Author Topic: Wireless Wii sensor bar -- retail (Read 7133 times)

shmokes · « **on:** December 12, 2006, 12:42:30 pm »

http://www.wirelesssensorbar.com/

somunny · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2006, 01:11:41 pm »

Digg is currently killing this site. Great idea but I won't buy one until they offer black (or even silver). White was a ver poor color choice for a production unit.

shmokes · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2006, 01:18:12 pm »

Hadn't thought of that. Not many white TVs around, I suppose.

MustardTent · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2006, 01:20:51 pm »

I would also be wary of any third-party LED bars until I know for sure they are at least as bright as the normal sensor bar LEDs.

somunny · « **Reply #4 on:** December 12, 2006, 01:23:08 pm »

It sucks because I just barely have enough line to run from the Wii to the front of the TV. It's a little sloppy looking because of this. I'm probably just going to buy a replacement from Nintendo ($10) and splice an extension into it.

Quote from: MustardTent on December 12, 2006, 01:20:51 pm

I would also be wary of any third-party LED bars until I know for sure they are at least as bright as the normal sensor bar LEDs.

Good point. I'm sure this unit will be reviewed online in the very near future.

AlanS17 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 13, 2006, 12:16:17 am »

I like the idea or a commercially-available wireless sensor bar, but this one is kind of ugly. The tabs on the sides, the big exposed LED's, the fugly power button (which could just as easily go on the back), and the whole "white" thing just aren't doing it for me. It looks almost homemade (even though that would be pretty good for homemade).

The only good idea is a red LED to remind you that it's still on. I think all of that should be hidden behind a plexi window, though. Something as close to the original sensor bar as possible would be ideal.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the LED's will become progressively dimmer and the remote will become progressively less responsive. I don't know if the 48+ hours of play time that it mentions accounts for that fact.

I still like my idea of the solar-powered wireless sensor bar with built-in rechargeable battery. If they can do it for walkway lights, they can do it for a sensor bar.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #6 on:** December 14, 2006, 11:21:29 am »

This doesn't seem like the most glowing praise but they put it on their own site.
"It works great, but the price point is a little high."

somunny · « **Reply #7 on:** December 14, 2006, 02:27:56 pm »

Quote from: More Cowbell on December 14, 2006, 11:21:29 am

This doesn't seem like the most glowing praise but they put it on their own site.
"It works great, but the price point is a little high."

$25.00? I don't consider that high. I'd buy one but the color sucks. Just reiterating that in case someone with influence is reading.

DarkBubble · « **Reply #8 on:** December 14, 2006, 03:16:18 pm »

It almost looks like they used Wiremold for a housing, though I've never seen endcaps like that. It's hard to tell from just the one angle.

AlanS17 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 14, 2006, 10:06:05 pm »

Quote from: DarkBubble on December 14, 2006, 03:16:18 pm

It almost looks like they used Wiremold for a housing, though I've never seen endcaps like that. It's hard to tell from just the one angle.

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like it can be assembled from hand with the right parts.

somunny · « **Reply #10 on:** January 10, 2007, 01:44:40 pm »

This is more like it!

Nyko Wireless Sensor Bar

shmokes · « **Reply #11 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:33:46 pm »

I wonder what the range is like. The range of the stock one actually seems pretty incredibly terrible. It seems like if you're further than about 7-8 feet from the sensor bar remotes can't see it anymore. This wouldn't be a problem for me cos I'm poor and live in a small apartment, but lots of people's sofas are further than 8 feet from the TV.

versapak · « **Reply #12 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:38:40 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on January 10, 2007, 02:33:46 pm

I wonder what the range is like. The range of the stock one actually seems pretty incredibly terrible. It seems like if you're further than about 7-8 feet from the sensor bar remotes can't see it anymore. This wouldn't be a problem for me cos I'm poor and live in a small apartment, but lots of people's sofas are further than 8 feet from the TV.

I don't have any problems from about 15' back with the stock one.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #13 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:49:02 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on January 10, 2007, 02:33:46 pm

I wonder what the range is like. The range of the stock one actually seems pretty incredibly terrible. It seems like if you're further than about 7-8 feet from the sensor bar remotes can't see it anymore. This wouldn't be a problem for me cos I'm poor and live in a small apartment, but lots of people's sofas are further than 8 feet from the TV.

If you adjsut the sensetivity (in the Wii options menu) then you can get pretty far back.

