Advice on build with dimensions

[Anytechie]

I was prepared to order all my simulator build items today, but over the weekend I had a friend over and showed him what I was thinking and he threw a curveball that is having me second guess the whole build! . I've attached the images of the space I'm using.

My plan was originally to have the simulator run longways with a 10' wide screen, 9'8" tall fitted between the big beams. I would use the projector in 4:3 and have to deal with some letterbox black lines on top and bottom. I would have curtains/netting running alongside hanging just inside the two cross beams velcroed to the screen sides and an archery net overtop for high angle shots/misses.

My friend suggested "flipping" the layout and have the screen in front of where the tv now is (I may remove the tv to be safe, we never use). I would get a wider screen 13'4" x 8'8" which I could use 16:9 layout for. In this layout I would tuck the screen in the 4' space between the back wall with the tv and the big cross beam. The question is how to deal with the length of the room being 18' and also the cross beam being in front of the hitting screen.

I was thinking I would have the screen 12-18" from the back wall and hang an archery net behind it to further project the tv wall. That would leave me 16.5ft to the back wall. And it would leave 2.5' - 3' to the cross beam. Because the big cross beam is 8'8" tall, that's the start of the top of the screen. I'd have to figure out how to "protect" the cross beam from ball strikes from high lofted clubs and mishits as the screen would be hanging behind it and I'd be hitting towards it.

One idea given that my screen height on the project will be less than the 8'8" beam, I attach a net to screen and wrap it down and under the beam to the ceiling on the hitting side at 9'8 and run that back over my hitting position. I'd also have some kind of foam pad to attach to the beam since the net will pulled against the direct bottom of it. Would this work? I am thinking about this wrong? See attached drawing for ref.

Then the second part of going wide... is 16'5" enough depth for the Garmin r10? Part of me thinks just going with the original, 4:3 setup is "easier" and safer as far as execution risk goes, but it would be sweet having a wide screen.

Appreciate the time and look!

[Brettster]

Anytechie - you are on the right track... here's what I recommend:

Because the big cross beam is 8'8" tall, that's the start of the top of the screen. I'd have to figure out how to "protect" the cross beam from ball strikes from high lofted clubs and mishits as the screen would be hanging behind it and I'd be hitting towards it.

What you should consider is longer (drapier) baffles made out of one big sheet of Commando Cloth (from Chicago Canvas). This is what I did and with the bigger folds hanging down, I don't need anything to protect the beam (balls hardly get up that high anyway, even lofted wedges if you are 9' or less to the screen). Have a look at how I did it, with pics of the draping cloth and the uneven (gambrel) roof beams, etc, on this post at my Sim Shed Build thread: https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...387#post365387

I can tell you, it's not fun by yourself, so if you have a buddy that can help out you will be thankful... Also, you might find like I did, that rectangular swaths of cloth are not going to fit exactly into your area, even folded. In this case, you get it to where you want it, try to guess at and cut (where you make folds) to remove some of the unwanted cloth... it's the only way - sadly - as you only have one chance to get it right! So, measure 2, 3 or 4 times first, before cutting.

Then the second part of going wide... is 16'5" enough depth for the Garmin r10? Part of me thinks just going with the original, 4:3 setup is "easier" and safer as far as execution risk goes, but it would be sweet having a wide screen.

Oh yes, 16'5" depth is plenty, I have exactly 15'4" depth and made it work! Go through the rest of my post and you will see how tight it is. I am hitting from 6' from the Garmin Approach R10 which is recessed into the wall (using an Access Panel), that's the only way to get the extra inches. This allows for close to 9' Ball to Screen, to give you the best measurements/readings. Even then, I have to boost my elevations by 5,000 feet, and use the Titleist RCT (radar) balls to help the distance.

My screen is closer to 16:9 or 16:10 than it is 4:3 and I use it for Movie Night too... it's a lot better wider... and, it doesn't matter that much if you bleed over on sides, and top a little as it's barely noticeable on the black cloth.

