Skytrak laser turning off and on

[Kitemac]

Just got a skytrak. The laser will put the dot out then take it off every second or so. Hooked up a wireless extender and was working for a bit and then kept doing the same problem. Put it in usb mode and still did the same. Have plenty of lighting in my garage I think. Only things I changed to my knowledge was the mat and it going through a PC instead of a IPad. Any help would be appreciated.

[Kitemac]

Wow just spent hours on this problem. Connected it usb. Connected it directly. Moved it off the new mat. Took it out of the metal case. Installed a network extender. Aligned it differently. Installed new software on the pc. Tried an iPad. Tried different ball placement (knew that had no chance but I was desperate). Tried no lights. Tried all lights. Tried light from my phone right on top of the laser (thought that was it). Eventually I turned off the plasma tv across from it almost giving up and thinking it was the LM. Figured out somehow it didn’t like the plasma screen directly across from the laser output 10 feet away. Maybe this will help someone else...

[Morini]

Good to hear you got it working. Skytrak has its own IR light source, and would work fine in the dark. Extra light can only hurt, but of course you need enough to see. Any direct light source hitting sensors will interfere.

[gmbtempe]

Ok, so I am not alone. Got mine in on the 10th of August and just got everything hooked up.

Laser seems to go in and out. Completely random, could not recreate it. My buddy has had one for 2 years, says his never goes out and he has 1 misread per 100 shots. I had several out of the first 20 I hit.

I assume it was a bad connection with WIFI so now have a dedicated wired router sitting 2 feet away. Going to see how it goes tonight. I am also going to mess with the lighting.

I have a LCD tv right in front of me and will also try it with that turned off.

[Morini]

Try a direct connection. Absolutely no reason that should not work. Do you mean laser goes in and out on its own? Nobody near the unit? Generally, the laser curtain needs to be triggered for it to go out.

[GungHoGolf]

I've only seen that happen in the case of static electricity involving the USB cable, and wrapping the SkyTrak end of the cable in black electrical tape where it passes through the metal case can help.

[gmbtempe]

I put it in direct mode and it seems to be working a bit better. I dont think this is a lighting or TV issue, today it worked better in dang near outdoor light. I am also dubious that it is a connection issue.

I have three green lights then laser disappears and top light goes red, usually comes back after a second or so. I do believe for the most part its when I go to get into my stance, or take a little practice waggle, that for whatever reason it is confusing the unit.

I know what to look for now so I am not wasting swings but need to figure out why this happens so frequently.

Going to try it without the unit being plugged into the charger, also going to try it with a direct USB connection to PC to see if that does anything.

When the laser is on with the three lights I do not get a misread very often.

[GungHoGolf]

Direct USB connection to PC is usually most reliable, and the method I use always.

[alexsmith11]

What do your shoes look like? I had my white golfs shoes on once and found that moving my feet to get into position made the top light go red as if i took a practice swing.

[Morini]

If it is when you take your stance, you are likely triggering it. Either your shoes (as mentioned) or your waggle triggers the laser curtain. Try not waggling to see if goes away.

[Kitemac]

So update on this for me. Since I moved the tv, it works perfectly. Obviously a few times there is no read when someone skunks a ball or tops it’s badly (have a few beginners). Outside of that when I moved the tv and the light source directly across from the screen it works amazing. Love this thing after a lot of heartache. I do have a lot of ball holes on top of my garage but oh well I need a net or something on top.

[Kitemac]

If it is when you take your stance, you are likely triggering it. Either your shoes (as mentioned) or your waggle triggers the laser curtain. Try not waggling to see if goes away.

It was doing the laser off without anyone in front of it in my case. I have noticed if someone has a waggle but it comes up pretty quick after the waggle

[Kitemac]

What do your shoes look like? I had my white golfs shoes on once and found that moving my feet to get into position made the top light go red as if i took a practice swing.

Really good info as I’m playing with no shoes on my mat currently. Thank you

[gmbtempe]

I appreciate everyone that has contributed to the thread, it helps.

So I spent all Sunday cleaning out the junk that needed to be organized behind me that was in line with the Skytrak. I figured this was a good Troubleshoot starting point. I am pretty much 100 percent finished with my garage in my Phase 1 of getting the cage constructed, installing a TV, mat, essentials basically to practice.

The laser is pretty much figured out from the standpoint that I know what triggers it before the swing, its essentially the club crossing the laser beam or getting into the shot path in a waggle. I honestly did not see it diseappear much, within tolerance.

But holy cow, 48 registered shots, 24 unregistered. Problem seem to get worse when I switched from 9 iron to 7 iron. Its to the point that after I hit it my first thing is to look down to see if I still see 3 green lights or if I see a red which always registered a shot.

I guess on to troubleshooting #2, going to try all different shoes. I am also going to start out with say a 5 iron and see if the club and ball speed have anything to do with it, I cant imagine it does.

I did try it with TV on and TV off, and with more light and less light. Will have research light here for suggestions.

Not giving up but pretty frustrated. Right now would be a tough product to recommend. I am sure its something I am doing reading all the reviews.

[gmbtempe]

Well figured it out, I think,

I had to do a hard reset due to getting it stuck in network mode. Decided to see if was the case and set it on the same platform I had been using without the metal case. It sat lower of course. Hit 30 shots, not one misread.

So is it the case? No. Added case but this time I got it to the same level as without the case, which was easily an inch lower than before. 30 more shots, not a single misread..

So it could have been the hard reset...but likely I had the unit too high. I guess in the case I must not have realized I had it too high, lowering it I believe was the issue. I was about to send the dang thing back because I had hit 20 shots with only 8 reads before it and was in panic mode.

Hope this helps someone down the road.

[GungHoGolf]

Well figured it out, I think,

I had to do a hard reset due to getting it stuck in network mode. Decided to see if was the case and set it on the same platform I had been using without the metal case. It sat lower of course. Hit 30 shots, not one misread.

So is it the case? No. Added case but this time I got it to the same level as without the case, which was easily an inch lower than before. 30 more shots, not a single misread..

So it could have been the hard reset...but likely I had the unit too high. I guess in the case I must not have realized I had it too high, lowering it I believe was the issue. I was about to send the dang thing back because I had hit 20 shots with only 8 reads before it and was in panic mode.

Hope this helps someone down the road.

Having the unit too high (usually by leaving the adjustable feet in the default position, and setting case on same mat the ball is on) is probably the #1 cause for no-reads. Glad you figured it out. Have to reverse those feet if the case is going on the same mat.

[Morini]

Yes, height is number one reason. Always check height before going after all the other low probability causes. If some trajectories work better than others, it is almost guaranteed height.

[deepakvrao]

Thanks guys,

Old thread, but I have the same issue. I dont think it is too high, but will lower it. No misreads, but the top led turns red for a few seconds. Usually just before I pull up the next ball onto the mat.

[SkyTrak_Jordan]

As stated above check the height of the unit. If it is too high, this will cause some issues. If you are using SkyTrak indoors with a USB connection static is a big issue this time of year.