Build in Fife, Scotland

[Braehead]

After some deliberation I've started building a SkyTrak based system in my garage. I've got a 10yr old daughter who is currently undergoing treatment for leukaemia and has started to show an interest in golf. She's been taking lessons at my local range but depending on what stage of treatment she's at she can get quite tired quickly and doesn't like being around others who don't know what she's going through. Anyhow as I'm also a keen golfer this was all the excuse I needed to finally pull the trigger on a garage sim build. I spoke to my local clubfitter about what was involved in his setup and who he bought his kit from and got the ball rolling.

The work started yesterday. The first thing I've had to do is alter the roof joists to give me some more swing height. Sorry but the pics have come in with the wrong orientation!

[Braehead]

[Braehead]

Progress tonight - no height problems now!!

[tron]

Great photos. Thanks for posting. I am about to do the same thing in my garage. One question, why did you add the two lateral black metal joists?

[Braehead]

If you look at the first photos you'll see that I had to modify the roof trusses to get the height. The roof is concrete tiles so very heavy. It needed the extra support to allow the truss modifications.

[Golfbeat]

Looking forward to following your build. Good luck!

[epyon]

Good luck on the build, but more importantly, blessings to your daughter and your family. Best of wishes through this tough time.

[Braehead]

Now the ceiling height is done the next jobs are getting a new side door with no glass, fixing up new lights (that can't be broken by a stray ball), sourcing a projector and deciding where to put everything. I've got a four week wait for the enclosure tonarrive so I've got a bit of time to sort it out.

[JackedUpSwing]

This is awesome man. You're a great dad and I hope your daughter gets well soon! Hopefully golf can be an escape for her when she isn't feeling well.

[Braehead]

So I need some help deciding on a projector option now. My build has moved in a slightly different direction than anticipated. When I started this I was looking at a "netreturn" based project with a monitor on the wall. But when I started costing that up and looking at the pros and cons I decided to go the whole way and get a screen instead. Now I still don't plan on buying the golf games (shock horror, wash my mouth out) and the main purpose of this install is for practice so I'll mainly be using for the launch monitor options. That's partly due to saving some cash on a gaming laptop and HD projector. But now I need to decide!

Ideally I want to mount the projector on the wall opposite the screen - remove (almost) all risk of it being hit. That's about 6.5m away. That's the way my club fitter has his set up and I can't remember seeing any shadows when I've been there but others may say differently. He's got a trackman based system and just uses a £250 Epson he bought from PC World. Is this going to be good enough? Remember this is in an external garage so this system isn't doubling up as a home movie installation or an exercise room or anything grand like that. I just want a competent projector that will serve the purpose of practicing golf using skytrak. If I get really into it then I can always upgrade components at a later date. The screen guy says "oh you need an HD projector and a gaming PC" then I look at the YouTube videos from skytrak and they're running it all off an iPad and I think WTF?? I'm going to run it off my Microsoft surface pro4.

So I'm looking for some input on budget projector options if anyone here cares to share. I've trawled through other threads and it's just confused me even more!!

[gnomike]

Your story tugs the heart strings of every parent I’d bet. It’s awesome what you’re doing for your daughter and I hope you both get tremendous bonding/coping/pleasure/escapism from it.

Sending positive vibes & support from my 5yo and I!

[jrhouston]

Hi Braehead, who did you use for the work?

I’m going to have to get the same thing done in my garage eventually as I can only swing a 5 iron at the moment and Im Edinburgh based!

Thanks

[Braehead]

I used a local builder in Kirkcaldy. Don't think he'd come to Edinburgh as he's got enough local work.

[jrhouston]

I used a local builder in Kirkcaldy. Don't think he'd come to Edinburgh as he's got enough local work.

Thanks - good luck with the build.

For a projector - try the richer sounds website clearance section - I managed to pick mine up in their store clearance section and much cheaper than I could find elsewhere.

Here's my build I did on the cheap - happy to provide details if interested

[Braehead]

That looks great! What projector did you get and is that a skytrak?