Here's where you can pick up the Commando Cloth (Chicago Canvas), get the larger piece and you will be fine:

https://tinyurl.com/chicagocanvas-commandocloth

There really is nothing else like it - I looked in fabric stores and nothing would match the thickness, heaviness and 'ball stopping' ability of Commando Cloth, but if you want some side covering fabric, or to cover Gutter Foam and make Foam Wedges, you can use this Black Muslin stuff from Amazon:

https://tinyurl.com/BlackMuslinCloth

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions...
-Brett

[Anytechie]

Just read your long thread on your build well done. Looks amazing and love the detailed posts. Brettster

I see how you did the baffles. The issue with mine is that the beam is actually in front of the screen by 2-3ft.

It will be be wall, then 1ft space for mattress/net to screen, then 3 feet to the beam.

I will be 10ft from the screen, so 6ft from the beam start (it’s 1 ft thick). The beam is 8’8”. My swing around ceiling is 10’. My concern is that any high loft/errant high shots will hit that beam. If I put baffles that hang down concern is that it will block the projection onto the screen.

Am I not thinking about this properly?

looking at projector central, given that mine screen width is 150”, it’s saying that my screen height is 84” (7ft). Because of that my screen will be 1’8” below my beam and I theoretically could baffle in front of the beam and have them hang down even 8” or so. Would that work?

[Anytechie]

Updated. I wanted to send through my schematic and one more image that may help. I think I have a great setup to go wide, but my concern is the area from the screen to beam and that beam (see image, screen goes where tv is).

How do I protect it, knowing I want it removable. Just foam with velcro? I was thinking maybe a curtained baffle of sorts. To have it hang down just below the beam on each side to catch runups off the screen or errant high shots from hitter.

That still gives me 8'6" or so of screen height if the curtain hangs down a couple inches below the beam, which is more than I need for 16:9 ratio given my screen is 148" wide.

Thoughts?

[Brettster]

Anytechie - I believe you're over-thinking this. Look at my pics again, I have beams also in front of my screen (though they are 2x6's - not as thick and at 10' height), so a little higher than your big beam (which you say is 8'10", almost 9' to floor, so really only 12" difference).

The other difference comes in distance to your screen from hitting area. I'm at 8'-9'(max), which is 96"-108", while you're showing 136" (a good 28"-40" further away than I am. I'm not sure why that is - is it because you don't want to worry about your Driver clubhead hitting the beam in follow through, or backswing? Then that makes sense... either way, that extra space will help you get better readings from your Garmin, and will hurt you by bringing your beam into more of a spot where it can be hit by a ball... Still I don't think it's anything to worry about, just make the curtained baffles out of Commando Cloth as I show in my pics, and place 5" Gutter foam along the bottom of the hanging/draped baffle right at the beam - kind of like what I did to protect the back beam on mine which hangs 8" below the screen - I placed 5" Gutter foam wedges into the curtained baffles - that helps to give weight to pull down the baffles to where I want them, and it protects the beam on the lower 5" from any balls that may get up that high. If you face the wedge the correct way, that will protect even more - likely 8"-10" as the ball will be coming at an angle - if it's going that high where it would hit the beam.

One last thing I want you to think about. My screen is only 7' high, it's about 10'4" wide (roughly).

looking at projector central, given that mine screen width is 150”, it’s saying that my screen height is 84” (7ft). Because of that my screen will be 1’8” below my beam and I theoretically could baffle in front of the beam and have them hang down even 8” or so. Would that work?

YES!!! That's exactly how mine works and is setup. Have a look again at the photos of mine, and at the very end of my post (last page) where I'm working on stretching the screen... and getting wrinkles out...

Also have a look at the original post - where I'm hanging (draping) the Commando Cloth, I have 2 baffles before I even get to the screen baffle. So 3 baffles total: 2 baffles draped down to protect beams, and then the last baffle draped down directly in front of the wire/cable I used to hang the screen from to protect that cable from being hit by a ball and returning at me - again, that cable is at 7' height.

