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So when I started this adventure I had no idea where to turn. I read an article on MyGolfspy on a DIY sim build and felt it was a good start but left way to many questions unanswered. Then I found this forum and I cannot thank everyone enough for the insight! I learned tons from this forum and spent hours reading posts getting up to speed with what works and what doesn't. Much like everyone else in this forum I had to come up with a sim that fit my budget and space. My budget was as little as possible with as much quality as possible. With a wife and two kids cost was an issue on selling the wife for my hobby. My space is our detached 20'x25' garage. I started looking at the Rmotion but being a apple guy I didn't want to drop over a thousand dollars on a gaming PC that I would only use for the sim. After reading and researching the SkyTrak I weighed the pros and cons and decided it would be the best for my wants/needs. With the promo for Labor Day $300 off I pulled the trigger on the unit an the metal case which seams more of a must have. So then I needed to build the rest. I went with a clearance Carls Place screen 9'x12' basic screen on sale for $120. I had a couple amazon gift cards leftover from Christmas and found the Gorilla 5x5 perfect reaction mat. Doing research on this company was a little suspect. With there being multiple names/styles that seem to be from the same parent company made me a little apprehensive about buying one. Their websites (yes there are multiple) are so convoluted I thought I would have a seizure trying to figure out what was what. But with seeing good reviews and most of their mats I went with the Gorilla for $245. I choose to go with 1" electrical EMT conduit for the screen frame hung from my 9.5' ceilings with fasteners that would allow me to swing the screen up so the wife and I could still park in the garage. I used 2" bungee balls to hold the screen in place. All of these items (sans L brackets) I purchased from Home Depot for under $100 . I had to order some L brackets from Carls place, couldn't find any canopy retailers local that stocked them. So for now Im using my Ipad with WGT. My sim is nearly complete, all I need is to decide on a projector. That has by far been the toughest decision I need to make during this entire process. Who knows when I will finally make a decision on what projector I want. With so many choices out there that are all comparable I feel like I will be happy with anyone I pick, but just cant quite make a decision. So far I have not had any issues with the Skytrak, mat, or screen. With snow already this week here in Colorado I'm super stoked to enjoy many of rounds on my sim this winter.
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