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*** Disclaimer ***
The fix for my Skytrak problem required me to disassemble the unit. I am out of warranty and this process would void any warranty that would have been in place. I am a software engineer with hardware expertise. I'm not suggesting that you attempt this unless you are fully confident I'm your abilities.
In other words... I'm not responsible for you breaking your Skytrak!
TL;DR: The laser curtains on these devices can fail prematurely. This will cause the skytrak to not read shots on either left or right hand mode but not both. It is possible to swap the left and right laser curtain which would allow shots to read in the opposite direction but not the other (i.e. if it's not reading right handed shots this would cause it to not read left handed shots and allow right handed to read)
The Problem
A few weeks ago my Skytrak stopped reading shots. Laser stayed red and no shot data was sent to TGC or the Skytrak app.
How Skytrak Works
Skytrak relies on two infrared (IR) laser curtains (aka trigger) that detects a ball flying into through it. One laser is for right mode shots and the other is for left hand mode shots. When these are triggered it fires off an IR led flash and takes two pictures which it then sends to the appropriate the app for processing.
Troubleshooting
I spent a few hours troubleshooting and found that the right hand laser curtain was defective. Here are the main points of interest that brought me to this conclusion
1. I found that my Skytak read left handed shots but not right handed ones.
2. Using a newer model smart phone you can see the IR's in action. I turned the camera on and watched some slow motion videos. The flash would trigger in left hand mode but not right.
3. The laser curtain that illuminates when in right hand mode was very dim while the left hand mode laser was considerably brighter.
Solution
I decided to take on the risk of dissecting my Skytak. I was no longer in warranty and too impatient to send the unit off. The plan was to attempt a swap of the two laser curtains which would make my unit a right handed only launch monitor. Things went as planned and I found that the two parts were interchangeable. The small screws that held sensors, pcb and various components were easily removed. The big challenge was the process of cracking open the case. Without knowing how the thing splits It was really tricky getting into it without breaking it.
After putting it all back together the unit has worked better than ever. I've had fewer miss reads where the red laser would stay on. The bummer is that we have a left handed son that cannot use it. It is likely that a replacement part could be found with enough searching. I failed to take a picture of the numbers on the laser itself so I'm afraid I would have to tare it down again to know what replacement laser diode would work as a replacement.
All-in-all, for me it was worth the risk to fix my problem and it was a fun project that I was able to use as a teaching experience for by kids.
The fix for my Skytrak problem required me to disassemble the unit. I am out of warranty and this process would void any warranty that would have been in place. I am a software engineer with hardware expertise. I'm not suggesting that you attempt this unless you are fully confident I'm your abilities.
In other words... I'm not responsible for you breaking your Skytrak!
TL;DR: The laser curtains on these devices can fail prematurely. This will cause the skytrak to not read shots on either left or right hand mode but not both. It is possible to swap the left and right laser curtain which would allow shots to read in the opposite direction but not the other (i.e. if it's not reading right handed shots this would cause it to not read left handed shots and allow right handed to read)
The Problem
A few weeks ago my Skytrak stopped reading shots. Laser stayed red and no shot data was sent to TGC or the Skytrak app.
How Skytrak Works
Skytrak relies on two infrared (IR) laser curtains (aka trigger) that detects a ball flying into through it. One laser is for right mode shots and the other is for left hand mode shots. When these are triggered it fires off an IR led flash and takes two pictures which it then sends to the appropriate the app for processing.
Troubleshooting
I spent a few hours troubleshooting and found that the right hand laser curtain was defective. Here are the main points of interest that brought me to this conclusion
1. I found that my Skytak read left handed shots but not right handed ones.
2. Using a newer model smart phone you can see the IR's in action. I turned the camera on and watched some slow motion videos. The flash would trigger in left hand mode but not right.
3. The laser curtain that illuminates when in right hand mode was very dim while the left hand mode laser was considerably brighter.
Solution
I decided to take on the risk of dissecting my Skytak. I was no longer in warranty and too impatient to send the unit off. The plan was to attempt a swap of the two laser curtains which would make my unit a right handed only launch monitor. Things went as planned and I found that the two parts were interchangeable. The small screws that held sensors, pcb and various components were easily removed. The big challenge was the process of cracking open the case. Without knowing how the thing splits It was really tricky getting into it without breaking it.
After putting it all back together the unit has worked better than ever. I've had fewer miss reads where the red laser would stay on. The bummer is that we have a left handed son that cannot use it. It is likely that a replacement part could be found with enough searching. I failed to take a picture of the numbers on the laser itself so I'm afraid I would have to tare it down again to know what replacement laser diode would work as a replacement.
All-in-all, for me it was worth the risk to fix my problem and it was a fun project that I was able to use as a teaching experience for by kids.
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