Hey guys of SRK,
I wanted to know if anyone has ever made their own wireless sensor bar for the Wii, or hacked one up to use because I hate using the wired bar that came with it. Any guide to make one would be awesome.
I have, as an experiment. All you really need are Infrared LEDs and a power source.
Now I will tell you that 2 IR LEDS are not going to cut it, it works but the tracking is crap. Use a didgital camera, point at an active Wii Sensor bar, you should see a number of White lights though the camera’s view finder that you can not see with just your eyes. Each one of those dots are a IR LED. So you will need 6 to 8 IR LEDs, resistors (for the LEDs), a power source like a AC-DC power adapter or a battery, something straight and flat to mount it all to, a on/off switch and maybe a regular led for power indication.
The sensor bar is a really bad name for what it really is, since there are no actual sensors in the sensor bar. All the actual IR sensors are located in the slightly transparent black plastic on the front of your Wii mote. The bar is a IR source so the Wiimote can know what its positioning is. There are people who (and I tried this) who substituted 2 lit candles for a sensor bar. @ candles about 10 to 12 inches apart, lit offers 2 points of IR radiation for the Wii Mote to position from. The same technique is used for the Guncon 3 (for the PS3) and most newer PC Light guns.
I can’t help you what so ever with making one… but this might be helpful. From the research I’ve done only one company makes a wireless sensor bar worth a shit. The company is Nextronics and they sell for a little over $20. They are the only wireless ones to my knowledge that you can plug into an outlet so your not gong through batteries all the time. Batteries are the main downfall of all wireless sensor bars. They have the sensor bar HD which you can buy off their website right now. I’m waiting for them to release their new and improved model of sensor bar eyes. No eta as of yet but I sent them an email the other day and they said they should be out soon. Instead of 1 sensor bar, its two little eyes that you can connect where ever. I have my wii hooked up to a projector so these wireless eyes on each side of the screen would be perfect. Maybe this helped since most wireless sensor bars suck. = ]
Including the one I made out of a 12 inch ruler, a battery case and 2 IR LEDs from Radio Shack.
Maybe a 3/4 position switch, one wire going to a battery pack, the other to a USB cord that could plug into a USB volt adapter (like a iPod Charger) or a free USB port on the Wii.
No candle mods. 
What about using a couple of acetylene torches?
XD
Something that doesn’t burn the house down.
I never said anything about using it indoors.
God what a smart ass.
You probably don’t want to spend money but this is cheap and damn good.
Amazon.com: Official Nintendo Wii Wireless Ultra Sensor Bar with Extended Play Range: Video Games
I used this for couple of years.
Well if one were to be an ass, then wouldn’t one prefer to be a smart one?
Two lighters and some electrical tape. Fin.
That thing got super shit reviews. Like half the people off of amazon that bought it gave it a 1 star.
If you where properly using the Wiimote wrist strap then you wouldn’t have to worry about flinging a Wiimote across the room and knocking over the candles.
I live in a really really small house, and the distance between my controller to the TV is about 3.5 feet. Candles cant really help at this option, but I’ll see what I can find.
I guess this means that my other idea of using two lit cigs wont work either.
I only mentioned the candles because someone else tried it and it worked, and I wanted to explain the theory on Wii Sensor bar mechanics. The Wii sensor bar isn’t an actual sensor, it is a Infrared light array.
Receiver my fucking ass, All a Wii sensor bar does is put out IR light for the Wii mote to position it self for on screen targeting. The actual sensors are in the Wii Remote it self, as there no actual sensors in the sensor bar.
As I stated in my first message, get some infrared LEDs if you want to make your own Wii Sensor bar. You need quite a few IR LEDs to make this thing work right. Two IR LEDs will not cut it, I think the Offical Wii sensor bar from nintendo uses 6 or 8 LEDs. To get the idea for the format and number of the LEDs you need, use a digital camera to view an active and powered on Wii sensor bar. Any one that ever did some kind of LED mod can do this. Instead of visible spectrum light, you are using LEDs that put out Infrared light. You can wire these things to a battery pack, a USB cord or find and use a wii sensor bar extension cord.
networkingyuppy, I know this project would be easy for you, I seen your mod work on SRK before. Only reason I see you not doing this is because the cost might not be feasible to you. I would make more Wii Sensor bars my self if I can find a cheaper source of IR LEDs.
*Note If you go to Radio shack the project will run you more than buying a cordless Sensor bar will go for.
[EDIT]
I actually found a cheap source of IR LEDs. I can offer other SRK members to make Sensor bars for them or offer kits so they can make their own. This isn’t a sale offer yet, just a though, also I wanted to know what the interest was before I got started.
HAHAHAHA that made my night
In all seriousness tho, i have done this using candles before, and it was not that bad to be honest
Wait, what’s so bad about the regular one again?
Lit Cigs would be nice, but my roommates wouldn’t approve of it.