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Mount, Aim, and Measure

Where the radar sits and how it is angled determines every launch angle it reports. Measure the geometry rather than estimating it — the numbers you record here go straight into the runtime.

Mount And Aim The Radar

Mount the radar behind the ball with the antenna face pointing down the target line. The validated enclosure rotates the board so its vertical virtual array is physically vertical, with the TX antennas above the RX antennas.

The IWR6843 can start at approximately the same upward tilt as the OPS243, typically around 10 degrees, when both antenna faces are mounted parallel. Treat 10 degrees as a mounting starting point, not a universal calibration value. Measure the IWR6843 antenna-face tilt independently and enter that measured value in OpenFlight.

Start with the IWR6843 antenna center approximately 6 inches (0.1524 m) above the floor surface under the radar. Measure vertically from that surface to the center of the antenna array, not to the enclosure bottom or mounting feet. This is the validated starting height, not a substitute for entering the actual measured height.

Mounting requirements:

  • Aim the antenna face toward the intended start line, not diagonally across the hitting area.
  • Keep the antenna face unobstructed.
  • Keep the board rotation consistent with the validated enclosure.
  • Use a rigid mount. Small mechanical shifts can appear as angle bias.
  • Measure tilt against the antenna face or a known-parallel enclosure surface.
  • Re-measure after moving to a different floor, mat, bay, or stand.

A corner reflector placed on the target line can verify horizontal aim. It is useful for alignment and static health checks, but it does not replace moving golf-ball validation.

Measure The Geometry

OpenFlight needs these physical inputs:

Argument Measurement
--iwr6843-tee-m Slant distance from antenna center to ball center
--iwr6843-net-m Distance from antenna center to net or screen
--iwr6843-tilt-deg Antenna-face mount tilt from an inclinometer
--iwr6843-radar-height-m Antenna-center height above the floor reference
--iwr6843-ball-height-m Ball-center height above the same floor reference

Measurement guidance:

  • Measure from the antenna center, not the enclosure edge or mounting feet.
  • Use radar-to-ball slant range for tee-m.
  • Keep net-m honest so late net reflections can be excluded.
  • Measure radar and ball height from the same floor reference. If the radar and ball sit on different surfaces, extend a common level reference between them.
  • Add an elevated mat to ball height. A 1 inch mat adds approximately 0.0254 m.
  • A typical iron ball center is around 0.040 m; a driver tee is higher.
  • Do not reuse a tilt value after moving the rig unless you verify it again.

The checked-in reference calibration contains the array correction used by the validated radar. It provides a known starting point, not a universal factory calibration. The operator calibration session below checks geometry and estimator consistency; it does not regenerate the file's per-element complex array correction. A different radar board or antenna orientation may require a new corner-reflector array calibration before source-of-truth accuracy can be expected.