SkyTrak Launch Monitor

[Maverick]

http://www.skytrakgolf.com/

iPad app:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/com.sporttrak.skytrak/id876548058?mt=8

[wilson]

Is 400' somewhat standard in terms of validity of the readings? Or just something that's relevant for Wilson? FWIW, I usually set mine to "0", just to keep it constant and be on the low side of carry distances.

I was adjusting for the Range in Florida I was at. Trying to make an apples to apples comparison. So I should set it to 39ft Elevation, 65*F Temperature, 80% Humidity, with 0 Wind. That would be very close to the session conditions at the time. As it warmed up (about 84*F) and the humidity got to near 95% with a slight SW (helping the draw) I got another 5-6 yards.

All this is fiddling though to mimic the day. But I 99% of the time leave it at 500ft, 70F and 50% Humidity for ease of compare. When they get the ability to save session settings i'll set my exact location and general temps for the season and it will stick. Right now i'm too lazy to keep doing it every time. They also may be thinking of adding an option to Geolocate you - so you'll always get todays weather and wind with the right altitude. but i digress....

I guess my point was - in the 60 balls I hit this morning with 8i, 6i and 3H they seemed to be within the margin for error I'd expect based on this past weeks 10 range sessions and multiple rounds.

[Agolfman]

Thanks for the follow up and explanation. I know I've probably been inconsistently applying range conditions, sometimes changing them manually, other times forgetting to do it, so I can't really say i've done it reliably.

I think you bring up a good point of understanding MoE in the reported results. If you factor in a less than pure strike plus the MoE, we should have slightly degraded expectations of our historical yardages vs a ST practice session, and not worry too much about the details.

A few hundred balls into using it, I realized that trajectories were more interesting than distances anyway. It's a changing paradigm for what one might be working on from one practice session to another (partial shot distance control, trajectories, spin rates, etc....).

[hks8888]

hks888 - please be very careful publishing charts like that. I've been running some of your data and one that jumped out was the line with ball speed of 106. Optimal Flight reports 142.0 when I run those numbers, not 143. Another thing to note is that SkyTrak rounds several of it's numbers, including ball speed and carry...

I really do appreciate the work you are doing by running that data, just need to double and triple check, as I can't have typos working against us, even if it's only 1 yard

I rounded up the numbers, so there must be a margin of error within 1 yard. The point of showing my data is educating ourselves on how to interpret the numbers.
A couple of yard difference (or 2-3% difference) doesn't bother me at all. Skytrak, OF and FTO all are resulting in differences and I do not believe that FTO is the golden standard. Therefore, it is important for me to learn where a difference could come from and how to interpret my numbers.

Since some of users in this forum complained about 10 yard deacrepancy, I wanted to illustrate where it could come from. Obviously, it is related to spin rates. Since there are wide range of individual differences in spin number, some people notice the distance shortage and some don't.

Again, my point is to get the best out of Skytrak. Instead of scratching their head when encountering some unexpected numbers, I just want people to make a logical interpretation on them, if it is not impossible.

[Boggie Golfer]

Oh no ST latest release is screwed up again....
hKS8888 thanks for all the hard work testing and analyzing the unit.

[hks8888]

Oh no ST latest release is screwed up again....
hKS8888 thanks for all the hard work testing and analyzing the unit.

I rather see it improving. It is not screwed up.

[Tekbud]

I rather see it improving. It is not screwed up.

I completely concur. Sorry in advance for the rant, but here goes <rant>

I'm no longer pull hooking a 9-iron 192 yards like I could do in the last update. Now things are MUCH more consistent. Like others, I am seeing a few yards shorter with my mids than I might usually expect, but everything is much more consistent. I turned up to FIRM to combat, but quickly turned back to normal as the numbers were really, really good. Now I've been using a cheap SC100 which I was happy with as far as distance goes, but obviously wasn't getting the info I needed to really work on my game into a net at home.

I'm fine with everything being what I conceive to be a few yards short. I will just look at the total yards as my carry yards and be enjoy my practice session. I'm hitting the ball really well right now, and I believe it has everything to do with skytrak usage over the winter. I think we're missing the forest through the trees a bit. A few yard difference will be easy to correct for skytrak if that's what they determine. Correcting those monster 9 irons was what I was growing concerned over. To think that once SIM came along i could miss a pulled 9 iron by 50 yards long was a bit disconcerting (left is one thing lol). Now I can adjust and play a few yards shorter (consistently). No worries. I also agree with the other guy that stated that things seem smoother to me, very consistent timing on my Ipad Air from shot to view. Not sure why, but it's better. Overall a GREAT update that has made this tool even more useful to me. Bring on the SIM and bring on your games!!!
</rant>

[Spudly]

I rather see it improving. It is not screwed up.

