Top light will not stay green! Please help.

[cberglof]

I just picked up a SkyTrak on Friday. I have a nice net and mat set up in my garage along with a new PC and a 55" monitor. Golf season is just starting here in ND and I'm itching to hit some balls.

I got everything all set up. Downloaded the SkyTrak app on my PC along with the app on my iPad Pro. I also made the plunge right away and purchased the Golf Club Sim software (one time pay) got everything installed and hooked up. I tried the SkyTrak app first and hit about 50 balls with various clubs. Disappointed in my yardages, but no big deal, made a few adjustments and got comfortable with my distances.

As it got later in the evening, I wanted to try to play a round on TGC, but suddenly the laser would not stay on. Bottom two lights green and top light would NOT stay green, kept flashing from red to green. I was thinking that it might be the lighting. No sunlight coming in the windows anymore. Gave up for the night.

I called SkyTrak the next day from work and they were no help and said to call back when I was in front of my unit. I did a lot of reading over the next few days and had a day off today and called them. They again were not much help and wanted to blame my network. That is NOT the problem. More on that later.

I wasn't having the same problem anymore (2 green lights and top light not staying green), but instead I was having disconnects. I would hit anywhere between one and four shots and then I would have to reconnect in the TGC interface. Everything would work for a few more shots and I'd have to do it again. Very frustrating. What seemed to fix this for the most part was disabling the USB power saving features and shutting off the firewall. Played a whole round and didn't have any disconnects. I did have some lag (shots would take more than a minute to register)...but progress.

Then this evening, thinking I had it all figured out, went to the garage to test it with another 18 and same problem as Friday night. Top light won't stay green allowing me to even hit a single shot. Both in SkyTrak app and TGC app. So I thought maybe it is a network problem (even tho I am connected via USB, TGC uses internet). So I went offline on TGC, and same thing...TOP LIGHT WILL NOT STAY GREEN, hence no laser on the mat, and no way to play golf. If I can post a video below, I will.

Has anyone else had this issue and successfully fixed it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[cberglof]

Guess I'm having trouble posting a video, but will try again later. Wanted to note that I do have the protective case and have tried it on the mat, off the mat, and without the protective case. Same deal.

[KerrHughes]

Hi, try connecting wirelessly to it via Network mode, read a few threads on people have trouble with USB connections. If your PC doesn't have wifi built in you can buy a 2.4Ghz wifi USB dongle for a couple of £$'s

[cberglof]

Thanks KerrHughes, but I have the same issue no matter how it is connected. I have tried Wi-Fi, same problem.

[frackh]

Make sure you don't have both apps (SkyTrak and TGC) running at the same time (i.e. Skytrak on ipad, TGC on PC, or both on the PC).

[cberglof]

Thanks for the advice frackh, but I did read about that as well, so I'm certain that I don't have both apps running....unless maybe the app is open on my iPad upstairs, while I'm running it on my PC in the garage. Would that cause an issue? I will delete the app off of my iPad just to be safe and try again later.

[Shifty]

I was using the Android app and had same problem with the top light. For me it was too many signals with wifi. I turned off my xbox, my pc, and my chromecast, then turned the skytrak back on and it worked. Never had the issue again. Not sure this is the same problem, but who knows it may help.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

If the issue is still present and since this is a new unit, I would contact support and tell them that I recommended a replacement unit.

[cberglof]

Thank you Seth and everyone, but I may have stumbled upon the issue that I'm having, kind of by accident. I think it might be the surface I'm hitting off combined with the light at different times of day. The surface I'm hitting off is indoor/outdoor carpet that I purchased at Menards. It's green. It looks like grass. I figured it would be great. However, I think the material that it's made of has a reflective property to it. Could this be the issue? I thru a white drop cloth over the carpet and my laser shows up and the ready light stays green. Is there a recommended golf mat by SkyTrak or what is the brand of mat that everyone uses? I certainly can't hit balls off of this white drop cloth! Any thoughts or ideas about this?

[neiellio]

That is interesting. I have a similar problem and am also using outdoor carpet. Although I found a way to get it working which is attempt direct mode then kill the interface, connent USB cable then connect again which works every time. Although I only have the issue with the TGC interface so could be a different problem to yours.

[Lgnir]

I've tried a couple. The Dura-Pro is pretty good, but I really like the Martin Hall 5 -star mat I purchased when I bought my SkyTrak. You can really feel it when you hit a shot fat!

[penrose]

that is the mat I use...as Lgnir mentioned really does not like fat shots, which is good...right?
here is a link to the one I have http://www.dwquailgolf.com/training/...tice-Mats.html

[GmanJeff]

That's an interesting phenomenon and if validated by ST might merit a mention in their FAQ and/or tech support section of their web site and owner's manual. As for a mat, I use the Country Club Elite sold by Costco, which is quite plush. Apparently like the mat Lgnir uses, it is very punitive of fat shots, slowing the clubhead materially.

[frackh]

I wonder if this is causing a lot of the no-reads; if the laser gets reflected directly back at the unit, either via the club, ball, or mat fiber reflection. On my AllTurfMat, I do notice every now and then how the laser is bouncing directly at my eye because the turf fibers rearrange after a hit.
SkyTrak_Seth does it hurt the unit if I was to use a mirror to reflect the laser back at the unit?

[SkyTrak_Seth]

It might interfere with the images being reflected back...why don't you put a piece of solid tape over it to do your test? It's not really the laser I worry about with the reflection, it's the infrared light.

[cberglof]

I am going to try it with a different mat tonight after work, but after further testing, I'm not 100% convinced that it is the mat, even tho with the white drop cloth covering the mat, the laser worked and the top light was green. Oddly, if I took that white cloth and rolled it up and placed it between my feet and the ball, I could hit a few shots. It's not my shoes tho, because if I pulled the cloth any further than about 18" from the SkyTrak, it wouldn't stay ready. I tried to find something I could hit off at home, and was back to the same problem. I don't know for sure. I do have an RMA label from SkyTrak to send it in for diagnostics, but I really hate to send it off till I try a different mat. I'm definitely at my wits end tho and that may be the best option. I will post what I find tonight by trying a different mat.

[kb5233]

I had a similar issue, along with some crazy misreads, when I had the ST unit on the floor which was lower than the mat. Went away when I put a rug of similar height under the ST.

[cberglof]

Quick update. Same mat, works perfectly fine during the day. Hit a few balls at lunch. One misread, but other than that it works acceptably. More testing tonight. May try a different mat, maybe different lighting? I don't know. At night, it only seems to ready when I have something close to it...making it almost impossible to use.