/4" EPA foam exercise mats, an EMT frame, black automobile carpet for ceiling and wall protection connected to the screen via 2" industrial velcro, and it used a 12'x9' Supertex screen mounted via pipes and nylon strapping through the top and side pockets and was backed by my original diy screen and a moving blanket.
Areas that I wanted to improve:
1) I decided pretty quickly that I didn't care for the CCE mat which was too soft while standing on it and it was beginning to delaminate from its backing at the corners within a couple weeks of use, so I returned it to Costco. I ended up cutting out a 12"x24" spot for a hitting strip and experimented with 3 different hitting strips: DIY Truestrike, DIY Divotaction, and an AllTurf Ultimate Tee. I preferred the DIY Truestrike the most out of the three as it felt the most consistent and realistic.
2) The outdoor turf over the exercise mats, while nicer to stand on compared to the CCE mat, could not stand up to the foot pressure while swinging and the pile showed considerable wear. I planned to have a denser exercise mat and higher quality turf in version 3.
3) The EMT frame worked well for the purpose, but I wanted a more professional look in the final version.
4) The automotive carpet would often come off the velcro due to the pressure of the shots hitting the screen, so I needed a different way to mount this together.
5) The Supertex screen had too muck bounce back, and was not durable enough for my tastes. The bounce back may be attributed to the tarp that was mounted behind the screen, but I kept both the screen and backing fairly loose as that seemed to result in the least amount of bounce back. After 5-6 months of use, the main hitting area of the screen is pretty much worn through with quite a few holes (I do rotate through my golf balls to make sure I am using only clean, unscuffed balls).
Here is a pic of V2:
Version 3:
My major goals for this version were that I wanted it to be professional in appearance and be as functional as possible. My room dimensions are 15'W x 27'L x 12'H, but part of the room (12' x 15') is reserved for games for the kids. I began by playing around with the layout (the left half consists of arcade basketball, skee-ball, air hockey, and table tennis):
Sim Room Layout 3.pdf
And, developed a parts list:
Sim Room Parts List.docx
Then, I began on the build. I'll admit, I'm horrible at taking photographs when I am in the middle of working, so you will have to use your imagination on parts of this. I started by removing the laminate flooring that was in the room, and laid down the exercise mats. Recall, I didn't like the softness of the EPA foam in the area of my stance in version 2, so I laid down a 4'x4' dense rubber mat under the stance area and everywhere else were the 1/2" EPA foam mats. I ran any cabling underneath the mats through channels that I precut through the foam. I wanted actual putting cups recessed in the floor to practice putting, but the mats were only 1/2" thick and the floor was concrete, so I needed to use a 5" core bit to drill though the concrete to make room for the cups. Since the 5" core bit was larger than the cups, I wrapped the cups in a layer of the 1/2" exercise mat foam and slid the cups into place (they are held in place by friction):
And, I cut out an area for the motorcycle seat gel for the DIY Truestrike (I don't have a pic with the gel in place unfortunately:
Next, I began work on the ceiling protection. I decided to use baffles on this build and chose to use 26" wide carpet runner as the material. They are mounted via 1" crown staples to the backside of 2"x2" mdf backers that are screwed into floor joists through the ceiling. The backers and ceiling were wrapped with black automotive fabric prior to installing the baffles for a finished appearance:
The following step was to lay down the turf. I wanted a durable, nylon turf with a strong backing and chose to go with Starpro Master Putting Green turf. I also wanted a chipping area, so I bordered it with Starpro SPG4100 Centipede SW turf and seamed the two pieces together using 6" rubber flashing tape. I checked the speed of the green with a DIY stimpmeter, and it seems to be reading at about a 12.5.
Once that was complete, I moved on to the screen. The screen has final viewing dimensions of 160"W x 120"H, but I ordered a piece that was 20' long so that I would have enough to advance the screen as the main hitting area would develop wear. The challenge was developing a way to mount the screen that would not involve considerable effort when it comes time to advance. The mounting consists of the screen material wrapped across 144"x4" pvc pipe on the sides (that are mounted to the ceiling and the floor via swivel mount toilet flanges and coupled using inside couplings), and the top is attached with velcro to a 2' wide piece of carpet runner that is mounted to the ceiling through grommets and screw hooks every 18". The 2 ends of the screen are tensioned together using tarp clips and bungee straps on the backside, and there are two moving blankets and a piece of automotive carpet in between used as backing. When the screen wears, I will advance it 18" by unhooking the grommets and advancing the screen by turning the pvc pipe, then rehooking the grommets.
The final step was to put together the wall protection. I used foam body wedges that user brg1875 posted about in this thread: https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...-up-garage-sim. I ended up ordering the 10" ones, and used spray adhesive to mount them to 1/8" hardboard panels which I upholstered using the automotive fabric that I used on the ceiling. I then hung them up with screws. Sorry no pics of putting them together.
And, here is the final product:
I will be using the same BenQ projector and gaming PC as in version 2, and I've recently been playing around with an ES16 (but I'm not sure if I will be replacing the Skytrak with it yet, more testing needs to be completed first). If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!
Comment