SkyTrak Missing Shots

[IowaCat89]

Hello Everyone,
SkyTrak newbie here. I've been using a brand new SkyTrak with FMJ enclosure for about 3 weeks. I have the E6 software loaded also (30 day trail). I'm using a CCE hitting strip that is surrounded by carpet (medium plush, light brown color). Sometimes I get good readings, especially when I first start up the equipment (using network mode now, but have used the others also). On a couple of occasions it has picked up almost every shot until about shot 40 to 60 using the SkyTrak software, then it started missing over half the shots. It almost seems like the unit starts having issues after it warms up?

Yesterday I ran an experiment and started the unit up with the E6 software. It was missing nearly half the shots right from the start. Switched back to the SkyTrak software and it worked much better, but still missing some shots. Playing the E6 simulator seems to work for.a few holes, then the misses become so common that you can't hardly continue. Putting is nearly unusable most of the time (misses about 75% of the time).

I am inclined to think I have a defective unit, but I would like to get some second opinions before I return it. Not much point in sending it back if I need to fix my setup. Could you guys give me some tips to try? Thanks

[IowaCat89]

Never had an issue with mine. For me, I used an old router that only had a 2.4Ghz band. It was hard wired to my main router and the only thing connected to the wifi signal on it was the skytrak with a password that followed the skytrak requirements. It was probably about 20' away from the skytrak with a wall between it. It was used exclusively in network mode. If you have an old router, it may be worth a shot. Even if you have a dual band, i think you can name the 2.4 and 5 differently and then connect only to the 2.4.

So I turned the 5GHz wifi off and went back to Network mode. I made sure the IPv6 was disabled. It seems the hard reset may have helped? I finally ran out of energy and it was reading all of the shots except for the ones that I topped. I don't think it will ever read a topped shot for some reason? I'm still not convinced it is going to be reliable, but I am starting to think the missed shots are related to communication issues.

[Morini]

It is the most likely candidate when issues are intermittent. The photometric components generally work or don't work.

[wbond]

It's usually always a connection issue until a laser curtain goes out on the device.

[IowaCat89]

In my experience, wired always beats wireless for reliability, but USB mode does not seem to be an advantage for this devise. I bought an active USB 2 cable that is supposed to allow longer distances, but the PC seems to continuously connect and re-connect when I plug it in. The short cable that came with it will connect fine, but the performance does not seem to be any better than in network mode. One thing that I have not experimented with very much is running off battery vs plugged in and charging. I just assumed plugged in was better, but I had good luck yesterday on battery. Probably makes no difference?

[Llamma]

My Experience is that the Skytrak is easily susceptible to interference, as you have said you haven't tried it on Battery, we have found that running it on Battery, and direct wireless to the PC, is the best, you still get the occasional mis-read, but nowhere near the levels you are experiencing.

Other people have posted about using high quality filtered power strips to help cut down on EM interference, this might be another option for you to try,

The worst thing about running on battery is remembering to plug it back in when you are not playing, we get a good 6-8 hours out of ours.

[Wizard of Coz]

Yeah I thought the same but I think mine works better in wireless mode vs usb.

[IowaCat89]

Ok fellas I have an update for you. I feel like a dummy. When I first got the SkyTrak I was out of town and didn't use my hitting mat and net. I simply went out in the yard and made sure it worked using the iPhone app and then a PC laptop. Evidently when I hooked the iPhone up I told it to remember the SkyTrak network. Fast forward a few weeks and I installed the screen, projector, etc. and started hitting with my current setup and PC. I think the root cause of the intermittent missing of shots is the unit connecting to my iPhone. I typically have it in my pocket, but never use it with the SkyTrak app. Tonight I was struggling to get the unit to read my shots. When it did read them, it took forever. The red light would come on most of the time, but often after a long pause the red light would go back to green and no shot would be registered. I decided to check my wifi and pulled out my iPhone and it had automatically connected to the SkyTrak. I think the launch monitor was confused on which device to send the data to. Sometimes it would work, but I would consider it unusable.

I told my iPhone to forget the SkyTrak network and went into Network mode and it immediately started working fine. I shanked a few shots off that it missed, but it registered nearly every decent shot. I would guess that my iPhone was connecting to the wifi router most of the time, which probably didn't cause a problem. Then, for some reason if it connected to the SkyTrak I would start missing shots like crazy. It never occurred to me that it could be the phone sense I always use the PC when I'm hitting.

