SkyTrak is nearly unplayable

[tljihaynes]

1) 100% no reads when trying to use the wedge matrix feature in both direct and network modes.
2) Very high % of no reads in TGC19 in network and direct modes. 75% no reads when trying a high lofted wedge shot.
3) I hit a nice 3 wood shot with the impact high on my screen. The ball in TGC19 goes straight up in the air for a total of ~30 yards.
4) TGC19 in network mode works better but the SkyTrak unit will disconnect during the round, 100% disconnect by whole 3, and cannot be reconnected. In the prior version of TGC you could easily reconnect by going to the desktop and clicking reconnect in the TGC pop-up box. In TGC19 the pop-up box is not there and when you click on the icon to open the TGC pop-up box it says its already running. The only way to reconnect is to close TGC19. You will lose the round you were playing for all guest players except for the master account player.

The SkyTrak is level and is at the height of my hitting mat. I have a reasonably fast PC (GeForce 1070, AMD Ryzen 5 3600).

I bought a SkyTrak unit in 2016, sold it and then just bought my second SkyTrak unit in July 2020. My original unit had issues but they were not to this degree. I'm regretting not buying the Meevo+, but maybe it's even worse.

I'm at a loss for what to do especially given covid's impact on hardware availability, repairs and replacements. It was so frustrating tonight that my family chose to quit playing and watch a movie instead.

[ganders75]

1-3 defo sounds environmental to me. Your SkyTrak might be broken, but it might also just be picking up something else in the field of view which is IR reflective. What you’re seeing is not people’s normal experience. Could it be picking up the club in shot? Change what you’re wearing, clothes and shoes can sometimes be an issue. Be aware of the background behind the golfer, what is there that it might see? Is the mat itself causing a problem? Try taking it to a different room and hit some 25% shots off the carpet, does it pick all those up? Try taking the unit to a shady section of your local range (or at night, if poss), does it pick up all shots there?

...it’s important to understand how the unit functions so that you can address your environment and give it optimal conditions. There is a laser curtain which triggers the unit to flash an IR strobe and capture pictures with the camera when it calculates the ball will be in the FoV. Anything else in that same picture which comes up under IR light will mean that the unit will struggle to identify a clear ball. your issues with no reads and misreads seem classic for an environmental problem. Using a night vision trail camera can be useful to see how various things come up under IR light, the results can be surprising.

4 is your internet dropping out, or being throttled by your ISP. Try a free VPN like ProtonVPN and see if it improves. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to try and fix it at home. TGC is extremely sensitive to packet loss - a poor connection for a split second will force a disconnect even when the PC looks like it’s connected to the net.

[3on3putt]

Sounds like the no-read issues are with higher lofted shots. Wedges work best when the ball is slightly in front of the red dot (closer to the target). If I hit wedges with the ball on or behind the dot I get a lot of no reads. But about a half inch in front of it produces reads every time.

[pcascio]

You're getting good advice IMO. I agree that it sounds environmental. One thing I always keep in mind is that the Skytrak is a camera-based tool, anything that would effect exposure can be a potential problem. The subject is a white ball, so overly bright locations seem especially bad as they reduce contrast.Yes, the ST uses infrared, but common lighting has some infrared.

Also, I would experiment with the minor height adjustments of your ST since the problem is with wedges.

[3on3putt]

Also try setting up the ball so the logo is facing the unit. In my experience it doesn't make a huge difference except for wedges and driver. I always make sure to set the logo facing the camera with those shots.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

I have to agree with the above. That many no-reads and something has to be amiss in the environment. Do you have anything reflective/shiny behind you? Are you using a mat with high pile (ie Fiberbuilt? Sometimes those long strands can be very reflective to the camera). The connectivity issues also seem network related. Is your computer hard-wired to your modem? That might be worth a shot. If you are able to do that, then you can still connect the SkyTrak to the computer wirelessly in direct mode with the same result as network mode.

[Morini]

1&2: If no reads are drastically higher for wedges, most likely the unit is sitting too low. Try raising it a bit. Also, as mentioned, move the ball forward (towards screen) and inch. If that doesn't do it, also move it one inch closer to the unit. In case you hit your wedges extremely high, keep in mind, that it won't read much higher than 45 degrees.

3. That is a known bug in TGC2019 whenever the ball is on an upslope. As I am sure you are aware, TGC2019 is an arcade game at heart. You would see the same result on GC2 or Quad, so annoying, but not a skytrak issue per se.

4. It is unfortunate that it disconnects. The problem could be between your Skytrak and router, or between router and internet. I assume you tried USB. In any case, you can re-connect by clicking on the TGC interface in the system tray. You should not have to re-start the game and lose your round.

[tljihaynes]

I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I plugged the SkyTrak into a surge protector using a cell phone plug. I'm now able to connect in network mode and the last two nights it did not disconnect while playing TGC19. My USB connection causes the top light to flash red so I believe it has a short but I'm fine using my network mode workaround. I still have issues where it won't read numerous consecutive shot attempts. It may be a coincidence but if I change the club in TGC19 it will sometimes read the shot.