Construction Begins on Sim Room Addition

[Kaos]

Painted ceiling today and interior trim was installed. The drywall floor gap was also caulked prior to installation of trim for sound reasons. The ceiling cabling box was also caulked. I Repaired several wall blemishes in preparation for second green coat going on Saturday. Trim and door painting (along with putty of the trim) are also slated for Saturday paint.

Right now carpet is scheduled for Monday. Electrician is due in the morning to install all outlets and switches. The room will be hot as of tomorrow and mini split is slated to be fired up.

He was having trouble finding adjustable beam ceiling lights that will take the Phillips 5k Flicker Free LED lights. He misunderstood what I wanted and was looking for adjustable light assemblies (very difficult to find in 5k). I told him I just had two requirements: 1. the Phillips 5K Flicker Free LED light bulbs; and 2. beam needs to be adjustable (size of beam and location) . He said that makes it a little easier in that he may be able to get a a generic adjustable eyeball that the Phillips bulbs can be installed in. He went back to the electrical supply when he left so we will see what he came up with in the morning. He did indicate that the lights may not come before Monday or Tuesday, but he would install something temporary if that turned out to be the case.

My point, be sure you make sure the electrician understands your lighting requirements as they are likely not familiar with golf simulator lighting requirements. Do your research!

I believe he is also going to install the Uneekor Eye XO hardware on ceiling and mount projector. That is what I understood anyway. If not, I know what I will be doing this weekend...lol. Installation of enclosure and impact screen is likely to be put up late Monday or Tuesday afternoon (depending on what happens with light install).

The lighting was better in these pics and the deeper green in several of the pics is a truer representation of actual color.

[Kaos]

Mini split was completely wired today. AC crew will fire it tomorrow. Room was connected into main breaker panel and related lines were ran from new junction box to panel. All outlets and switches were installed. I am having to go with 3K LED lights to get adjustable beams and eyeballs. That combo is about impossible to find in 5K. Electrician had to order lights but in installed some temporary lighting to get electrical inspection. The temporary lights are shown below. I have him install two separate dimmers for the row of lights and one dimmer each for the front and back rows. That allows me to control front and back lighting of golfer while using Uneekor Swing Optix cameras. I attached pics showing how lighting combo will work.

I got lucky, carpet is going in tomorrow because installer had a cancellation. The enclosure will be set up Sunday after painting is completed Saturday. The Eye XO and projector will probably be installed Wed. next week. Now I am getting excited!

[Treyc321]

Been following since day 1, I’m getting excited for you!!

[Kaos]

Carpet installed Friday. I hated the color paint with the carpet and had to redo it all with a darker color green and it looks SO MUCH better! I started installing all related items (i.e. landing mat, hitting mat, tripods, enclosure and impact screen). I just started installing curtains. The curtains were purchased for previous color I was going to do the room so I may end up eventually changing them, but they will have to do for now. All related items should be in by tomorrow evening and the electrician is installing projector and Eye XO either Tuesday or Wednesday. I am hoping to be hitting balls my Wednesday evening!

[Gordon Parr]

This is looking great!

[Kaos]

This is looking great!

Thanks...It's been 7 weeks in the making!

[Gordon Parr]

Thanks...It's been 7 weeks in the making!

True that...but your patience and persistence is getting ready to payoff...BIGTIME!!!

Where in VA are you located?

[Kaos]

In the SE Va area

[Kaos]

Final inspection done today and final touches were put on electrical. Got the Phillips 5K Flicker Free lights installed and the media outlets put in. I am getting close. I got everything mounted. However, I had to order a special projector mount for my Optoma. I am not comfortable with the universal mount because it seems a little too flimsy. I also had to add some moving blankets to the sliding door and on the windows on the side underneath the master bedroom. My wife said there is a huge improvement over what it was when I hit in the garage. The moving blankets actually did decrease the noise coming through the glass. Once I get the last touches put on and get everything cleaned up, I'll post some pics.

I did hit a bunch of 5-irons and wow, the data is incredible. I'm very impressed with the Eye XO. The only issue I seem to be having is that the swing Optix camera images seem a little grainy. I am going to touch base with Uneekor and find out what gives with that. I am sure it is a setting somewhere.

[pwade3]

Doing great. Look forward to final details.
Will you be doing a sound test? Would be interested in hearing what the noise level is outside of the sim room.
The Swing Optix cameras have adjustable settings in the menu screen to help with low light issues. You can adjust the gama and contrast etc. They do require a fair bit of ambient light to help with clarity so not sure how much light you have in there. Web site mentions about the amount of ambient light they recommend. I can send a you pic of what mine are like with the amount of light I have. I sometimes turn more lights on when I want better clarity.

[Kaos]

Yes pwade3 I will do a sound test. my wife will be out of town for a few days this weekend and that will allow me to get a Db level with various clubs in the room, in the adjoining living room and up in the Master. Based on my original test which yielded 50+ in the Master (using a Db of 110-113), I suspect I will come in in the 40's...but we will see. I hit until 11 PM tonight before she told me to shut it down. So, apparently she could hear it but it was not annoying like it was when I hit in the garage! She did say the addition of the moving blankets over the glass made a difference. She originally said I had to cut it off at 9 but changed it to 11 PM after I installed the moving blankets in the windows and sliding doors (along with the curtains). I put blinds and sound dampening curtains on the opposite windows to allow her to let light in the room when not in use. But, we will see. She can't tell me though whether she is hearing the ball impact or the screen impact.
On the Optix, you are right it does seem to require a lot of light. I have six 5k Phillips Flicker Free lights (with one on each side of golfer). Turning everything on does eliminate most of the grainy issues, but of course, it does wash out the screen somewhat. But, I can deal with that when I am practicing. Playing I can turn most of them off accept the face on light.

