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afterdawn.com > forums > consoles > nintendo wii - general discussion > powering a sensor bar off of 12v
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Powering a sensor bar off of 12v
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Number_6
Newbie
_ 		4. November 2009 @ 01:55 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Hello all,

I'm in the process of running a sensor bar and wiimotes in my arcade cabinet for use in mame/naomi light gun games.

Anyways, I want to power the sensor bar off of the pc power supply, so that leaves either 5 or 12 volts. 5 is not enough as the sensor bar has been confirmed somewhere around 7-8.

Has anyone run a sensor bar off of 12 or more volts? I have hear IR leds burn out very fast if overpowered, and once everything is installed in my cab it is going to be a pain to replace.

Any input is greatly appreciated.
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dailun
AfterDawn Addict
_ 		4. November 2009 @ 03:54 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
I have not run a sensor bar off of more than 12v, but a simple voltage dropping resistor should get the 12v down to 7-8v.

That being said, you can buy stand alone sensor bars that run off of 6v. (4 x AAA)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26893

Where did you get your voltage values of 7-8v?
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4. November 2009 @ 03:56
capple123
Member
_ 		4. November 2009 @ 21:47 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
I Read Here that someone measured 12v dc from their Wii and they got great reception 16 feet from the TV using a 12VDC. If you competent enough to hack into a PC for power what I would then do is expose the two wire enough to get a voltage reading for yourself from the Wii under load. That means not cutting off the Sensor bar but powering the bar and reading the voltage. The key is to measure the Voltage under load. If it is an open circuit the voltage can read High.
Then either buy a voltage regulator I always use a 5vdc regulator to run IC chips but you can by them at many different voltage. I quickly found LM7809 9 volt voltage regulator. Just google LM78xx xx=voltage you should find something.
Or
build a voltage divider. "use a Regulator ;)"
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Number_6
Newbie
_ 		5. November 2009 @ 01:22 _ Link to this message    Send private message to this user   
Thanks for the replies, great information.

What I have done for now (without cutting the wii plug and stripping the leads)is wedge two small lengths of stranded copper into the wii plug and seperated them with a small bit of wood carved from a golf tee. Sounds terrible, I know haha. Then I spliced this into 12v off of my pc and everything is working for now.

For the greater good I will post in a few days to tell if the bar has burned itself out yet.
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