Got my "ebay" wii and did the sensor hack! Great results!

[legbuh]

Well, the wii finally showed today. Bought used from a guy on ebay.

$450 for the console, HD cables, 3 wii motes, 2 nunchucks, sm bros, sonic, and some other downloaded game, as well as Zelda and Excite truck. Got a pretty sweet deal. Everything is like new condiditon.

I wanted to play right away and since I'm using a front projector, the sensor bar was an issue. I lit two candles and put them on my center channel speaker. worked great. about 12 foot distance is the best I could get.

Then after bowling a couple games, I decided to do the sensor 9v hack. The last couple days I had put together a project box with a 9v battery, switch to turn on and off as well as what I calculated to be the proper resistance (27ohms I think).

Hooked it up using the "pencil" method sticking the wires right into the jack on the stock sensor. Using my cell camera I verified things were working great!

I then put that down on the center speaker. I now get at least 25 feet of range! I couldn't go much further or I'd be going up stairs out of my theater room!

Very happy with everything so far, especially the wireless hack for the sensor bar.

I then preceded to delete all the Miis the previous owner had created (must have been about 30!) and then create new Miis for me, my wife and my 1.5 year old daughter. My wife bowled a couple of games and had a great time!

 

[Skorp]

:cornut:

Do you have a link to a video or webpage that explains how to do the sensor bar hack?

 

[Close]

Sounds good, but it's not a hack lol

 

[gh05t]

yeahh a link would be awesome man and yeahh its a mod not a hack lol thats a cool idea cuz i have to always change the AV cords from my WII to my Zune to listen to music or play games and the sensor bar ALWAYS falls down cuz it gets in MY way lol so that could help with that and its a kool thing to do lol

 

[legbuh]

hack, mod.. whatever... semantics.

Pretty easy to do. Go to radio shack and get:

1 package of 9v battery connectors (come in packs of 5)
1 package of 47 ohm resistors
1 small project box (it's the smallest they have)
1 SPST switch of your choice.

+ from 9v connector goes to switch. Another wire comes off the switch. On that wire put 2 47 ohm resistors in paralell (to bring it down to about 22ohms or so). Then from there, wire goes out the box.

- from 9v connector goes out the box.

Now you have a + and -.. that's to power the sensor.

Now figure out how to put those into the end. Most use a shaved pencil or chopstick so the + is on the square end, and the - is on the tapered end and the wood holds them in. Or just splice them into the wire itself if you want to cut the end off and solder more.

Link to AVS thread:
AVS Thread

Now play. Giddyup modders and hackers. You know the sematics on those terms, no learn how to use google. It works good even if they are thieves.

 

[COLDshiver]

I made my own sensor bar too, but i didn't use the original, i kept mine intact. I just bought some parts from my local Radioshack and it cost a total of about $20. I just got a perfboard, 6 IR leds, transistors, and a battery holder

 

[legbuh]

I was planning on that. Have the IR LEDs on the way and other stuff for it.

But, since I get 25+ feet on the original, I'm going to leave it as is.

 

[miiplaywii]

Why do have a 23.5 Ohm resistor? I just measured the voltage coming out of the sensor bar port and it read 12.06V. The leds will be a lot dimmer with 9V. You should use 8 AAAs! A companies gotta make a wireless sensor bar with a blutooth receiver so it turns on and off with the controller.

 

[legbuh]

Did you even read the AVS thread? There are 3 pages, many talking about voltages and which work and which don't and which make the bar HOT and burn out LEDs.

There are also multiple sites online that will figure the given resistance needed with the number of series LED and voltage provided.

 

[E7ernal]

hey legbuh, sounds cool... got any pics?

 

[legbuh]

No pics.. just picture a small plastic box with a switch on the outside.. 2 wires coming out of it. And that connected to the end of the sensor.

Pretty simple.. and was fun to make.. I like to solder.. lol

 

[callme.nasty]

they do make wireless sensor bars now... if your home made one breaks.

 

[miiplaywii]

Did you even read the AVS thread? There are 3 pages, many talking about voltages and which work and which don't and which make the bar HOT and burn out LEDs.

There are also multiple sites online that will figure the given resistance needed with the number of series LED and voltage provided.

He's not even asking a question so why does he have to read a shitty thread first full of speculation when you can memorize the schematic in about 10 seconds. Did you even read his post?

 

[legbuh]

Yes, he/you was/were asking a question.. why the resistors.. and that at 9v the lights would be dimmer. When I'm getting 20+ feet on the mod, I doubt it's dimmer.

The thread had experience from many different guys, all experiencing different voltages.. some 12, some 7.2 Then they tried standard wall plugs of different voltages. Anything over 9 heated up the bar and in one case burnt out the LEDs.

I guess you lost me asking if I read your post.. unless you're referring to another one.

 

[ericlewis91]

pictures? would be nice