That's my current theory. I will know more in a few days, but hopefully the random missed shots are a thing of the past!

[Michael_P]

Many thanks to IowaCat89. I was going absolutely crazy trying to figure out why I had such horrible odds on my new (yesterday) Skytrak actually responding to the strike. I would place the ball properly, do the strike and the red LED light would go out. About a minute later it would again show the spot for my ball. The practice mode on the Skytrak showed no indication of a ball strike. Cat's comment on the network made me take that path in trouble-shooting the issue. I ran speedtest.net and discovered my internet speed was horrible and unstable. I switched from my routers 2 GHz link to the 5 GHz link and never missed another shot.

[IowaCat89]

Welcome to the forum Michael_P. Glad my posts were helpful. Best of luck with your new toy!

[IowaCat89]

After a few more weeks of use I thought I would give another update. I have adopted a practice of always shutting the PC down after each use of the simulator. By always starting a session with a fresh computer boot up, I get along pretty well. After a while, if I start missing shots, I will swing the club through the laser curtain until the upper green light reliably turns red. This might take a minute or so. When the red light starts working, the unit has a good chance of working correctly. If this happens too often, I completely re-boot everything and start over.

I have concluded that the communications between the PC and the SkyTrak is the place to concentrate when performance is poor. I have the best luck with Network mode. The SkyTrak can only use 2.4 Ghz and it appears to be N band. I have assigned a static IP to the SkyTrak inside my router and given it the highest priority of all devices. The PC (Windows 10 Pro with I7 processor) is connected to the router with Ethernet cable. The faster the WAN connection the better, but a rock solid local network seems to be critically important.

[IowaCat89]

I noticed that when the SkyTrak started missing shots that a Microsoft program was running and using over 10% of the CPU. I could not kill it in Task Manager. The program was called Microsoft software protection. So, I did a little Google searching and found a way to kill it:

1. Click Windows key and type msconfig.
2. Click System Configuration and open Services tab.
3. Hit Disable all.

I did the above steps with the SkyTrak running. With that done, the SkyTrak worked perfectly. However, the computer was nearly worthless after a restart (no internet, no audio, etc.). So, I repeated the steps above and Hit Enable all. The SkyTrak now works perfectly. I've hit hundreds of shots and it gets every single one. It's a completely different user experience. My theory is that some of the services were corrupted and just needed to be stopped and started to get them functioning correctly again. This seemed to impair the communications between the computer and the SkyTrak

As always, you mileage may vary, but this is certainly worth a try if your SkyTrak seems inconsistent when registering shots.

[Burtgolf]

This is the type of post that makes me wish there was a "RESOLVED" option to put in front of the title like the For Sale and Sold so that when people are having issues that can check to see what others did to fix the issue.

Glad you found happiness with your new SkyTrak and hope any others with the similar issue find this just as useful!!

[IowaCat89]

That would be great, but I would go one step further and add a Sticky topic to the top just for tips to de-bug your computer. Until you have had computer issues, it's hard to appreciate how frustrating it is. Most folks are going to blame the SkyTrak before the computer, especially on Windows issues that are rather obscure, like Microsoft services. I was seriously considering a GC2 due to the complete lack of reliability I experienced. When it's working correctly, the SkyTrak delivers a tremendous "bang for the buck" to the average golfer.

[GungHoGolf]

I noticed that when the SkyTrak started missing shots that a Microsoft program was running and using over 10% of the CPU. I could not kill it in Task Manager. The program was called Microsoft software protection. So, I did a little Google searching and found a way to kill it:

1. Click Windows key and type msconfig.
2. Click System Configuration and open Services tab.
3. Hit Disable all.

I did the above steps with the SkyTrak running. With that done, the SkyTrak worked perfectly. However, the computer was nearly worthless after a restart (no internet, no audio, etc.). So, I repeated the steps above and Hit Enable all. The SkyTrak now works perfectly. I've hit hundreds of shots and it gets every single one. It's a completely different user experience. My theory is that some of the services were corrupted and just needed to be stopped and started to get them functioning correctly again. This seemed to impair the communications between the computer and the SkyTrak

As always, you mileage may vary, but this is certainly worth a try if your SkyTrak seems inconsistent when registering shots.

Good discussion here on perhaps a more targeted strategy to suspend just the offending service:

https://superuser.com/questions/1244731/microsoft-software-protection-platform-service-high-cpu-usage/1318015#1318015

[IowaCat89]

That's a nice find. If I start having issues again I will start down this path.