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...387#post365387

That last baffle drops down in front of my screen - by about 6" or so, and is held down there by the 5" thick/high gutter foam pieces (they are 48" or 60" long, not sure which - but standard gutter foam you can pick up at Home Depot - drop the pieces in end to end into your draped baffles and make sure they do not overlap - you want a clean stretch of 5" thick foam across the entire beam).

I then hung the draped fabric before I mounted it up to the top of the beams (with grommets cut into the cloth and hung over eye-hooks that I screwed into the top of the beams), and to the side walls (also with grommets cut into the cloth and eye-hooks screwed into the top 'sill plate' of the shed). The key is that you have some weight in the draped fabric sections - and you also have protection with the foam. If you don't feel that is enough protection for you, you could purchase a 3" or 4" thick memory foam mattress/topper and cut that into pieces 5" high by length of the mattress and do the same thing - slide them in end to end to protect the bottom part of the beam ... I believe you will see - when you start hitting balls in there, that you will rarely get a ball up that high, unless it's a lob wedge or something (I hit 60 degree lob wedges in mine, and it rarely hits above my 7' tall screen.

Good luck, let me know if you have further questions... it's hard to describe this part of the design - but I can tell you it was one of the hardest parts of the project, especially to do it alone, as you have to get the entire piece of fabric in place, before you can decide where to place the grommets / eye hooks, and where to cut any excess fabric away.... I'll see if I can draw you out how mine looks, or take some better pics of the grommets/eye hooks and how they are holding the draped cloth sometime over the Thanksgiving weekend.

---- edit ---
I did think of one other thing that is involved with yours... You are setup for a 'short throw' projector (mounted at 9'5" distance from screen) and worried about it being blocked by the baffles. I am using a long-throw projector which is mounted much further away (around 15' distance from the screen) and at around 9' of height. So, you may have to play around with position of projector, and even consider switching to a long-throw projector.

Those kind of things can be hard to judge without placing the equipment and getting a real good idea of where the image is going to appear, but I do see your point, that you might have to worry more about the baffles making shadows on your screen.
----edit ----

-Brett

[Anytechie]

Great. Was looking at your baffles Brettster and that’s how I’m gonna try. The real issue as you pointed out is the hitting angle.

I’m actually going with a mevo+ monitor. But everything I’ve read for both r10 and mevo+ is distance from screen to hitting is paramount for accurate reading. So I’m back as far as I can while still having 7-8ft between hitting area and monitor.

At the 11’ from screen the angle for hits worries me. I don’t plan on 60 deg flop shots ever (or rarely). I am using for practice and tuning my game more than “playing”. I don’t plan on putting either. I’m a range rat.

The projector I haven’t bought so I can tweak and buy last. Because the screen is “low” I think I should be ok mounting projector lower to miss the baffles and still be ok.

Re: your baffle design. I understand what you did, but as you said, it’s in the details and execution. I think I’m comfortable enough to start purchasing pieces — first the roller and screen, hitting mat and launch monitor, and the side curtains (commando cloth) and extra for baffles. I’ll get all the installed minus the baffles and then assess needs and design.

thank you for the vote of confidence and help (and your original post).

[Anytechie]

Just hit about a dozen 56deg foam balls 12' from the back wall. All except 1 hit the far wall beam (not the close beam I'm worried about) and one that I mishit and skyed somewhat, hit in between the two beams. So as you said Brettster I think I'm overthinking it and worrying about a beam that may not be in play, save for the errant skyball driver mishit or something similar. Onward!

[Brettster]

That's great Anytechie - that's a really good way to test, with foam balls... gives you a real good idea of where they are going to be, with a 56 deg. sounds like you are fine! Keep pushing forward and as you say, start buying some of the materials and putting into place and moving forward. I remember the first few real balls I hit into mine I was real nervous. Now, I can let it fly at any time, knowing that everything I hit will be knocked down by curtains, gym mats, or gutter foam (inside) the baffles, or if it's higher, just plain baffle fabric is enough to knock it down.

