I'll give you the list followed by the details/explanation. Now, there may be more CONS than PROS, but that does not mean I don't love the device and what it continues to do for my game. I have used nothing other than Trackman Range in the past, so I cannot directly compare to other current devices/systems.
CONS:
1-It would help to know the size of the "window" through which the ball should pass to get the highest registration
2-It would help to know what light source works best and where it should be placed (make those plural if you like)
3-My guess is that your algorithm does not decelerate the ball's spin over time. It should if it does not, or it needs more decel if it's already in there.
4-The protective case (which came with my bundle) is 90% well thought out, but if bought at retail price I would expect more.
5-Side spin seems inaccurate the further the shot starts off the center line.
6-PLEASE get the manufacturer to use glass rather than plastic over the cameras
7-Graph on the "Stats" page is a mess. Months are off, weeks are not in order
8-"Waiting to Sync" constantly spins up top and idle CPU utilization is 12-15% for an i7 4600 class processor in Practice mode
9-Shot Plotting graph does not match shot data. Shot data says Ball Speed:149 Club Speed:102 Launch Ang.:12.1 Side Degrees:4.8 Backspin:2957 Offline yards:9 CARRY:246 TOTAL:262 yet the graph shows total distance of almost 275 and carry clearly over 250 yards (I do like the dots on landing and end position)
PROS:
10-At about $0.20 per ball on the range, I will have paid back my investment within a year
11-What Mike80 said above, though I would not say you have it "VERY" accurate in some cases...yet.
DETAILS: Software Ver.:2.1.1 Firmware Ver.:1.400 Range Settings: Normal for roll, No wind, 50% humidity, 1500ft, 72F
1-I have found that the lower the launch angle the further back (line of flight) from the red dot the ball needs to be (or the higher the ball needs to be teed above the dot). My 3 iron gets placed (off tee) about two inches behind the dot and my 52 Wedge is placed about an inch in front of the dot.
2-So far I have not used a DC powered light source, but have found that AC halogen 10-12 inches off the ground and just behind (again line of flight) the SkyTrak works best. I do not let the light hit the plastic "window" on SkyTrak.
3-Overall, I see less total bend in real life than I do on the virtual range. Importantly, that's on the shots that start more or less down the target line and that's with either a stolen range ball (sorry) or with Prov1 and Tour Preferreds. For instance, the shot in 9 above would not have curved back toward the middle as nicely as it did in the virtual world. It would have been more of a push IRL. This could also be a result of 5 below. Either way, something is a bit off.
4-It's a protective case. Where is the protection for the most critical part, the red plastic "window"? I open mine up and wrap it in a towel then close it back up when not in use.
5-My guess is that your photo recognition software struggles the more the ball strays from the center line. Intuitively this makes sense since the closer the ball gets to the camera, the smaller the perceived diameter will be. Draw a circle on a piece of paper and put dots at 3 and 6 inches from the circle and then draw two sets of tangent lines (one set from each dot) and you will see what I mean. This would mean that offline toward the SkyTrak (like a shank) would be calculated with more spin than actual and a pull-cut would be calculated with less spin. Which, interestingly, is exactly what I see. My pull-cuts on the range (with those two piece range balls) have more bend than on the virtual range with Prov1s. Could be "user error" though, so I hope others play around and chime in. See "Overall.." in 3 above.
6-The plastic "window" is a static magnet for dust which flies each time I hit the first few balls. As careful as I am cleaning it, I can see that I am scratching it compared to the piece that wraps around the back that I never wipe down. You are optics driven and to me it seems like sooner than later the optics will be wearing what seems to be "dirty" glasses.
7-No suggestion here. Fixed in a new release?
8-No idea what this is all about. Fixed in a new release?
9-I can't figure this one out, unless the shot data is calculated at sea level and the plotted data uses the altitude setting that I keyed in. I can try playing with this tonight, though I don't know that I am consistent enough to get anything meaningful.
10-Yes, I really do think I will hit 10,000 balls with SkyTrak this year.