I would love to see a pic of yours. I will post the room fully lit once I get the proper projector mount installed.

[Gordon Parr]

True that...but your patience and persistence is getting ready to payoff...BIGTIME!!!

Where in VA are you located?

Same here - Yorktown...on the peninsula.

[Kaos]

Here is the latest. I got all the curtains hung, the Phillips 5k Flicker free lights installed (upgraded from 3K non flicker free and it makes a difference), the new custom projector mount hung and rehung the screen. I hung moving blankets inside house side windows and sliding doors. It actually looks better from the outside than do the curtains. They also help a lot with the sound leaks through glass. I also hung blinds inside the outer windows behind the curtains for added light blocking during the day and it also helps a little with the sound. I'll try to take a few shots from the outside showing the windows with the moving blankets installed.

I had a friend of mine hit while I was in the master bedroom Saturday and I could not hear the club and the impact was barely audible. You really had to be listening for it. I think he hit three shots and I only heard one. The Db test with the irons in the room was 80-88Db using phone app. This was consistent with my hand held so I used the phone as I could see a graph. The test right inside the living room ( a few feet from the entry door) was at 53Db. In the master it read about 43.6 Db max with the bedroom door slightly open (I could not shut it because the sound of the closing door was greater than 43.6 Db . With Driver, the Db in the room was a massive 120-125 Db. However, in the master bedroom it read on 46.8 Db max. I thought this was quite impressive for the $4+ K I spent (when adding curtains, rods, moving blankets and blinds to the contractor's installation). The Db in the bedroom may actually be high as it does not take much noise to register 46 Db, so, any stray noise may have actually made the test come out on the high side. I was doing it by myself which made it a little difficult.

Here are a few shots of the lighting setup, Eye XO and projector install, screen, computer stand and cameras. Oh and wife has not complained!

[Questor]

Is the size of the projection adjustable. It doesn't seem to fit the screen. Forgive if this is a newb question.

[Kaos]

Yes, I intentionally went a little smaller than the screen as it makes it a little easier to view the bottom information.

[JaybirdCU]

Very Jealous, looks great! I am curious what you think of the SG12. I am looking at the SG 10. Currently using a Net Return Pro with a sim screen and have two main complaints. One is that the net return setup is very deep. There is about a club length between the wall and the screen, and I would like to shrink that gap. I think the SG does that. My bigger concern is that the image quality of the Net Return screen is very poor IMO. Very hard to keep the screen tight and keep distortion out of the image. Have you been able to get the screen on the SG nice and tight? Can you keep it that way after a session of smashing it with a golf ball?

[Golfgodz]

Looks amazing! Now the fun begins

[pwade3]

That is a job well done. That looks great and it looks like you did a excellent job finding all the systems to dampen the sound. I am curious if you have had a chance to have someone stand outside the building in the back yard and listen to how loud it its when hitting the driver?
Thank you also for passing on all the excellent information on your build process, it will certainly come in handy when we start construction, unfortunately I’m still waiting on a permit which I am told is 6 weeks out still.

[Kaos]

Thanks and I am looking forward to seeing what you do! Six weeks is nutty especially since you have been waiting so long!

If you did exactly what I did sound proof wise, you can hear it outside, but a neighbor 80 or 100 feet away might hear only a dull thud (not loud and not annoying and they would really have to listen for it - maybe a Db of 40-45 or less). The outside ambient noise would probably drown it out anyway. They would not hear it if inside. I would really recommend though either quality moving blankets over glass or sound glass (if you want to spend the extra money - I did not).

[Kaos]

Very Jealous, looks great! I am curious what you think of the SG12. I am looking at the SG 10. Currently using a Net Return Pro with a sim screen and have two main complaints. One is that the net return setup is very deep. There is about a club length between the wall and the screen, and I would like to shrink that gap. I think the SG does that. My bigger concern is that the image quality of the Net Return screen is very poor IMO. Very hard to keep the screen tight and keep distortion out of the image. Have you been able to get the screen on the SG nice and tight? Can you keep it that way after a session of smashing it with a golf ball?

The SG12 does a great job in killing the ball and is not very loud. I have it about 14 inches (give or take) from the sliding glass door behind. I do have sound dampening curtains and a moving blanket hung between the curtain and the glass to help kill sound leaks though the glass. The image quality on the screen is good when the room is well lit and better when most of the lights are off. I usually run it fully lit right now as I am working on some swing changes using the swing Optix cameras. It does kill the shots, but if you skull one into the bottom, you can get a bounce back (my buddy did it). The screen probably gives about 6-10 inches on impact thus really killing the ball. The screen is tight enough on the sides. The only complaint I have with it is that the screen seems cut a little long. Because of that, I had to use a little less than the full screen to keep the bottom information looking consistent. That is not really an issue with me as it is big enough as is. I might feel differently if I had the SG10. You don't want the screen too tight as you will get bounce back issues.

[Kaos]

Looks amazing! Now the fun begins

Thanks. I am getting great use out of it and the swing now is really progressing because I get all of the feedback and video for every shot. I know instantly if stuff I am working on is being done or I am reverting back to old habits!