Definitley not screwed up, and a very nice improvement on the irons. I hit a good group with my 4,5,& 6 irons last night and the numbers are well within my target range much more than before. It is nice to see a company that not only is working hard to make sure their product is performing well, but also takes the time to listen to us here and respond.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Thanks everyone! We are always looking to make SkyTrak better. Your input makes it easier. Again, I would caution against picking a single flight model to compare against. Like hks8888 said and his chart shows, there are differences between us, OF, and FTO. There are additional differences between Trackman, AccuSport, and ForeSight flight models. As stated before, we checked and double checked with Trackman, OF, and Accusport because those are the three we believe to be the best and came out as a nice blend of all three. In the end, I think if you were to take SkyTrak out to a range with no wind, and laser someone standing at the point of impact...you'd be pleasantly surprised.

[apljb]

This is one of those famous, old-time, "long-time lurker, first-time poster" posts...

I've looked through this thread endlessly for months, since the original announcement, as it coincided with my looking for a launch monitor for a practice facility I was planning on constructing at the new home I was in the process of buying.

So, firstly, a big thanks to all the members and posters here, from whom I learned far more about Skytak than I could have found anywhere else; your info helped persuade me to buy a Skytrak a couple (or 3) months ago.

Unfortunately, that also coincided with a shoulder injury, so, for the past 2 months I 've been looking at a Skytrak in a box, just tempting me to break it out and start swinging, but knowing that there was no way in hell I could do so.

Finally, last weekend, I was able to get my facility up and working and get the Skytrak set up. I thought some of my learnings may help others, as yours have me.

So,

I first managed to get Skytrak to connect in Direct mode, but couldn't for the life of me get Network mode to work. I eventually traced it to a weak WiFi signal in my practice room; it was plenty strong enough to get the PC there to connect and the iPad, but Skytrak couldn't pick up the WiFi signal. I tested it with a portable hotspot in the same room and it worked like a charm. Solution, a £20 WiFi repeater in the same room providing a strong local WiFi signal. Works every time now.

In Network Mode, mine syncs flawlessly with SkyGolf 360. I know others have been having problems, but my unit syncs on opening (when I've used Direct Mode) and on closing when I exit a session. By the time I get back into my main area I can log in to SG360 and see the most recent session. I can't explain it, unless it's also connected to the quality of the signal?

The packaging and docs shipped with the system say it must be registered within 30 days. I only noticed that when I first opened the box and would have been dismayed to find I couldn't register. There was no such limitation. As soon as I got into Network Mode it registered fine about 70 days post-purchase.

(ahem) The software license requires a US Based purchase. I bought it in the US (where we have many business offices), but it works equally fine in the UK, as long as you have access to a US iTunes account.

I, too, am waiting for the PC version of the software (I've borrowed an iPad from a friend). A poster earlier was asking about displaying iPad apps on a PC / large screen TV. I had the same challenge. The (stupid) Apple cable to convert Lightning to HDMI is about £40 ($60), a ridiculous price for a cable (one of the reasons I want the PC version...). I found a $12 software app, Reflector, which acts as an iPlay client for a PC and allows you to mirror the iPad display to a PC and, thus, view on any screen connected to the PC. I have mine hooked up to a 42" Plasma TV over my hitting bay and it's waaaay cool !

On the subject of iPads, the iPad I borrowed was a 4th Generation iPad, thus, a generation behind that recommended in the specs. I can confirm that device works just fine. The delay to seeing on-screen is about 5-6 seconds, which sounds like a lot, but in practice it works fine and isn't a million miles away from some Trackman / Flightscope systems I've been on. For those trying to picture it, I hit the shot, the ball hits the net, bounces a couple of times, rolls back across the floor, I pick it up to replace it, just about as the red dot re-appears, and when I look up, the shot is coming up on the screen. Definitely not an issue for me.

I can't comment on accuracy of the flight model for me yet, as I'm still rehabbing the shoulder, but, against my SC-100, the ball speed was always dead on or varying by 1mph; The flight model looks about right, but, when I get a bit fitter, I have access to both a Trackman and a Flightscope, so, I'll probably check out the comparisons at some point, if only to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.

The one thing that does look slightly strange is my vertical launch angle, noticeably higher than I used to record on Trackman. I'll reserve judgement on that until I've had chance to compare.

