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In my experience SkyTrak normally starts malfunctioning around 35 degrees Fahrenheit and the misreads occur with greater frequency, the colder it gets. I was wondering if anyone has tried insulating the ST. I thought maybe stuffing cotton swabs between the protective metal case and the ST might help keep the ST core temp above the point at which it begins to malfunction. How about focusing a small space heater on the ST from a couple feet away? Has anyone's ST ever been permanently damaged as a result of being exposed to cold operating temps? Live chat at sky golf said their was no danger to the unit in being exposed to cold temps but I always take live chats comments with a grain of salt. It's often hard to tell whether the support agent on staff really knows what they're talking about.
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A space heater pointed at the unit could make misreads happen even more due to infrared bleaching out the picture. At least I think that is what can happen. If you had the space heater behind it a ways and not camera side, that could work.
I have had my Skytrak out in 20 degrees and below and it hasn't broken. I would imagine though, at that temp, the plastic could become more brittle so if you jostle it or drop it or the ball hits it in anyway (bounce back off the net happens to me some), it could cause it some internal or external damage. -
It's 14 outside right now. I'll set mine outside for a bit and then hit some shots...will report back soon
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Jon , what kind of issues were you experiencing? We've been hitting on and off outside for the last hour and haven't had any problems (aside from the frost-bite and mild hypothermia).
Rahim is looking into some individual component specs and can report back shortly with some more technical information related to cold weather use.Comment
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That is me after playing sim in my cold garage.
my skytrak worked fine.Comment
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My ST is in a COLD external building and I often use it at a very few C above zero. I have never noticed any difference in performance (misreads etc.) of the unit (but my own performance varies until I warm up)Comment
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I have my ST setup in the attic of my parents house where they have about 15 feet of clearance between the floor and the roof. I live in CT so the temps get pretty cold. In the last ten days, 6 or 7 have been in the single digits Fahrenheit and that's during the day. So, brutally cold. It is, however better than last winter when I hit 100 balls a day at the range. The range has heated bays where I live, but being exposed to the wind when it is that cold out just sucks all the enjoyment out of it. The way I see it, 4 months of using the ST indoors should pay for itself in that I'm not racking up $400 a month in range ball fees on my credit card. Plus I'm hitting 2 to 3 times as many balls. Anyway, regarding the cold and the performance of the ST under frigid conditions:
In my experience, when it creeps below freezing a couple things happen.
1. I get a couple no reads
2. the amount of time between previous shot and the red dot laser appearing is increased significantly
3. (this is when I know to call it a day) I start getting all flights in the ST range app that are super duper high trajectory. Like, so high that it would take a loft wedge with a 45" shaft to hit the ball like this.
what I've done to resolve this situation:
1. I stuffed the metal protective case with memory foam to provide insulation for the ST(being careful not to block the camera field of view)
2. I setup a heating fan about 2 1/2 feet behind the ST. Far enough that I don't have too worry about overheating the ST.
Thoughts for ST manufacturers
-winterized electronic components are not much more expensive. It's probably worthwhile to address this issue, at least for future production. I'd be willing to pay $50 or $100 during the on season to send my ST away to have it winterized.
-rubberized and/or memory foam form built protective cases for ST. I hardly know anyone who doesn't use an otter box or some other type of protective impact resistant case for their cell phones and tablets. Why? They work. They absorb impact shock. I've got the metal protective case on my ST and I'm not to concerned about my ST taking an impact while I'm using it but every time I have friends and family use the ST I cross my fingers. Not only would some kind of memory foam/rubberized form built case give your ST better protection from impact, it would be better at protecting the ST from rain and keeping it warmer. Not to mention the cost of manufacturing would be a fraction of what it costs to make the metal cases. I'm actually considering having a form built case fabricated. Anyone out there have any experience with molds and 3d printing?Comment
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I thought I was suffering some cold issues a couple of hours ago... shots around 120 with my 5w.... Turns out it was the Old Granddad BiB.Comment
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economy style winterized ST
So far, insulating the ST has actually done the job. Well, that and having a small heat fan a few feet behind the ST. I had to call it quits 3 or 4 days in a row because of misreads and no reads caused by cold weather. The last two days,(temps in the teens and 20s) I used the ST for a few hours each day without any misreads. Now, all I need to do is get some insulation for my attic.Attached FilesComment
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If you really want to eliminate any possible cold related issues, perhaps a heated blanket would be worth experimenting with? I have never tried but I might some time this winter.Comment
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Lately my garage where I hit has been around 26. I keep my SkyTrak in the house and after about 45 mins of hitting in the garage I start to get no reads. If I continue to hit about a third of the shots won’t read.Comment
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Ironically after my last post about no issues, my unit finally started to act up. The battery itself is rated to 14° F, so we are guessing that is where things start going haywire. I noticed my unit dropping Wi-Fi, but shortly after the battery just went. However, after a full charge cycle indoors, it performed fine for 5 hours, so doesn't look like any damage was done to the battery. FYI also, Rapsodo had previously done a cold weather test for 2 hours at 0° C and found no issues. So, my very non-technical answer to this is, basically, try not to use it below freezing.Comment
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Unfortunately with ST, as is the case with all mobile devices using lithium ion rechargeable batteries, performance in below freezing weather is limited by the lithium battery. although most Lithium batteries are rated for operation as low as 14F, this is not to be taken as a hard limit, with moisture due to condensation causing great variability (testing conditions to arrive at this 14F limit usually does not add moisture as a variable). Insulating the unit in any way could be very helpful in ensuring consistent performance, but as the unit does not produce much heat itself, insulating may be futile in very cold temperatures. A custom winterized case could be helpful, but again would be useless in very cold temperatures due to not adequate self heating of the unit, unless there is some heating element built in. Isolated heating sources like blanket and heaters or even a winterized case with built in heating element will help to combat cold conditions, however, these could act as Isolated Infrared (IR) sources, and when placed in such close proximity to ST could in fact interfere with the IR imaging system of ST, but we would have to experiment know to the exact degree of interference.Comment
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So I am not having issues with battery, I am having issues with the ST reading shots after a certain amount of time the unit has been in the cold. If it’s only designed to work to a certain temperature that is fine. I will hit until the misreads start to happen. Really for me I was looking for confirmation that my unit wasn’t broken.Comment
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Clevited is correct, the battery is the voltage source (Energy source) which makes the unit work, if the power source is not performing reliably, then everything else is liable to run a muck. If a electric car's (no gas) battery is not performing reliably, all other functions of the car will be affected from turn signals to head lights to the swing of the wiper blades. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Question: "Really for me I was looking for confirmation that my unit wasn’t broken"
Answer: If the misreads only happen in a cold garage then nothing is wrong wit your unit. A quick way to verify is to somehow set it up in a warmer room.
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This would be a problem with the fogging of the optics. If the unit ST contains moisture, condensation occurs at low temperature.Originally posted by Steeltalons View Post
Allow the ST to "acclimatize", it means leaving the ST for a long time in the cold and then using it.
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