You're on the right track now... keep us posted how it goes as you move forward and let me know if you have any questions - some of these things are hard to 'picture' until you do them, or can speak to someone that has. Brings me to one question: are you going to mount your baffles up to the beams with eye hooks and grommets (as I suggested)? I still plan on getting out there, and taking some more pics of those in my setup, I'll post them for you (probably tomorrow).

Good luck!

[Anytechie]

Brettster

• Question on the design.
  
  my understanding of your post and how you did baffles:
  
  1 install hooks into ceiling
  2 hang canvas from hooks with grommets
  3 the canvas should loop down to the desired height and then back up and hook a second time through another grommet onto the ceiling hooks
  4 inside the baffle “loop” you inserted 5” foam the width of the baffle
  
  is that accurate?

• how did you deal with the edge where the baffle meets the side curtain/wall? Or did you do nothing and just let it meet the wall loosely?
  
  Im using commando cloth for the sidewalk curtains and planning to hang them from high tension wires through grommets. They’ll be bunched and longer than the height so they stop grounder shots. However, I’m not sure what to do for the area above the wire and grommet holes (between it and the ceiling).
  
  again, thinking maybe if it’s bunches and pushes up against the ceiling, it may be enough, but worried it’s not a tight seal.

[Brettster]

Anytechie - we'll get this sorted, likely with a phone call, as it's hard to describe... I'll answer with pics, eventually... Here's what I can say, don't know if it will help though, as one of those situations where pics/video is worth 10,000 words...

1.) I installed my hooks into the top of the 2x6s that are the collar ties in my shed. That was the peak where I hooked the baffles and is about 10'6" high. I will have to go out there an look at how I did I think it goes up, hooks into eye-hooks with grommets, then comes back down and drapes 2' below 2x6, and goes back up and hooks to the next one back, I think they are about 24" between the collar ties in the ceiling. Keep in mind the Gambrel Roof has a lot to do with this, have a look at early pics and when I cut down the ceiling joists. So, baffles end up hanging (draping) down to about 2' below the collar ties. The collar ties span about 5'-6' of the center width (of total 12' width) of the shed. That's where I had to get creative with the leftover commando cloth, it's just shoved up under my curtain rod, on the right, and comes all the way back and gets pushed behind the screen area on left - I believe.

2.) Yes, make sure you get the Grommet tool - I was first trying this by hammering the grommets on the top step of the ladder, and it was a disaster.... way easier to one-hand squeeze the grommet tool exactly where you want the grommet to go, and then pop it up on the eye-hook and you're done with that hook, on to the next. Here's the tool: https://tinyurl.com/GrommetTool-38inch.

3.) I will have to go out there and verify that, I don't think it hooks twice, just once, then down / draped and back to the next collar tie in the ceiling behind it. There are 3 baffles total I believe, starting about 6' from the screen, one there, one at 4' from screen, and one right at the screen.

4.) I think I only inserted the gutter foam at the screen, as there is a very hard wire at the 7' height mark where the screen is clipped on to. I hung a baffle directly in front of the screen coming down to about 4"-6" below the screen, and keep it hanging down with the gutter foam inserted there. It works perfectly and stops any balls from hitting the wire and coming back.

Where it meets the wall, I just tucked back any extra in / behind the curtain rod on the right side. On the left, not sure, but think I have some hooks/grommets there to clip on to, and the very last back part of excess cloth is tucked in behind the screen.

As for commando cloth/grommets for curtains - I think you would do better to purchase black-out curtains and install them with a curtain rod. I've found they work perfectly, and go right up with ease. I would bet doing all those grommets and installing would take quite a while? Also, they are precut to exactly the dimension you need. I think I went with 6' curtain length, knowing that my turf would be a good 6" up from the floor, and they will be hanging just below screen height 7'.

You don't have to worry about pushing it up to the ceiling, at least I didn't, any excess just tucks in behind the curtains. Good luck... give me a ring if you want to see it live.
-Brett