Having set up a front projection home theater system, the first thing I wanted to try when I got the Wii was big screen gaming. Well, I was somewhat disappointed. It wasn't the picture quality, but the whole large scale sensor bar tracking that bothered me. That tiny bar worked fine for my 23" LCD, but when I switched to the projector the tracking was all off... not to mention that the bar sat on TOP of my TV, which placed it (in my arrangement) UNDERNEATH (and slightly to the right) of my projection screen. I could align it to one or the other, but not both.
So I ordered a couple extra bars from Nintendo. The first thing I did, of course, was break open two of them and "melded" them together. I placed the bars end-to-end and spliced the infrared LED wires so they bypassed the two arrays in the middle of the new double-wide bar, and mounting the thing above my big screen I found I had just about the right proportions.
But now I had two bars for my two displays, and only one connection to the Wii. So the next step was to hard wire each bar to a power adapter. A litle research revealed that the Wii puts out 7.8v. By splicing a Radio Shack 273-1696 7.5v power adapter (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2049697&cp) onto each sensor bar wire, I could now plug them directly into the wall. A view through my digital camera showed they were working fine.
But now the Wii was going to get confused, with two separate LED arrays always on. What I needed was for the short bar to go on when the TV was on, and the long one when the projector was on. My first thought was to use the 12v relay trigger on my projector to switch between the active bars. A look at the price of the relays used for lowering screens (http://www.classroomfurnituredirect....-U-VU1173.html) steered me away from that... I did try this Elk relay module: http://www.elkproducts.com/products/elk-924.htm ...but the mA on my projector was apparently too low to trigger it.
I considered one of these units: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dad-might...ain-266515.php ...thinking I could control the sensor bars directly with my universal remote. But they are IR and would have required line-of-sight to the outlets - a major inconvenience.
Then I came across these Smart Strips: http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByMa...td./Item/SCG3/
They can turn devices on and off, triggered by a device plugged into the "control" outlet. Basically, they can turn almost any component into a device with a switched outlet. I bought two - one for the projector, one for the TV - and plugged each sensor bar into the strip controlled by the appropriate display.
So now, I have:
- A standard sized sensor bar spliced onto a 7.5v wall adapter (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2049697&cp), for my TV
- A second sensor bar hacked to increase width, & spliced as well, for my projector
- Both triggered by their respective displays via switched power strips (http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByMa...td./Item/SCG3/)
And the whole thing is programmed into my universal remote, so I can switch back & forth between displays and the Wiimote tracking stays consistent!
So I ordered a couple extra bars from Nintendo. The first thing I did, of course, was break open two of them and "melded" them together. I placed the bars end-to-end and spliced the infrared LED wires so they bypassed the two arrays in the middle of the new double-wide bar, and mounting the thing above my big screen I found I had just about the right proportions.
But now I had two bars for my two displays, and only one connection to the Wii. So the next step was to hard wire each bar to a power adapter. A litle research revealed that the Wii puts out 7.8v. By splicing a Radio Shack 273-1696 7.5v power adapter (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2049697&cp) onto each sensor bar wire, I could now plug them directly into the wall. A view through my digital camera showed they were working fine.
But now the Wii was going to get confused, with two separate LED arrays always on. What I needed was for the short bar to go on when the TV was on, and the long one when the projector was on. My first thought was to use the 12v relay trigger on my projector to switch between the active bars. A look at the price of the relays used for lowering screens (http://www.classroomfurnituredirect....-U-VU1173.html) steered me away from that... I did try this Elk relay module: http://www.elkproducts.com/products/elk-924.htm ...but the mA on my projector was apparently too low to trigger it.
I considered one of these units: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dad-might...ain-266515.php ...thinking I could control the sensor bars directly with my universal remote. But they are IR and would have required line-of-sight to the outlets - a major inconvenience.
Then I came across these Smart Strips: http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByMa...td./Item/SCG3/
They can turn devices on and off, triggered by a device plugged into the "control" outlet. Basically, they can turn almost any component into a device with a switched outlet. I bought two - one for the projector, one for the TV - and plugged each sensor bar into the strip controlled by the appropriate display.
So now, I have:
- A standard sized sensor bar spliced onto a 7.5v wall adapter (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2049697&cp), for my TV
- A second sensor bar hacked to increase width, & spliced as well, for my projector
- Both triggered by their respective displays via switched power strips (http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByMa...td./Item/SCG3/)
And the whole thing is programmed into my universal remote, so I can switch back & forth between displays and the Wiimote tracking stays consistent!
