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My initial testing, pros, cons and what needs changing/ adding in the software

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  • My initial testing, pros, cons and what needs changing/ adding in the software

    Well, overall I'm very impressed with the item and looking forward to testing it on the range, rather than hitting into a net. Listed below my initial observations results from a bit of gap testing in the yard:

    Pro's:
    App works fine most of the time, using iPad Air 2
    Syncing in Network mode has been instantaneous for me (very impressive), I'll hit 20 shots outside, come indoors then I can go on-line and copy and paste the shot table in excel, this has worked every single time
    Ball flight looks pretty accurate, maybe a little bit more draw than I would normally expect
    Delay isn't a problem for me, by the time I've tee'd up again the shot is being displayed
    It's bloody addictive!
    Visual software looks good

    Con's
    Carry distances seem about 5-7% low for all clubs, or the mat I use to hit off puts some kind of drag on the club or ball, it's not a pro mat I'm using, basically artificial grass on a wooden board (very firm) - has anyone else had similar issues?
    Shot list in history and on website shows the last shot as "shot 1", the last shot should be the highest number ie shot 27 out of 27. The first shot of the set should be "shot 1", as it was!
    Why does the side and top view go to 475 yards (about 0.0000001% can reach this), when my practice session is with a wedge?
    Roll doesn't seem to be enough, but I don't pay much attention to roll anyway
    Have to keep entering password on login screen, this is annoying, even though I've clicked "remember me"
    Drains iPad Air 2 battery extremely quickly (but I understand it's working hard in Network mode)
    How are you meant to clean the laser aperture/ lens?
    Practice time in stats is ridiculously high
    Sessions graph goes to 100, that's a bit optimistic. I used it for 6 hours yesterday, and the graph still isn't above 10% (ie 10 sessions)
    I know club head speed is calculated but it's basically estimating my smash factor as 1.35 with a 7i on all shots, which is pretty much impossible unless you're a pro (I'm not)

    What is needed:
    Ability to delete shots
    Data on app shows 10 items, on the Sky Golf 360 site it shows 9 (Side angle is missing, we could do with this)
    Side and top view should be plotted on a graph that suits the session, ie if hitting 100 yard shots, the graph should be 120 yards long etc (or be able to zoom in)
    Centre line on and 5/10y dispersion lines on side and top view
    Dispersion circle/ grouping on top view (like GC2 does)
    Need more clubs GW, ULW and "others"
    Needs a cover, or something to at least cover the charging port (hitting off a mat can spray dirt onto the open chagrin port/ front, this will no doubt cause a future problem).
    Should be able to hit shots with alignment mode on
    Should be able to set your own "default" practice session criteria (ie elevation and temp, rather than it defaulting to 70 degrees and 500ft and having to change it every time)
    Some kind of combine, like with Trackman etc

    Most of these should be pretty simple to sort out, and should be more of a priority than sim software and putting etc

  • #2
    Very nice write up. I think the "default" session save would be something that would have been obvious from the start of app development.

    When you're hitting your shots outside as you stated in your post are you in direct mode? My unit seems to have problems syncing anything done in direct mode and then bringing the ipad back inside. I have more scenario testing to do with it but I'm having to much fun hitting the net rather than trying to troubleshoot!

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    • #3
      I use network mode every time, it's worked great in all honesty. Looking at the issues everyone has had I'm going to avoid direct mode

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Wev View Post

        Most of these should be pretty simple to sort out, and should be more of a priority than sim software and putting etc
        Wev, Not sure if you know this or not but you are at www.golfsimulatorforum.com www.ihitintoanetallwinter.com is an entirely different place.

        We actually play golf on this site. So with that said NOTHING is more important than accurate simulation.

        Nice write up. Just don't agree with the last part. But just hang in there, smiles are just around the corner.

        Protee
        CST Time zone

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        • #5
          I agree Hoosierdaddy. Simulation, gameplay, putting is important. You need to try it and play on the tours.

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          • #6
            Haha, fair enough I see where you're coming from and what I said might have been misconstrued a bit. I couldn't care less about sim courses (at the minute) to be honest though, not while there are such other glaring problems with the product. But it might be fun with the guys in the future. The product needs to walk before it can run and this forum seems to get the best response from SkyTrak and has the most users, which is good, and my reason for joining.

            Range simulation and yardage testing (done properly) is what I want and accurate numbers and analysis are what will sell the most units, which is what SkyTrak are aiming at I expect. Most likely buy this product as a cheaper alternative to GC2 as they don't want to be spending another 2k which is what all the simulation stuff is likely to cost?

            I'm a member of a course so when I want to play golf I go there (about 5 times a week) The idea is this simulates my swing during home practise so I get better playing real golf. Simulating putting and shots out of the rough on a perfect lie don't make much sense to me(I think it may even make you worse), but that's fine if you all like that I would just prefer more accurate range simulation with real ball data in normal controlled conditions, but it's each to their own, I understand that.
            Last edited by Wev; 07-07-2015, 12:39 AM.

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            • #7
              Also I would say 95% of my issues should be fairly simple to sort out (most are probably being worked on), so it would make sense to do these first?

