Home curved sim build (In planning phase)

[Ryan5508]

I decided to start a build log for my home simulator project. This will follow the process from start to finish.

Currently we are getting quotes from three builders on the build. We are doing a major home remodel with the addition of building a new room for the simulator. Currently my sim is using a stall in the garage. We will be building a new room above the garage to accommodate the sim.

The room will be approximately 21' 6" by 25' 3" with a 10-12' ceiling.

I will be putting in a 30' curved screen that will occupy around half of the total usable space in the room.

From the garage I will only be carrying over the GC2 and pc/software. Everything else will be new to the build.

Estimating around $60k for the building of the room its self.

Run down of simulator related costs- $17,528.79

9' x 6' Studio Golf Mat	$1,749.99
IMPACT SCREENS 10 x 30	$1,966.24
Sony VPL-PHZ50 (need 3 @ $2499)	$7,950.00
Pixelwarp software for curved screen	$812.00
Putting green flooring	$1,500.00
Ceiling protection foam tiles	$533.38
Ceiling Speakers x 7 + sub	$581.94
200ft speaker wire	$66.34
Banna plugs (12+6)	$43.71
Subwoofer cable	$16.94
Hue lights x 9	$429.25
Fabric + foam	$418.00
Pub table sets (2x)	$712.30
Mobile Standing Laptop Desk	$185.49
Club cleaner	$49.41
Corsair k100 keybord	$243.79
3x projector mounts	$85.73
3x 50ft HDMI cables	$94.25
2x DVI to HDMI converters	$38.13
2x 16ft USB 3.0 cables	$51.90
Total -	$17,528.79

Current sim setup


room overview

Measurements from a local golf club with a curved screen (taken quickly with a laser measure)




Model of what I am looking to copy for my build




This is going to be a long project. We are currently looking at a start time of early spring.

[Ryan5508]

test round with a friend.

Quick one drive video

[Shinaut]

Wicked cool!!

[Ryan5508]

picked up a new web cam during cyber Monday sales. The new cam can see pillar to pillar (90deg fov vs 78deg) so I can now fill the entire screen with an image. As long as they finish gluing the carpet today I should have some better pictures soon.

[Sold1]

This looks great! Are you still happy that you went with a curved screen compared to a flat screen/ easier build?

[Ryan5508]

Thornapple Pointe golf course right near the grand rapids airport has two curved simulators. They added them and 4 flat Sims a few years ago in a new building. It's a nice setup.

I tried to match there Sim as much as possible. Mine is slightly more flared out at the ends to give it the appearance of being wider and less of a half circle.

Great place for anyone interested to go and check it out.

[Brettster]

Ryan5508 - reasonable rates too ,$35/hour. Which LM/software are they using, I could not tell though it looks like course selection is limited, so maybe TruGolf or something similar? They do mention 3 Trak ball tracking/club tracking. They also have them at Holland, another place I could try. My family just had a Christmas Shopping trip to Holland a few weeks back. Thanks.

[Ryan5508]

They are using an aboutgolf 3trak system. It uses marked balls. They have 30ish courses if I remember correctly. They are owned by the same group that owns macatawa legends/ravines now. Thornapple is the only one with the curved systems of the three.

[Ryan5508]

Putting green is in. Projectors now make an image all the way to the end.



Mini split heater was just put in



To bad I was now told the rest of my flooring has been delayed until March 15.......

Just need to hang a TV. Figure out where to mount the swing cams. Get my bag holder built and painted. Then everything is basically finished and operational.

[Brettster]

Awesome - I see you got your heater in! Screen/projector view on that curve is amazing. Well, you can get it all up and working until the flooring comes in. Great work. Keep posting pics...

[MadMax]

OMG this is just amazing, bet your dog will even learn to play golf now. The screen and image look spectacular. Great job.

[Ryan5508]

Thanks! Everything has turned out extremely well so far.

The dog tends to mind his own business until you start putting. Then he steals the ball and leaves the room with it.

[Ryan5508]

Couple more pictures of everything. Simulator is working great and the Uneekor besides a few misreads works fantastic. The only thing I still seem to struggle with is the pixelwix software doesn't always seem to work as intended. If you for any reason lose power/turn off a breaker its breaks everything. The overlap works awesome but it has a few odd quirks. triple mouse icons and just plain losing the mouse pointer are the most annoying so far. It also does not want to span videos across the entire screen instead limiting then to the center area only.

