[Review] Wii Sensor Bar USB – Nintendo Wii Infrared Sensor Bar – AliExpress

A Wii Sensor Bar USB, the Nintendo Wii Infrared Sensor Bar was purchased at AliExpress, shop Elistop EN Store. The idea is to use it in conjunction with a Wii Mote and a Light Gun for Wii Mote, that are on the way, to play on MiSTer FPGA games that originally use light guns (light guns) no Master System e no Nintendo 8 bits, using an LCD TV, which is incompatible with the original light guns, as Light Phaser do Master System.

Motivation

I play my old consoles mostly on my living room LCD TV. Over the years, I acquired equipment to get the best image in this situation: Framemeister, OSSC, Analogue Super Nt, Analogue Mega Sg, and more recently the MiSTer FPGA.

But there is a type of accessory that doesn't work on LCD TVs, which are the light guns, as Light Phaser do Master System. I still have mine Light Phaser, and use it with my Master System II on my CRT TV.

But, no caso do MiSTer FPGA there is an alternative. It works with Wii Mote do Nintendo Wii, and they can be used to simulate a light gun. I believe that the accuracy will not be the same as that of a light gun. At least with Playstation Move the accuracy is bad and the games are not to aim and shoot like the light pistol, but to drag the cursor and shoot.

But either way I thought it would be worth trying a Wii Mote, because I'm interested in pistol games on other consoles, like or Nintendo. I played a lot Duck Hunt on the Turbo Game from one of my cousins.

The Wii Mote use a Wii Sensor Bar original to know where it is aimed. A Wii Sensor Bar has a set of six infrared LEDs, that are detected by Wii Mote, that has an infrared sensor at its tip. A few mathematical calculations later and the console knows where the Wii Mote is pointed.

A Wii Sensor Bar original uses a connector that seems to me proprietary, and would need some kind of adapter to be plugged into a MiSTer FPGA or even on a PC. Fortunately there are Wii Sensor Bar 3rd party with USB connector, ready to connect to any USB port.

In fact the Wii Sensor Bar USB uses the USB port only for power to power the LEDs. All communication is done by the Wii Mote.

So I decided to acquire this Wii Sensor Bar USB, a Light Gun for Wii Mote and an Wii Mote.

Unboxing and Tests

A Wii Sensor Bar USB came in an envelope without much protection, but it arrived intact. It comes in a plastic bag and its base has an adhesive. The thread is very thin, looks somewhat fragile, I would prefer it to be somewhat more robust.

Infrared is outside the spectrum visible to humans, but with the help of my camera (Canon PowerShot SX60 HS) I could see that the Wii Sensor Bar USB is with all 6 LEDs working, after plugging it into a USB port. This is possible because the camera has no infrared filter on the lens and its CMOS sensor is sensitive to light at that frequency.. Because of this, podemos ver os LEDs acesos nas fotos e no vídeo dos testes. Check out:

Um teste com o Wii Mote só será possível quando ele chegar, então até lá tudo o que dá para fazer é ver as luzinhas acendendo mesmo. 🙂

Tracing

These are the package tracking information with the Wii Sensor Bar USB obtained from the AliExpress system:

2020.06.27 11:06 (GMT-7): Delivery successful
2020.06.23 10:06 (GMT-7): Accepted by Last Mile Carrier
2020.06.21 05:10 (GMT-7): Arrived at destination country
2020.06.20 10:10 (GMT-7): Departed country of origin
2020.06.20 10:10 (GMT-7): Departed country of origin
2020.06.13 16:06 (GMT-7): Shipment arrived at country of origin post office
2020.06.12 15:03 (GMT-7): Shipment left country of origin warehouse
2020.06.12 09:25 (GMT-7): Shipment at country of origin warehouse
2020.06.12 08:55 (GMT-7): Shipment dispatched

And these are the information obtained on the site of the station:

27/06/2020
11:51
[REMOVED] / SP Object delivered to the recipient
27/06/2020
11:10
[REMOVED] / SP Object left for delivery to recipient
26/06/2020
08:31
INDAIATUBA / SP
object routed
Treatment Unit in INDAIATUBA / SP for distribution Unit in [REMOVED] / SP
25/06/2020
08:28
CURITIBA / PR
object routed
Distribution Unit in CURITIBA / PR for Treatment Unit in INDAIATUBA / SP
25/06/2020
08:26
CURITIBA / PR   Fiscalização aduaneira finalizada
23/06/2020
10:57
CURITIBA / PR   Objeto recebido pelos Correios do Brasil

Informar nº do documento para a fiscalização e entrega do seu objeto. Click here My Imports
18/06/2020
11:08
HONG KONG /
Object forwarded
Country in HONG KONG / countries in International treatment unit / BR

Report document number for the supervision and delivery of your object. Click here My Imports
13/06/2020
16:53
HONG KONG /     object posted

Report document number for the supervision and delivery of your object. Click here My Imports

Table-Summary

This is the table-summary of purchase.

Final Considerations

A Wii Sensor Bar USB é uma alternativa à barra de sensores original com conector USB, pronta para ser conectada em computadores para uso com emuladores e no MiSTer FPGA.

Robustêz não é um ponto forte desse dessa Wii Sensor Bar USB. O fio é fininho e o dispositivo é todo de plástico. Mas por apenas R$ 12,64 não dava realmente para esperar muito mais do que isso. Nevertheless, espero que ele funcione corretamente com o Wii Mote.

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