Portable Launch Monitors: ES12, SC100, etc.

[Underdog1924]

I've been doing some research on these and haven't had much luck finding definitive reviews. I'm interested in the ES12, SC100 type launch monitors for range work. It would be interesting to learn yardages on different shots; don't care about swing speed or smash factor. What's the word on these items?

[Yrrdead]

If all you care about is yardage the SC100 is what you are looking for. Gives reasonably accurate yardage for about $150 used. There is a newer model the SC200 but as far as I can tell the biggest difference is an audible setting that tells you what the yardage is.

[pelotonjon]

I have also been looking at the cheaper "launch monitors" solely for distance. I think the SC200 allows you to enter custom club lofts making it more accurate (correct me if I'm wrong). The ES14 adds spin.

 

From all the reviews I've seen, it looks like they are close to being good, but the technology is not quite there yet.

 

Has anyone had success with the ES14 or SC200?

[Yrrdead]

The custom club lofts do add a bit more information but does nothing with the accuracy of the distance. It does have a built in barometric pressure sensor and will adjust distance from that which is cool.

As far as the ES14, at that price point they can "add spin" all they want but they are essentially using a random number generator that uses club and ball speed to seed it.

 

For a practice aid for range work the SC100/200 are pretty good, they will give consistent and relatively accurate distance readings. In the case of the 200 it will even tell you audibly what that number is which is neat.

 

These are not launch monitor's per se, but for a distance measuring aid they are pretty good, especially for the price point.

[ParHunter]

The custom club lofts do add a bit more information but does nothing with the accuracy of the distance. It does have a built in barometric pressure sensor and will adjust distance from that which is cool.

As far as the ES14, at that price point they can "add spin" all they want but they are essentially using a random number generator that uses club and ball speed to seed it.

 

For a practice aid for range work the SC100/200 are pretty good, they will give consistent and relatively accurate distance readings. In the case of the 200 it will even tell you audibly what that number is which is neat.

 

These are not launch monitor's per se, but for a distance measuring aid they are pretty good, especially for the price point.

 

From what I can make out the SC100/200 estimates the carry distance based on ball speed (measured) and the loft (fixed per club for SC100).

If you deloft the club and next time add loft (e.g. open the face or you flip it) would the device come up with the same carry distance? Or is it still sort of reliable as you probably would end up with different ball speeds for the different shots?

 

The actual launch angle is not measured by that device? I can't see how that can be reliable.

 

I would love to have a device like that for working on my wedge distances (20 to 120 yards) but how reliable is that device?