DIY Halogen Lights System

[wizardofodds]

I'd like to begin a thread specific to making your own halogen light system because comprehensive answers don't already exist and it looks like the hardware link is dead over on the "How to Install a ProTee Golf Simulator" topic. Please provide links to widely available products at local hardware stores if possible.

Subtopics to address are:

1) What style of lighting hardware lend themselves to the optimal setup for Protee Base Sensors and Putting Sensors (e.g. Track Lighting, Can Lights, DJ Lights, etc...)?

2) What type/size/wattage of halogen bulb would be most appropriate for item (1)?


Based on my current research, I've come up with the suggestions links while keeping functionality, price, and availability at the forefront of decision making.

1)
---a)PAR30 Track Lighting (Use two of the three)
---b)PAR 30 Can Light

2)
---a)PAR 30 75W Bright Spot Light

[Maverick]

Nice find Richard.

[Throttle]

I pulled the trigger and placed my order today! I have a question on ceiling height. Per the diagram the perfect ceiling height is 10.1'. Mine is 11' so I have been advised to drop my ceiling a bit. How exact do I have to be? I'll build a soffit and mount the lights (Protee/AR111 bulbs)) and Hcam on that soffit. Just not sure how far to drop the ceiling. I can't tell from the drawing if the Hcam and lights are flush with the 10.1' ceiling or if they are about 6" lower. Does 6" really matter and what's worse, too high or too low??

[ProTee United]

11' should not be a problem. Our commercial simulators are 11' in height. These sims use the same Par spots with ar111 bulbs that shipp with the Base Packs. We mount the H-Cam at 11' as well.

[Bubba22]

Ceiling height of 11' will work fine. Get going soon Throttle and join us online.

[Maverick]

I would recommend no higher than 10 ft.

[Throttle]

Already put the 2x6/mounting bracket up at 11'. I'll try everything at that height and if it don't work, back to the hardware store BTW curious as to why you prefer 10' , can you elaborate on what issues I may encounter by being at 11'?

[Maverick]

As the lights get higher, the intensity goes down. Might work fine or you might get intermittent problems.

[iskuo]

Do you guys have your lights in series after the transformer or do you have a separate transformer for each light? Thanks!

[Maverick]

That will depend on the type of track that you have. If you have a 120v track with low voltage lights, you'll need light fixtures with the transformers built-in.

[iskuo]

Thanks for the info Zmax. I got the lighting sorted out. Now onto the next thing!

[Richard_Askren]

I found another, better track light for putting over the main sensor. It's a PAR 36 light that can use Very Narrow Spot bulbs. Quantities are limited right now, but it works very well. I'm updating all of my sims with this light fixture. These lights with very narrow spot bulbs are very similar to the lights that ProTee provides in the Base Pack 2.

http://www.nuvolighting.com/th272.html

You can get the bulbs at:
http://www.buylighting.com/36-Watt-P...t-p/z13581.htm

These bulbs have a much narrower beam than the Narrow Spots bulbs you can get for the PAR 30 track lights I posted a while ago. The narrower beam helps keep light off your body and the club shaft to make it easier for the interface to read the ball streak instead of the club streak. I'm still using the PAR 30 lights over the putting sensor for their wider beam so it helps to create a better ball streak.

Here are pics showing the difference.
Before:


After:

[ProTee United]

Richard,

Fixture looks great, but be carefull with the bulbs. Especially the closed ones. We prefer to use the "open" ones.

Your bulb is 500 lumen. The bulbs we use are more powerfull, 3000+ lumen. Example here for a 50w 12v 25 degrees bulb.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/68551/GE-97535.html

The search string on 1000bulbs.com is AR111. This will show bulbs similar to the ones we ship. We use Sylvana or Osram bulbs, but they are all the same high powered ones.

[drewpac]

Richard,

Fixture looks great, but be carefull with the bulbs. Especially the closed ones. We prefer to use the "open" ones.

Your bulb is 500 lumen. The bulbs we use are more powerfull, 3000+ lumen. Example here for a 50w 12v 25 degrees bulb.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/68551/GE-97535.html

The search string on 1000bulbs.com is AR111. This will show bulbs similar to the ones we ship. We use Sylvana or Osram bulbs, but they are all the same high powered ones.

What is the beam angle of the lights that protee ships? Is it the 24 degree that the link has? Would one of the ar111 bulbs with 4 or 8 degrees work? Didnt know if protee had done any testing with a more narrow beam. Thx

[Richard_Askren]

Thanks for the reply! So something like the fixtures in the link below would be better if you're stuck with having to use track lighting?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/ar111-track-light/

I went with track lights in my sims since they're easier to replace and I followed the guidelines in this thread. The low lumens hasn't been an issue for me. But now I'm intrigued by the difference between the open and closed bulbs. Would the open bulbs have less spread than the closed bulbs? I'm trying to get less light on the club shaft and body of the golfer to minimize camera miss reads.

[ProTee United]

What is the beam angle of the lights that protee ships? Is it the 24 degree that the link has? Would one of the ar111 bulbs with 4 or 8 degrees work? Didnt know if protee had done any testing with a more narrow beam. Thx

Yes, we ship the 24 degrees lights. We tested 12 degrees with the putting mat, which is working ok. Its important that all sensors get enough light.