I ordered one of the wireless bars about a week ago because I really want to play the Wii on my projector. Hopefully it won't take too much longer to get here, but I'll post my impressions of it after i do.

somunny · « **Reply #14 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:50:17 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on January 10, 2007, 02:33:46 pm

I wonder what the range is like. The range of the stock one actually seems pretty incredibly terrible. It seems like if you're further than about 7-8 feet from the sensor bar remotes can't see it anymore. This wouldn't be a problem for me cos I'm poor and live in a small apartment, but lots of people's sofas are further than 8 feet from the TV.

~~Did you read the article or just look at the pretty picture?~~

It says that the range is roughly double that of the stock unit, so about 20 feet.

Heh, it would help if I actually included more than the picture, eh?

Here's the article.

shmokes · « **Reply #15 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:58:52 pm »

When I was first reading your post I was like, "Article?"

AlanS17 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 10, 2007, 09:22:43 pm »

Quote from: somunny on January 10, 2007, 01:44:40 pm

This is more like it!

Nyko Wireless Sensor Bar

Now THAT's what I'm talkin' about! Nice find. Do you know when it'll be released?

mcdo15 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 11, 2007, 07:07:25 pm »

you know you can make your own wireless sensor bar for under 10 bucks...

shmokes · « **Reply #18 on:** January 11, 2007, 11:05:15 pm »

You can make your own burgers too, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else make something for you for a reasonable price if they do a good job of it.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #19 on:** January 12, 2007, 01:39:56 am »

Quote from: shmokes on January 11, 2007, 11:05:15 pm

You can make your own burgers too, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else make something for you for a reasonable price if they do a good job of it.

Agreed, but imho if you can make one for under 10 (it's more like 5 actually) then a reasonable price is 10 bucks.

When the third party knock-off costs as much or more than the official nintendo part (which always has like a 400% mark-up) then something is wrong. Granted the official nintendo one isn't wireless, but I can buy it for 15 bucks, cut the cord off and put a battery pack inside it and still save money.

somunny · « **Reply #20 on:** January 12, 2007, 09:16:17 am »

Personally, I'll pay a little more for something that is aesthetically pleasing.

Here's the "make-your-own":

Does it work? Yes. But it's in desparate need of a glossy black shell.

Here's a tutorial on how to make the oem sensor bar wireless for about $8. If you have a Wii you know that there's not much to the sensor bar. Certainly not enough room for batteries (maybe a couple of AAA's but what kind of play time are you going to get out of that?), so the battery is left outside. Great for your dorm room but I'm not putting that in front of my TV.

If there's another DIY option that I'm missing, please point it out.

rampy · « **Reply #21 on:** January 12, 2007, 11:35:09 am »

Didn't someone also "MAKE" a DIY wireless sensor bar out of 2 or 3 lit wax candles?

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #22 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:20:56 am »

Quote from: somunny on January 12, 2007, 09:16:17 am

Personally, I'll pay a little more for something that is aesthetically pleasing.

Here's the "make-your-own":

Does it work? Yes. But it's in desparate need of a glossy black shell.

Here's a tutorial on how to make the oem sensor bar wireless for about $8. If you have a Wii you know that there's not much to the sensor bar. Certainly not enough room for batteries (maybe a couple of AAA's but what kind of play time are you going to get out of that?), so the battery is left outside. Great for your dorm room but I'm not putting that in front of my TV.

If there's another DIY option that I'm missing, please point it out.

First off just because the poor schmuck that made that sensor bar lacks any sense of asthetics doesn't mean you don't have to. Your telling me you need a step by step hand-holding to come up with your own design? It's 4 leds wired to a battery case... you could put that in anything.

Secondly it's a misconception that AAA's are a weaker battery than AA's. They are actually the same battery more or less giving about the same life span (triple a's slightly less) and both putting out around 1.3 volts a battery. It doesn't matter about the lifetime because either option gives you more than 24 hours of play and if you have any sense you are going to be using rechargeable batteries.

Lastly, that particular bar choose the worst possible battery pack for the project. They make in-line ones ya know.

And yes rampy you can make a sensor bar out of anything. For that matter two led throwies will work as a sensor bar if you get it in the right color spectrum.

In case you aren't convinced I'll give you a step by step sans pictures.

Step #1.

go to your local hobby shop and get yourself about a foot of square, plastic, tubing (should cost around a buck) and some end-caps (should cost 50 cents). The inner diameter of the tube should be slightly larger than the type of battery you wish to use (AAA or AA).

Step #2.

Figure out the required length to stuff 4 batteries in the tube, add about a quarter of an inch and cut to length.