              I would say inaccurate simulation could be bad for anyone's game, and you would be less likely to notice this until you had confidence in the systems basics?

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              • #8
                Not to be a negative nancy, but I don't see any changes like those listed coming anytime soon, unless there has been LOTS of behind the scenes that the public doesn't know about.

                SkyTrak is great for what it is, but I just don't see them keeping up with all these promises that have been on this board. We are now in July. Just saying.. To me it almost seems like this is a beta release of a product when in fact it's not. I mean do we even know what the $100 subscription was other than a dozen bridgestone's?

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                • #9
                  I would say they pretty much have to sort it, as most would read this board before purchase? This will certainly effect sales, as it's half the cost of GC2 and flightscope but it's also a beta/half a product at the minute. Thing is the developers know what they're doing and a lot of this can be sorted in a couple of days work(my best mate is an iOS developer). Obv the combine, flight model and sim course would take more time.

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                  • #10
                    Hi guys

                    Im not so sure that Skytrak is going to put a too much work into their software. To be honest, there is no reason to. Once the integration with E6 comes, most people wont use the Skytrak range. I have E6 and I much prefer that driving range software over Skytraks and I will use the E6 for both play and practice .

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                    • #11
                      One benefit of app stores are the ability to rapidly iterate. Something like the option to save altitude settings in the range section should have hammered out in a x.1 release very very easily.
                      The hardware and its performance is one thing, but the software is the ultimate window to its capabilities, and the U.S. Team has been woeful in that regard.

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                      • #12
                        Got to admit that I have not been too keen on SkyTrak simply because of the very poor roll-out and poor customer support as well as limited platform integration (as in no PC interface). And like some of the previous posters, I just don't see very much progress happening. Judging from the number of posts on this site, 80% of the traffic lately has to do with the SkyTrak, and most of it is about issues that should be handled by SkyTrak customer service.

                        The "early adopters" have been left hanging with a lot of promises and little else. Not a good time to get aboard this ship!

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                        • #13
                          I think as far as accuracy goes apparently it's not far off the Flightscope Xi and GC 2, close enough for the current price anyway. But the software has some very primitive issues, which having had programming experience are really not a big deal to sort out. Why on earth does the range view go to 475 yards? Whose idea was this? why are there no dispersion lines?

                          To be honest I love the product in theory (not sure whether to fully trust it until I do some proper testing) but the app does seem a bit "half baked", which is quite a annoying considering it's been out about 9 month and tested for a lot longer than this.

                          If they keep improving it they can gain a good market share but if they're not active sorting out the primitive stuff people will certainly hold back.

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                          • #14
                            So I am going to give my opinion on a lot of what many of you have written, and let me first say that I am not saying I am correct or anything, but this is my opinion based on my background/expertise.

                            First, many of the suggestions Wev posted should be fixed and should not take that long, things like the password saving when you click the "save password" checkbox to random stats like practice time to being able to delete shots are very reasonable and minimal tasks, I read above that someone said there friend is an iOS Developer, I am also a developer who has worked with various languages and has worked with various databases, these are very barebones tasks that should have been fixed by now.

                            In terms of simulation, I will probably buy it and have fun with it, but I think the one thing to consider is if I hit the ball off into the rough, it's hard for me to simulate that with my golf mats, I have a perfect scenario for tee shots, fairway shots, and putting, but I don't have sand or rough in my home setup. But, it will be nice to see certain scenarios like seeing the flag is 40 yards away and the front is 30 yards and back of the green is 45 yards, so I can adjust my swings for various scenarios instead of thinking of it in my head during a range session.

                            In terms of the SkyTrak product, I enjoy it, I spent a lot of money on it just like y'all, and it really is a beta product and I think most of us knew that, and it seems there is little to no support, I tried talking to some chat support and they don't know much at all about it and last week I asked a question and after 30 minutes I got a response saying they weren't sure and I would have to call.

                            The SkyTrak range is very beneficial, the fact is it is accurate, other tests with the first-class devices such as Trackman and GC2 have shown it to be accurate, and I have used it on the range in person and it was matching the same path and distances. And so this is why I see the range as a huge selling point, if I go to the driving range, I will see the same things as I do with the SkyTrak for the most part, versus simulation has so many random factors as I posted such as course conditions to surface types that I don't have, it will still be useful, but to have an accurate range at home and able to practice a lot more than just when I have some time to go the range is great. This device is to help your game, make adjustments, and be able to use unlimited balls and know that the data/ball path is correct, and then go out and play the real game on a real course. I hope SkyTrak starts pulling some more updates, but the small adjustments for their data syncing, deleting entries, and all this small things should have been fixed, to people saying they aren't important, they are very simple tasks in terms of development, it's actually embarrassing on their part.

                            Last I will just say I did not write all of this to bash SkyTrak, but to hopefully give some suggestions, I wouldn't have shelled out thousands of dollars for this device if I didn't want it to succeed, if it doesn't, I won't be getting my money back. I have posted various videos of the device on YouTube and will post more, and hopefully we see some new features ASAP.

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                            • #15
                              Great report, agree with all of that, pretty much word for word.

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