Comments on: Wii don’t need no stinkin’ sensor bar

By: Princessb89

Princessb89 — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:51:25 +0000

If this is true, why when you point the wiimote at the screen, the aim is offset and you have to compensate. Like you can’t look down the scope of a wiimote and have it aim at that area of the sceen.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:42:23 +0000

Dude you are a fuckin genius. You just saved me from an entire week of boredom since I’m at my gf’s house over Christmas
Cheers!

By: ddawg40

ddawg40 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:00:27 +0000

ok so im not a techie but i am more confused then ever i dont have a sensor bar and my wii dont work any ideas? it turns on but it doesnt respond to the remote

By: mattsgreat5

mattsgreat5 — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 21:52:21 +0000

the sensor bar is to see where u point at the screen. the remote has the sensor in it. i tried it without the sensor barand it works fine. u just cant point at the screen and click on things. the buttons use bluetooth. so does the sensor.

By: Deathcapt

Deathcapt — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:35:16 +0000

I suck, I posted without reading…

By: deathcapt

deathcapt — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:07:28 +0000

It works with Candles,

By: jimmyb

jimmyb — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:48:02 +0000

HA!!!!!
i came up with a better way to play the wii w/out the two remote controls!!! simply change the sensitivity setting to 5,then light two candles and place them on top or below your tv. now u have your homemade, wireless, nonelectric, battery-free sensors!!!!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:27:14 +0000

Guys–You realize that some Wii games don’t really use the sensor bar, right? Excite truck sends all its signals right from the remote. It detects tilt left and right and doesn’t care about the sensor. Games like boxing, and the other Wii sports use the sensor bar. I can’t watch the video currently, (at work), but game are they using to demonstrate this concept?

By: Duncan C

Duncan C — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:18:01 +0000

Extending the cable on a sensor bar:

I modified the sensor bar for my kids' Wii so the wire was long enough for the sensor bar to reach our theater's screen to the Wii at the back of the room. I ordered a "tripoint" tool from the web to unscrew those stupid 3 point screws on Nintendos, opened up the sensor bar, de-soldered the existing wire, and soldered in a short length of telephone wire. I then put 3.5 mm (1/8") audio plugs on both the new cable from the sensor bar and the old wire that connects to the Wii. Finally, I created a long (~10m, or 30 ft) extension cable that had a male 3.5 mm audio plug on one end and a female plug on the other end.

I was careful to wire everything "tip positive" so I didn't reverse the polarity on the sensor bar.

I tucked the long cable between the molding and the carpet along the wall of the theater, out of sight and out of the way.

If my kids want to move the Wii into another room, they can just unplug both ends from the extension cable and plug the short cable back together.

I also bought a 12 volt power supply from Radio Shack, and fitted it with a 3.5 mm plug. I can plug that directly into the sensor bar (making sure the polarity is "tip positive" like all the connections I made) and run the sensor bar from the power supply, without any connections to the Wii.

Here's a small photo gallery showing the sensor bar and my finished rig:

http://www.pbase.com/duncanc/wii_sensor_bar_hack

By: Phicons

Phicons — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:03:11 +0000

Surely how the wii works is obvious to most hackers, it was clear from the first day they mentioned the need for the sensor (IR) bar – cheap yaw/horizontal movement stability.
It is exciting when you discover how something works though so im with them on that!

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:57:02 +0000

Here is a link showing it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULZ8Gd06Kqg

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:08:20 +0000

I just measured the current and it is drawing about 50mah. This means on an alkaline battery, I should get about 10 hours of use per battery., or if I use a rechargable battery, I would only get about 4-5 hours.

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:56:57 +0000

Sweet… I tried with a 12v wall plug and it worked beautifully. Got to thinking an AA battery pack would need to be pretty big, so I tried a 9v. Works like a charm. Now I head to Radioshack to get a 9v box with a swich and I am done… No more wires… This was my biggest complaint with the WII because I am using a projector and the sensor wire was not long enough… Now I just pull down my screen, switch the battery on, and don’t have to worry about running a wire around the house…. Sweet..

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:37:42 +0000

I just cut open my sensor cord and tested it at 12v. The same as the powersupply…. Likely the IR led’s are run in series to obtain the lower voltage they need. Perhaps this is part of the reason for the array…

Now testing a 12v wall plug adapter

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:33:13 +0000

Does anyone know the voltage required to run the sensor bar? I am running the WII on a projector and will just mount the sensor bar on the pull down screen with rechargable battery power and a switch..