2b (optional). Now would be a god time to paint your tubing with a good old can of spray paint. Don't forget the end caps.

Step # 3.

Find the center point and measure 3 and 3/4 inches in each direction and drill a hole the same diamater as your leds. Then measure about a half inch beyond that and drill two more holes.

Step #4.

Trim the leads on your leds to make them as short as humanly possible while still have room to work with them. Solder/heatshrink them in sequence leaving a lot of extra wire at the first and last lead.

Step #5.

Carefully place the leds inside the drilled holes from the inside of the tube, out. You may need a pencil to push in the middle ones. Once everything is in place bend over any leads sticking out inside the tube so that everything is rather flat and optionally cover the inside with tape to avoid snags. When you are done you should have the first loose wire of the first led hanging out of one end, and the last loose wire of the last led hanging out the other.

Step #6.

Purchase yourself some battery terminals for the battery type you wish to use (basically a spring and a flat plate) trim them to fit inside the end-caps and hot-glue them in place. They should cost around a buck. Trim the loose wires so you have enough room to open the caps but not much extra slack and then solder them to the terminals.

At this point you could optionally put in a switch or visible led indicator and mount it to one of the end-caps.

Step #7 Put the end caps on... from now on whenever you wish to put in bateries take off one end cap and slide em in.

There is a nice-looking, homemade sensor bar that costs just over 5 bucks, shouldn't take more than an hour to build and you can customize to your liking or situation.

Too Much work?

Option 2.....

Step #1

Buy a wii sensor bar from nintendo and a length of beadboard and some battery terminals from your local electronics supply.

Step #2, crack open your sensor bar, measure the free space you have, and cut the breadboard to fit. You should barely (and I mean barely) have enough room for 3 or 4 AAA's.

Step #3, mount the battery terminals to either end of the board, cut off the sensor bar's cable and wire it to the teminals. Of course you can add a switch here as well.

Step #4, Replace the cover of the sensor bar and enjoy.

somunny · « **Reply #23 on:** January 13, 2007, 10:19:48 am »

Nah... I'll just buy one, thanks. I've built enough stuff from scratch that I don't have to feel like I'm being lazy and quite frankly, there are many people here that have thousands of dollars invested in thier entertainment hardware. Another $25-$30 in the name of factory fit and finish and convenience of use is well spent IMO.

somunny · « **Reply #24 on:** January 13, 2007, 12:11:29 pm »

Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 13, 2007, 04:20:56 am

Too Much work?

Option 2.....

Step #1

Buy a wii sensor bar from nintendo and a length of beadboard and some battery terminals from your local electronics supply.

Step #2, crack open your sensor bar, measure the free space you have, and cut the breadboard to fit. You should barely (and I mean barely) have enough room for 3 or 4 AAA's.

Step #3, mount the battery terminals to either end of the board, cut off the sensor bar's cable and wire it to the teminals. Of course you can add a switch here as well.

Step #4, Replace the cover of the sensor bar and enjoy.

I'd like to see you make this work as written. You obviously didn't verify this idea as all one has to do is hold a AAA battery up to the sensor bar to see that the diameter of the battery is just slightly greater than the bar. You're not going to get one battery in there, let alone three or four. Watch batteries maybe?

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #25 on:** January 13, 2007, 04:03:12 pm »

I don't know if you've seen shots of the inside of the sensor bar, but the middle is completely empty. It'd take some dremeling but you can easily fit 3 in there. Remember the top and bottom half screw together so all you have to do is not screw it together all the way. The height difference is so slight you won't be able to tell.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #26 on:** January 18, 2007, 11:11:43 pm »

I got my wireless sensor bar today and tried it out. So far it works great. It doubt it cost them more then $5 to make it, but it works and is nicer then something I would of made. I'm now playing my Wii on the projector in the living room which makes games like Wii sports and Wario Ware a lot easier and more fun since I can move around without hitting a wall.

Now I just need to get a component cable for the Wii so I can play it in 480p.

AlanS17 · « **Reply #27 on:** January 19, 2007, 12:00:32 am »

What's the price? Which one did you get?

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #28 on:** January 19, 2007, 02:08:55 am »

Quote from: AtomSmasher on January 18, 2007, 11:11:43 pm

I got my wireless sensor bar today and tried it out. So far it works great. It doubt it cost them more then $5 to make it, but it works and is nicer then something I would of made. I'm now playing my Wii on the projector in the living room which makes games like Wii sports and Wario Ware a lot easier and more fun since I can move around without hitting a wall.