11-"...yet." I have faith. I think I looked at all the systems out there, and I am a big fan of buying used in most cases, and I went for a new SkyTrak.
CONS:
1-It would help to know the size of the "window" through which the ball should pass to get the highest registration
2-It would help to know what light source works best and where it should be placed (make those plural if you like)
3-My guess is that your algorithm does not decelerate the ball's spin over time. It should if it does not, or it needs more decel if it's already in there.
4-The protective case (which came with my bundle) is 90% well thought out, but if bought at retail price I would expect more.
5-Side spin seems inaccurate the further the shot starts off the center line.
6-PLEASE get the manufacturer to use glass rather than plastic over the cameras
7-Graph on the "Stats" page is a mess. Months are off, weeks are not in order
8-"Waiting to Sync" constantly spins up top and idle CPU utilization is 12-15% for an i7 4600 class processor in Practice mode
9-Shot Plotting graph does not match shot data. Shot data says Ball Speed:149 Club Speed:102 Launch Ang.:12.1 Side Degrees:4.8 Backspin:2957 Offline yards:9 CARRY:246 TOTAL:262 yet the graph shows total distance of almost 275 and carry clearly over 250 yards (I do like the dots on landing and end position)
PROS:
10-At about $0.20 per ball on the range, I will have paid back my investment within a year
11-What Mike80 said above, though I would not say you have it "VERY" accurate in some cases...yet.
DETAILS: Software Ver.:2.1.1 Firmware Ver.:1.400 Range Settings: Normal for roll, No wind, 50% humidity, 1500ft, 72F
1-I have found that the lower the launch angle the further back (line of flight) from the red dot the ball needs to be (or the higher the ball needs to be teed above the dot). My 3 iron gets placed (off tee) about two inches behind the dot and my 52 Wedge is placed about an inch in front of the dot.
2-So far I have not used a DC powered light source, but have found that AC halogen 10-12 inches off the ground and just behind (again line of flight) the SkyTrak works best. I do not let the light hit the plastic "window" on SkyTrak.
3-Overall, I see less total bend in real life than I do on the virtual range. Importantly, that's on the shots that start more or less down the target line and that's with either a stolen range ball (sorry) or with Prov1 and Tour Preferreds. For instance, the shot in 9 above would not have curved back toward the middle as nicely as it did in the virtual world. It would have been more of a push IRL. This could also be a result of 5 below. Either way, something is a bit off.
4-It's a protective case. Where is the protection for the most critical part, the red plastic "window"? I open mine up and wrap it in a towel then close it back up when not in use.
5-My guess is that your photo recognition software struggles the more the ball strays from the center line. Intuitively this makes sense since the closer the ball gets to the camera, the smaller the perceived diameter will be. Draw a circle on a piece of paper and put dots at 3 and 6 inches from the circle and then draw two sets of tangent lines (one set from each dot) and you will see what I mean. This would mean that offline toward the SkyTrak (like a shank) would be calculated with more spin than actual and a pull-cut would be calculated with less spin. Which, interestingly, is exactly what I see. My pull-cuts on the range (with those two piece range balls) have more bend than on the virtual range with Prov1s. Could be "user error" though, so I hope others play around and chime in. See "Overall.." in 3 above.
6-The plastic "window" is a static magnet for dust which flies each time I hit the first few balls. As careful as I am cleaning it, I can see that I am scratching it compared to the piece that wraps around the back that I never wipe down. You are optics driven and to me it seems like sooner than later the optics will be wearing what seems to be "dirty" glasses.
7-No suggestion here. Fixed in a new release?
8-No idea what this is all about. Fixed in a new release?
9-I can't figure this one out, unless the shot data is calculated at sea level and the plotted data uses the altitude setting that I keyed in. I can try playing with this tonight, though I don't know that I am consistent enough to get anything meaningful.
10-Yes, I really do think I will hit 10,000 balls with SkyTrak this year.
11-"...yet." I have faith. I think I looked at all the systems out there, and I am a big fan of buying used in most cases, and I went for a new SkyTrak.
Comment