Announcement

**Fieldygolf** · 01-02-2018, 08:35 PM

I have owned skytrak and tgc for a couple of years now and never had any major issues but today playing this weeks tour event I was getting some serious misreads and a lot of no reads at all. It started off with chips not being read so I had to put from off the green which wasn’t ideal to it not reading my 3 wood. Serious issues I have attached a screen shot of one of them. I know it was hit straight and I have been getting excessive balls speeds on here and the range that I have playing on recently. Going to play my 2!nd road and see what happens

Attached Files

**Fieldygolf** · 01-02-2018, 08:55 PM

Sorry the above upload was excessive launch angle and backspin considering I was hitting 3 wood and I purée it. I can get 155 mph with 3 wood when hit solid

**bob chung** · 01-02-2018, 09:01 PM

After I put FMJ(full metal jacket) for the first time,
my skytak was acting really strange, miss read every shot, it was unplayable!
I had to take screws off from the FMJ and skytak.
used tapes to put them together to elite the gap between FMJ and skytrak.
Since than, crazy miss read errors disappeard.

**frodaddy00** · 01-21-2018, 05:31 PM

Update on the original issue (Skytrak laser blinking in USB mode). [cc SkyTrak_Seth ]

Hardware:
SkyTrak (latest 3.x version)
Laptop - MSI GE62VR 7RF (Windows 10 Home)
Core i7 7700HQ / 16 GB RAM / GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Still a problem.. big problem. I've barely touched my SkyTrak the last 2 weeks because I dread knowing how irritating it will be. Anyway, I got an itching to play some sim golf and gave it another go.. back to SkyTrak being a lousy POS when plugged in via USB cable.

I decided to do some more troubleshooting.. detailed below.

#1- I first made sure to check Windows settings for any type of USB power save mode etc. There was a setting under power management "USB selective suspend setting". I made sure this was disabled when laptop is plugged in.

#2- I tried connecting SkyTrak to my laptop using 3 different USB ports.. all exhibit same problem: i) USB 2.0 port ii) USB 3.0 port iii) USB hub plugged into laptop

#3- I tried removing SkyTrak "knowing" about my wifi network by doing the wifi factory reset (toggle switch on bottom of SkyTrak). The SkyTrak still blinks red laser in and out when plugged into laptop via USB.

#4- I also tried unplugging my laptop from charging cable because some folks had wondered if interference from charging was somehow causing issue. This had no positive effect on the blinking..still happened whether laptop is charging or unplugged.

#5- I ruled out a faulty USB cable by trying several... all saw the same blinking behavior.

#6- I ruled out my 4KTV I use as display as an issue (some folks said plugging in TV causes issues). I saw same blinking USB behavior when plugged into HDMI TV or using laptop screen.

#7- I then wanted to confirm this thing actually works so I went into direct mode (connecting laptop to adhoc SkyTrak wifi network). The USB cable was unplugged at this point and it works as expected.

#8 I then reconnected SkyTrak to my wifi network. It worked as expected.

#9 I then tried to just charge my SkyTrak via USB. I left the wifi connection in place (network mode its called?) and I connected the USB cable to SkyTrak and plugged the other end into a standard wall outlet. The blinking was back even though SkyTrak was not connected to my laptop. This makes me think SkyTrak has all kinds of problems when a USB cable is plugged in to anything.

#10 I then tried to go back to USB mode. I powered off SkyTrak and made sure USB cable was connected to SkyTrak and laptop before powering on the SkyTrak. I was told that SkyTrak "knows" to start in USB mode if it detects a USB cable. I did not find this to be true. My SkyTrak middle light blinked yellow and then went solid yellow as it remembered the wifi connection; even though I turned on the SkyTrak with the USB cable in place. I opened up SkyTrak app and it eventually did go to USB mode (since cable was plugged in), but the laser blinking in and out issue returned.

So.. in my personal experience I just cannot get this thing to work with a USB plugged into it..whether the other end attaches to a wall outlet or a computer.

In theory I should just use WIFI and relax right? Well my personal problem here is I've tried to extend my wifi range to be accessible in my garage. I even spent a few hundred $$$ for a mesh router (netgear orbi) but it just is not consistent. It works fine until my WIFI drops then I get blinking as it tries to reconnect to wifi.

In short I'm screwed because SkyTrak just does not work very well at all in USB mode.