Now I just need to get a component cable for the Wii so I can play it in 480p.

Look on ebay for your cable. Got one for 15 bucks shipping included and it works better than the official nintendo one. If you really need it I can probably find the vendor name for ya.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #29 on:** January 19, 2007, 02:20:05 am »

Quote from: AlanS17 on January 19, 2007, 12:00:32 am

What's the price? Which one did you get?

I got the one from www.wirelesssensorbar.com which was $31 shipped.

Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 19, 2007, 02:08:55 am

Look on ebay for your cable. Got one for 15 bucks shipping included and it works better than the official nintendo one. If you really need it I can probably find the vendor name for ya.

Thanks, I'll take a look at ebay.

AlanS17 · « **Reply #30 on:** January 20, 2007, 12:56:39 pm »

Quote from: AtomSmasher on January 19, 2007, 02:20:05 am

I got the one from www.wirelesssensorbar.com which was $31 shipped.

Oh I'm not nearly as impressed with that one. I'm waiting for the real deal to come out.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #31 on:** January 20, 2007, 10:13:35 pm »

Quote from: AlanS17 on January 20, 2007, 12:56:39 pm

Quote from: AtomSmasher on January 19, 2007, 02:20:05 am

I got the one from www.wirelesssensorbar.com which was $31 shipped.

Oh I'm not nearly as impressed with that one. I'm waiting for the real deal to come out.

Agreed, that looks like one a byoac'er (no offense to anyone) would whip up with spare parts.

Wouldn't be nearly as bad if it weren't for the asymetrical placement of the power led and that big switch.

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #32 on:** January 21, 2007, 01:13:27 am »

I agree that its not the prettiest thing, and as I said probably cost less then $5 for them to make it, but right now its the only thing available. I didn't feel like trying to make one myself and who knows how long until the Nyco one comes out, so I figured it was worth it. I may upgrade to a nicer one in the future, but for now this one is working fine.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #33 on:** January 21, 2007, 01:29:17 am »

My ir leds finally came in today, so I'm working on some sensor bars myself.... these will be wired though as one is for my computer monitor and the other will be made into the bezel of my mame cab. (I'm using a usb connection, I figure that way it'll work for the wii as well.)

Because I don't have any size constrictions due to batteries, the monitor one is looking fairly slick so far. I'll post pics when I'm done.

somunny · « **Reply #34 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:39:15 am »

Here 's a review of the new Nyko unit.

It's bigger than I expected but for twenty bucks I'll pick it up.

shmokes · « **Reply #35 on:** February 13, 2007, 04:41:42 pm »

I love that the review specifically mentions how it's not very much bigger than the original in spite of needing space for batteries and gives you comparison shots to prove it, which instead show that it is well over twice the size of the original.

Don't get me wrong, it's fine. I'd buy one if the standard didn't work just fine for me, such as if I used a projector or had a wall-mounted flat panel or something. I just got a kick out of that.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #36 on:** February 14, 2007, 01:48:45 am »

Yeah... the problem with all of these wireless bars is they are using 9 volts (I assumed as they are frikkin huge) to power them. I'm sure it gives you longer battery life, but I think a bar with a few AAA's in it would look much nicer.

shmokes · « **Reply #37 on:** February 14, 2007, 02:34:35 am »

Actually, this one uses 4 AAs. I guess they found that they weren't getting enough battery life out of AAAs, considering this thing is only rated for 30 hours or something (probably thanks largely to using extra LEDs to give the thing better range than the standard IR bar. Dunno if you read the review, but one nice feature is that you can set the thing to sound a built-in alarm (sounds like a microwave apparently) after being on for one or two hours, in case you finish playing and forget to turn it off, thus killing your batteries before the next gaming session.

somunny · « **Reply #38 on:** February 15, 2007, 12:09:34 pm »

Here's another wireless model. This one is *smaller* than the oem version, though it does have an external battery pack. However, it does have an AC option. Apparently the major failing is the lack of polish compare to Nyko. Looks ok to me.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #39 on:** February 15, 2007, 02:20:10 pm »

Well it's a smarter deisgn I guess, but the battery pack actually makes it look worse than the others. The only people using wireless bars are going to be people with projectors. Can you imagine putting that on your wall with the giant battery pack dangling off the end?

For that matter none of these bars seemed to be designed for projectors which confuses me a bit. You would want the bar to be taller than it is deep so you could easily tape it to your wall/projector screen right?


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