Two rooms, one vive,

trevbellatrix · 31 Oct 2016 at 02:19

My bedroom has the gaming pc, desk and steering wheel and flightstick controls but the problem is, the room is too small for using the Vive in standing mode, however, the living room which is much larger is suitable with 3.2 x 3.6 available space so I've extended cables from the breakout box by 3m and passed the cable through the wall separating both rooms and have set up the vive in the living room, it works great.
However, I'd like to use my steering wheel and flightsticks for corresponding games but the pc, being in a different room means that I'd have to relocate the lighthouses from room to room to facilitate this, can I leave the two lighthouses in the living room and use an additional single lighthouse in the bedroom for seated gaming?

trentlad · 31 Oct 2016 at 04:26

Yep. You can try it now, just disconnect one lighthouse and go through the setup routine again with it in front of your steering setup.

SKILL · 31 Oct 2016 at 10:43

Using just a single lighthouse works fine, the setup is a bit different but nothing too hard (I found I had to put the headset on my seat and then measure seat to floor as the lighthouse couldn't 'see' the floor so a bit more awkward).

Also SteamVR popped up telling me that if I was only using one lighthouse it would be better on channel A, not sure what difference it really made though, both seemed fine.

trevbellatrix · 31 Oct 2016 at 11:49

Glad to hear that, however, what I meant is, if I buy an additional lighthouse box, would I be able to use it in the bedroom on its own while the other two boxes are in the living room at the same time? I'm not keen on the idea of constantly swapping boxes from room to room.

hyperseven · 31 Oct 2016 at 12:26

dont forget to use the 'chaperone switcher' app so you are not constantly running room setup.

ArmitageShanks · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:18

trevbellatrix said:
Glad to hear that, however, what I meant is, if I buy an additional lighthouse box, would I be able to use it in the bedroom on its own while the other two boxes are in the living room at the same time? I'm not keen on the idea of constantly swapping boxes from room to room.

Strictly-speaking, I think it only currently supports a max of two Lighthouses. Whether that's limited to being active within the same room (to avoid IR synchronisation issues), or via the bluetooth connection/detection I'm not sure.

Chances are it would work fine provided you switch off the boxes in the room you're not using. Bit of a gamble buying a third box only to find out it might not work though...

Perhaps pop off a mail to HTC's support?

trevbellatrix · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:53

Great answers, thanks all! Looks like I'll be taking one and relocating it in the bedroom as required.
Here's what I'm going to do - the living room lighthouses are attached to walls via the fixing kit, obviously, its unpractical to remove and refix the bracket from room to room, I'll be fixing a single bracket in the bedroom but the vive package only contains two!
What I'd like is to build or buy a makeshift third which has the right thread diameter for the boxes so that I can simply unscrew the box from one bracket to the other, anyone know of wall brackets that can do the job?

RoyMi6 · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:58

hyperseven said:
dont forget to use the 'chaperone switcher' app so you are not constantly running room setup.

As hyperseven says there's an app for what you want to do.

For starters, it's good to know that the chaperone that you set up with your vive when you first got it is simply a text file in your steam folder that basically stores information about where your base stations are physically located and the area you defined as your play space.

If you simply moved your base stations between rooms then it's this file that you want to keep a hold of a back up to store your room setups so you don't have to run the setup each time you moved them.

However, if you do what you're saying, and buy an extra base station or two, then you can move between rooms and simply change the chaperone file that is loaded.

To do this quickly and easily with Chaperone Switcher:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4qguq9/updated_yet_again_chaperone_manager_supersampling/

Also note that only a maximum of two base stations are currently supported with the Vive.

If in your bedroom the laser light from the base stations in your living room come into the room then they will disrupt the Vive and make it loose tracking.

If this might be an issue make sure you have the door closed between the rooms or turn off the ones you're not using.

trevbellatrix · 31 Oct 2016 at 15:06

Thanks Roy! Only issue is finding a bracket for the bedroom, can these be jury rigged or do I have to pay htc a ridiculous sum to send one over?

RoyMi6 · 31 Oct 2016 at 15:10

It's a standard 1/4 inch tripod mount - although I do NOT recommended putting them on tripods as even the slight movement as you walk around the room is enough to make you loose tracking.

Anyway, literally anything you get in Google when you search for "camera wall mount" will suffice. Just get something in your budget with features you might like...

For example it might actually make sense to buy a pair with a quick release system so you can move one of them between rooms easily.

Also note - if you do decide to go down the two room route and that you want to make it easier by buying a 3rd base station from HTC that it doesn't come with a wall mount!

EDIT: P.S. Bilago warns that any movement of the base stations can make the chaperone files not work... From experience with this type of thing, forcing it to work usually represents itself in the form of a squint floor or incorrect floor height.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comme...gain_chaperone_manager_supersampling/d8lvbz5/

So moving between rooms, even with this tool, may result in your having to run the setup for the room each time. It really depends how exactly you can get your base stations positioned every time you move them and how well you can put up with your resulting offset of the chaperone.

trevbellatrix · 31 Oct 2016 at 15:20

Have just ordered a 1/4 cctv wall bracket mount which looks to do the job, thanks all, wish I could buy you a drink!
Hopefully in a week or so, I can play race and flight sims on my vive for the first time, YEAHHH!

ArmitageShanks · 31 Oct 2016 at 16:46

You shouldn't need any chaperone switching for a seated experience. My desk and chair sits outside my current chaperone bounds for flight sims and driving games, doesn't affect anything.

As for mounting, just use a floor-to-ceiling support pole and a grip mount. Easy to set up, takes up minimal floor or desk space compared to a tripod, and pretty solid. No drills or damaged walls required.

Edit - I currently use a pair of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001BWT2PA/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MyArmor-Universial-Threaded-Microphone-Motorcycles/dp/B01A6KJDFG/

hyperseven · 1 Nov 2016 at 15:00

trevbellatrix said:
Thanks Roy! Only issue is finding a bracket for the bedroom, can these be jury rigged or do I have to pay htc a ridiculous sum to send one over?

What about some of these fella, you attach them to wall and the vive bracket slides into them, a quick release bracket if you will.

http://ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Black-Moun...ight-House-Wall-Ceiling-Bracket-/142141873900

What about running the lighthouses of USB power banks? Apparently it is possible by using a 5v to 12v DC usb barrel adaptor, £1.50 each from China eBay.