The only thing I find somewhat difficult with the unit is aligning it correctly. I have it set up using alignment mode, but it looks to the eye like the unit points to the right of parallel to the target line. If I tried to set it up by eye, I'd be hopelessly off.

Other than that, one very, very, very happy camper.

[Dax]

Thanks everyone! We are always looking to make SkyTrak better. Your input makes it easier. Again, I would caution against picking a single flight model to compare against. Like hks8888 said and his chart shows, there are differences between us, OF, and FTO. There are additional differences between Trackman, AccuSport, and ForeSight flight models. As stated before, we checked and double checked with Trackman, OF, and Accusport because those are the three we believe to be the best and came out as a nice blend of all three. In the end, I think if you were to take SkyTrak out to a range with no wind, and laser someone standing at the point of impact...you'd be pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps when there is no one else hitting at the range right

[TripAces]

I first managed to get Skytrak to connect in Direct mode, but couldn't for the life of me get Network mode to work. I eventually traced it to a weak WiFi signal in my practice room; it was plenty strong enough to get the PC there to connect and the iPad, but Skytrak couldn't pick up the WiFi signal. I tested it with a portable hotspot in the same room and it worked like a charm. Solution, a £20 WiFi repeater in the same room providing a strong local WiFi signal. Works every time now.

In Network Mode, mine syncs flawlessly with SkyGolf 360. I know others have been having problems, but my unit syncs on opening (when I've used Direct Mode) and on closing when I exit a session. By the time I get back into my main area I can log in to SG360 and see the most recent session. I can't explain it, unless it's also connected to the quality of the signal?

apljb, Can you please clarify the Direct Mode and Network Mode experience referenced above?
Are you saying that Direct Mode also works flawlessly, and syncs all shots, and correctly displays each session of shots on the iPad under your Profile icon in the upper right of the main screen, under History, and under each Direct Mode session, when you click on each Direct Mode session, it opens up, and shows each every single shot recorded, with all details, and the Direct Mode session duration, and the number of shots listed are accurate?
Are you also saying that all your various Direct Mode sessions history of individual shots are also displaying correctly on the iPad immediately after the session is ended before any syncing is initiated? You need to be away from your wifi to use Direct Mode and specifically select Direct Mode, and connect the iPad to the SkyTrak ad hoc WiFi, for a true Direct Mode only connection.

[apljb]

No, sorry, that's not what I meant. I was referring to the synching with SkyGolf360 only.

To be clear, the synching with SG360 appears to work flawlessly, uploading all the shots I've hit from each session, whether I've been connected to the Skytrak in Network Mode, or Direct Mode - assuming I've made a subsequent Network Mode connection.

The shot data history on the iPad itself is non-existent, but I'm happy to believe Seth's comment earlier that this is a local database issue of bi-directional synching that should be fairly easily fixable in a future app update, given that all the data exists in the cloud.

In the meantime, if I want to look at and compare shot data history, I'm happy to scrape from SG360 into Excel to cross-compare - albeit, I'd like to see some of the other data points saved and published there, like spin axis.

(I'd also like to be able to edit the club used - I seem to be accumulating a lot of 100 mph ball speed driver swings, as I forget to change the club used from the default 'Driver' setting... )

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Perhaps when there is no one else hitting at the range right

Perhaps there was an umbrella involved

[SkyTrak_Seth]

You need to be away from your wifi to use Direct Mode and specifically select Direct Mode, and connect the iPad to the SkyTrak ad hoc WiFi, for a true Direct Mode only connection.

Not really...there's actually no reason to even go through the whole connection process in the app for direct mode. Once you know what you're doing, all you need to do is connect to the SkyTrak's wi-fi in your iPad settings, and then open the app - it will connect automatically in direct mode.

What I think you are saying though is that you don't want the app to have a chance to sync anything (ie true direct mode). In the case I presented above, this is a true direct mode connection. However, if I happened to be connected to my home Wi-Fi when I opened the app, it would sync (anything that hadn't been synced) immediately when I got to the dashboard.

Basically, and I think apljb can confirm, if there is data that needs to be synced (that is left over from previous direct mode connections), all you need to do is connect your iPad to the internet and open the app. Don't even need to have the unit on.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Hey guys, I'm really trying to be more involved here and I think this is a great resource...but what would you think about creating new threads for different subjects/issues? This is a great place for people to get information and solutions to problems, but I fear that all this great info may get buried in this all-inclusive massive thread. If you think this is a good approach, just start creating new threads for your specific questions/issues/praise/complaints/etc. It will make browsing and searching SOOO much easier.

-Seth