New purchase, home setup questions

[rbarthle17]

So after getting back an iPad I had lent out for a while, I was able to pull the trigger on the blemished unit! Once a PC/Mac version comes out I will be switching to that. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions about the setup. My hitting bay is in my garage. I have a Monster Tee mat, but it has to sit on some plywood to be leveled because the garage floor is sloped to a drain in the middle of the floor (right under the mat actually). To that end, does the Skytrak unit need to be sitting at the same height as the top of the mat, or can it be a little lower?

[Bubba22]

Try and have the unit level and a the same height. Alignment is also critical for accurate results.

[rbarthle17]

Try and have the unit level and a the same height. Alignment is also critical for accurate results.

Thanks. Knew about the alignment, bought a bubble level to help with that. Interested in whatever case Skytrak is coming up with for this.

[rbarthle17]

So from the "this might be a dumb question" department, does the unit have to run only on a battery? Can it run plugged in? Would that affect the battery life in any way? My setup would allow me to do that without an issue in terms of the cord being out of the way.

[apljb]

Pretty sure that was dealt with several times in the original loooooooong Skytrak thread.

AFAIK, the unit doesn't charge when turned on and runs off the internal battery, so, leaving it plugged in does absolutely nothing of any use.

On, works off battery, doesn't recharge if plugged in
Off, doesn't work (in the sense of as a launch monitor), plugged in, does recharge

[TWiG]

Think I read somewhere that the battery life is 8 hours, if you can continually swing for that you have a back of steel

[DeaconBlooze]

That would certainly make this less viable for commercial applications.

[rbarthle17]

AFAIK, the unit doesn't charge when turned on and runs off the internal battery, so, leaving it plugged in does absolutely nothing of any use.

That is interesting, and good to know. I'll try to look through the thread but was it ever discovered how many cycles the battery has in it before it starts losing the ability to hold a charge? And is the battery replaceable? Thinking long term here.

[SimAddict]

Think I read somewhere that the battery life is 8 hours, if you can continually swing for that you have a back of steel

I don't know where you read 8 hours but I'm 95% sure the manual that came with the unit said 5 hours. I haven't hit for 5 hours straight but I have used it multiple times without charging to see how long the battery will last and I would say the 5 hour run time is a little generous. The manual does suggest to charge after each use so it's possible 5 hours is accurate I'm just sharing what I have found with mine. Regardless though it is more than enough battery life for me.

[TWiG]

Sorry my mistake 5 hours.....

[SkyTrak_Seth]

You can keep the unit running on power for much longer than just battery. It does get a trickle charge. Certainly all day.

[SimAddict]

You can keep the unit running on power for much longer than just battery. It does get a trickle charge. Certainly all day.

Will this degrade the battery fastery? Keeping it plugged in while in use would be ideal especially for simulation use.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Not really. The best way to degrade the battery is to leave it in a closet for months without ever charging it. But to be safe, I would recommend running it down every once in awhile so that it can get a full charge cycle.

[SimAddict]

Not really. The best way to degrade the battery is to leave it in a closet for months without ever charging it. But to be safe, I would recommend running it down every once in awhile so that it can get a full charge cycle.

Thank you for the reply seth

[Mazenblue]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site and have built a roughed in simulator that I can take to the cabin. Its 104 here now and a little hot for a round of golf. (even though it's a dry heat). I want to thank everyone for the information posted here, it was very valuable in setting up my simulator. I built the standard cage frame out of 1" pipe, the screen is a 12x10 from Carls in WI. Projector is a Benq MW621ST. I bought an Optishot 2 and a Skytrak. When the Optishot arrived I played so long I could not walk the next day.
The Skytrak well that's another story. When it works, it works great. Just like other posts it won't sync and yesterday it lost all of my data after a 2 hour practice session. Support has been horrible. I know that it is a new product, but the company needs to take about 30 minutes and train their support staff. I received more information last night by reading posts than I did with hours of phone calls and Chat support. I'm really torn about this product, I have only a couple of weeks before I send it back. I was about to order a GC2 when I discovered the Skytrak. Is the GC2 with sim $6000.00 better? I think the GC2 is over priced, but $2000 for something that does not work seems over priced too. Any thoughts?