We did however build a racing sim setup for when we are not golfing. Its extremely addicting for everyone who tries it out

[adilgolf]

To get rid of the misreads, move your impact position toward the back of the eyexo detection area.. that gives the cameras more time to pickup the ball, especially with drivers...

[Ryan5508]

It only seems to be with wedge pitch shots. But we will give it a try. Thanks!

[MadMax]

Holy smoke this gets better and better, too bad it doesn't look like you will ever get to golf again with the racing sim as well. What will the flooring consist of when it arrives next year ? is that the last thing need doing ?

[Ryan5508]

Flooring still and my golf bag holder are still coming. Flooring is possibly delayed until March. We are putting the same pergo flooring in a few rooms in the house.

The race simulator may be more addictive than the golf... At least right now it is. Everyone seems to enjoy the rally Sim.

[Brettster]

Great job Ryan5508 - my guess is you have fewer people at home interested in Golf? As I've always seen it indicated that you should 'build your golf simulator for yourself', not for others to come and play, as when it gets to the end of the day, you will be the one playing the most in it. The others may drop out, even if you have buddies over for leagues, etc... and you might not see them in the sim again. So....

I keep remembering that as I build my small sim and try to squeeze in a 'bar area' (impossible), with the treadmill I'm planning (for Fitness as well), and the chipping area long grass and real cups to be cut into the turf. Just leaves little room even for standing in the Simulator with me when playing with 11.5' x 15.5' total area.

Is it possible to move that easily and just go back to the Golf Sim whenever you want?

[Ryan5508]

I am the only golfer here. Wife plays about 2-3 times a year at most. We are currently in a 16 man league between myself and another friends Sim. So plenty of people will be here.

I just added casters to the cockpit and can now roll it behind the screen easily. There is a decent amount of storage back in the corners.

Even my room I would like to add a bar besides the fridge. I feel like I have maxed out the space I have at this point.

[Alex.Morgan]

Golf simulator envy! Incredible job

[Ryan5508]

Thanks I appreciate the comment!

[MadMax]

Ryan can you say something about the joystick controller (GT) in the picture above showing your monitor ? Is that for controlling the sim software ?

[adilgolf]

https://home.goldentee.com/

https://youtu.be/IUTcGEKwzLk?t=142

[Ryan5508]

That is a home version of the golden tee golf arcade game. It's a game that is popular in bars.

[Jwheels9876]

Wow just came across this topic. This looks awesome, makes me want to build another room on my house lol

[Ryan5508]

I have had a few people message me about behind the screen so I will attach a few pictures. I have audio/networking/server on one side and storage racks on the other.

there is a white 10' x 30' impact net behind the screen
there is a black 10' x 30' impact net for the ceiling protection that drapes over the top
L bracket attached with bungie cords on the side
Top rail is a PVC pipe with the screen attached using 4" ball bungies

[Ryan5508]

I also have installed the swing optics cams. I put the back cam into the bench seat along with usb for the race setup. The other one is located on top of the golf bag rack. It can easily see between two bags sitting in it.

[Brettster]

Ryan5508 - That's slick with the camera lens inside the bag rack. What is the overall dimensions on your bag rack - I'm looking to build something similar in a spot where I have about 42" width for 3 bags (I don't think 4 bags will fit there).

[Ryan5508]

It's 67.5 inches long. I could have fit almost 5 bags but wanted access to the pockets. I have about 16.5" for each bag slot and it's almost too big. I kept it short enough to keep a bag upright but not much more than that.

[Ryan5508]

Here are some finished pictures. Room just needs curtains and a little floor trim.

Everything turned out beyond my original expectations. Though I would still not recommend this type of setup to anyone unless you have pc trouble shooting skills. Because there are plenty of issues with getting everything working correctly. Now that everything is up an running properly the experience is unmatched anywhere else.

[gohandbz8]

Very awesome build you got there. Any chance you get a video of it in action? I

[Ryan5508]

I will be sure and get something next time the guys show up to play. Some one is usually here every couple of days.

[Celeras]

What were the logistics of finding a projector to correctly fill a curved screen like that? Did you use projector central or figure it out on your own?

[johnperkins21]

It's 3 projectors, not just 1.

[Ryan5508]

I only used projector central to give me a throw dictance. I found these projectors on sonys website before they were ever released. They listed them as a great use for golf Sims.

Rest was trial and error. Trying to mimic the curved Sim I had played in.

[Ryan5508]

It is not much but a short Demo of hitting in the simulator....really blasted that putt though....

https://youtu.be/rl_FZfOVmvY