*queue sad trombone*

p.s. My laptop does not have problems staying connected to my wifi network in garage but the SkyTrak is not nearly as consistent. My guess is the wifi transmitter on SkyTrak is much less powerful than my MSI laptop.

**frodaddy00** · 01-24-2018, 07:53 PM

Here is a short video showing the issue in case I was not clear. It doesn't always happen immediately..sometimes I start a round and this flashing red light comes after a few holes.

Also, don't let the pause of solid red light fool you. Once I start experiencing this problem it won't register shots even if I try to sneak them in between the flashing.

bla1521 has shared 1 video with you!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/121635382@N04/shares/vh11b0

**frodaddy00** · 01-25-2018, 03:45 PM

Update:
I've done more testing and believe the flashing laser in USB mode may be related to my laptop being plugged in to power supply. The problem of blinking laser does not start immediately.. it happens over time, sometimes within a few minutes and sometimes more than an hour after I start.

- I start in USB mode. Crank up SkyTrak and do a brief warmup. Everything is good so far.
- I then close down SkyTrap app and turn off SkyTrak device. I start over and load up TGC to play a round.
- After about 30 minutes the dreaded blinking laser returns.
- The USB connection to SkyTrak (micro B) is pretty flimsy, meaning it has a lot of wiggle to it. I wiggle this a little to see if maybe its just a physical contact issue but that does not have any impact.
- I left everything alone to see if it would work itself out and left to eat dinner. I came back an hour later and the blinking was still happening.
- I then unplugged my laptop from its power cable and the blinking stopped almost immediately.
- I plugged it back in and the blinking was back
- I repeated this process 3 or 4 more times and the blinking seemed to correlate to my laptop charger being plugged in.

Someone mentioned before USB charge modes being a culprit so I spent some time tracking this down...
- I had already disabled the "USB selective suspend setting" in advanced power settings under Windows

I followed this Microsoft KB article to make further attempts at disabling selective suspend (registry edit, device manager change).

Error - Office.com - Microsoft Support

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/895962/a-usb-2-0-hub-may-stop-working-when-you-disconnect-a-usb-2-0-printer-f

I have not yet been able to test this latest change but will update if I see any improvement. I suppose overall the good news is I think this is definitely related to my laptop power / power management so hopefully its only a matter of time before I find the root cause.

**SkyTrak_Seth** · 01-25-2018, 04:32 PM

Wow, thanks again for the diligent testing and I'm sorry you are still having issues. Could it be possible that static is causing this? Do you experience the flashing laser only in TGC or in SkyTrak app also? If your last attempt at disabling selective suspend does not do the trick, let me know and I'll see if I can get another unit out to you to see if there is some kind of hardware fault.

**frodaddy00** · 01-26-2018, 03:58 PM

cc: SkyTrak_Seth

Update:
I did more testing last night. The bad news is the problem is still around even after disabling "selective suspend" via registry edit and manually disabling feature in windows device manager (USB hubs). The good news is I made progress by changing how I route power.

- I tested solely with the SkyTrak practice range app to rule out TGC being a culprit.
- I started a practice session via USB mode and it was OK at first then started blinking after about 10 minutes.
- My setup at the time of the blinking: USB mode, laptop charging via power cord, using my 4K tv as the display for skytrak app (via HDMI)

Once again unplugging the power cord to my laptop resolved the issue immediately. I could not reproduce this issue if my laptop power was unplugged. This isn't a solution for me though because my gaming laptop only lasts about an hour on battery life. Also, it defaults to the built-in graphics adapter in battery mode which makes SkyTrak/TGC very jerky.

My laptop power cord was plugged into one of those outdoor heavy duty power strips (yellow rectangle box with 6 plugs). I also have my TV and a fan plugged into same power strip. It seems like there is noise/static that starts to interfere with the USB signal.

As a test I pulled my laptop cable from this power strip and instead plugged it directly into a wall outlet. This had a noticeable improvement on the issue. I would still get a blinking laser but it was a significant improvement meaning only 1 or 2 blinks every minute or two.

So, I'm fairly convinced there is something finicky with how SkyTrak is receiving the USB data/signal with interference coming from my power source. I just had a new 20 amp circuit put in my garage so it is hard for me to blame it on my wiring. This circuit is dedicated to this single wall outlet plus one recessed LED light overhead (minimal energy use).

For completeness sake I will document other changes I tested that had no positive impact:
- did the wifi factory reset to wipe out knowledge of my wifi network
- switched out the laptop power supply brick since I have a spare
- switched to a braided USB-C to USB- micro B cable hoping it would reduce the "noise". This had no impact but I think I'll keep using this one as it fits much more snugly into the skytrak unit
- unplugging TV
- unplugging other USB devices

**frodaddy00** · 01-29-2018, 02:46 AM

Final update (I think)...

I bought a new power strip that had a high joule rating and also including emi/rfi noise reduction. This seems to have resolved the issue with USB light blinking in and out.

This is what I went with - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OJGBVAE/

Side note:
Of course Murphy's Law says I fix one problem and a new one shows up. I played 1.5 rounds the last 2 days without issue but all of a sudden my USB-C cable stopped working. SkyTrak now refuses to connect via my new cable no matter what I do. It worked just fine until this evening and nothing changed that I am aware of... so I'll spend some time trying to figure that one out before just giving up and switching back to the old cable.

**bjohnson1102** · 02-05-2018, 10:58 PM

I have posted basically the same thing in a thread from last year. I still have the same issues, with USB charging and the FMJ case. I suspect some type of grounding issue with the skytrak, power and the metal case. I may either try your solution, or test charging with one of my portable cell phone chargers to see if the issue persists. Seems like some type of design failure, but only appears to affect certain skytrak.

Here is the thread:

Extremely frustrated - no reads and flashing top light / dot - Golf Simulator Forum

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/skytrak/121915-extremely-frustrated-no-reads-and-flashing-top-light-dot

I'm extremely frustrated with my Skytrak. I can't play a hole on TGC right now without getting at least one no read (no trigger) - it happens in the Skytrak range

**bjohnson1102** · 02-09-2018, 06:10 PM

FYI, I did some additional testing last night. Using the same USB cord that I normally use, rather than plugging directly into AC power source, I used my portable cell phone battery pack. I plugged the cord into skytrak and confirmed that the battery pack was indeed charging my skytrak. I then proceeded to play a round of golf, and skytrak didn't miss a single shot. I believe this confirms my suspicion that some type of electrical issue occurs when the skytrak is plugged into AC power and is anchored via metal screws to the all metal skytrak protective case. Not sure that skytrak will comment on this situation, but it certainly is helpful knowing that I can now simultaneously play a round of golf while charging my skytrak.

Brad

**GolfSimUN** · 02-09-2018, 06:46 PM

Hopefully that solves your issues Brad but earlier this week I had the unit stop registering shots and I tried everything I could think of including removing the USB cord from the AC outlet and Skytrak. No luck for me.

**frodaddy00** · 02-09-2018, 07:00 PM

Originally posted by bjohnson1102 View Post

FYI, I did some additional testing last night. Using the same USB cord that I normally use, rather than plugging directly into AC power source, I used my portable cell phone battery pack. I plugged the cord into skytrak and confirmed that the battery pack was indeed charging my skytrak. I then proceeded to play a round of golf, and skytrak didn't miss a single shot. I believe this confirms my suspicion that some type of electrical issue occurs when the skytrak is plugged into AC power and is anchored via metal screws to the all metal skytrak protective case. Not sure that skytrak will comment on this situation, but it certainly is helpful knowing that I can now simultaneously play a round of golf while charging my skytrak.

Brad

It is possible the metal case is related but it may simply be that the AC power source has too much "noise" in it. My issue went away when I upgrade my power strip to a nicer one that had better emi/rfi noise reduction. Your phone charger battery pack could also be less noisy than the AC power. Obviously you know your setup better than me but this is what ultimately fixed my problem. Good luck!

**bigredhusker** · 03-17-2021, 12:23 AM

Just reviving this thread... I have used my skytrak in a FMJ in my garage no problems. Then just yesterday I get the same blinking red light issue. UGH UGH . I remove my skytrak from the metal FMJ and put it into the plastic case and works perfect. Problem is I get the shanks and this is not a solution. When I run the skytrak in direct mode and unplug the usb (everything is perfect). UGH but then I can’t play tgc cloud courses. I have a pretty long USB cord running to the skytrak but literally have had no problems till a yesterday. Any other solutions folks have found?

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SkyTrak will not register shots when plugged in via USB

SkyTrak will not register shots when plugged in via USB

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