[Richard Harnwell]

I keep searching the internet to find people having the same problems as me with WaveBird (GameCube) controllers, but it seems like I'm all on my own.

Sorry about the long post, but I've tried to show everything I've already tried to eliminate the obvious suggestions. I'd really appreciate any advice though.

I have 4 WaveBirds. All 4 receivers are permanently plugged in and I sit 10-15 feet away from the console.

I've noticed the problem when using just a single controller, but haven't spent enough time with multiplay to comment on this.

Basically, after a variable period of playing, the controller starts to have occasional "dropouts" in that the signals from it do not get received. If I'm pushing the stick to move, my character will stop & the light on the receiver will go out. This dropout will continue indefinately if I continue to hold the button/stick & keep the controller in the same position. If I reselect a button/stick position, or move the controller, the light will come back on & all will be OK again.

I have tried the following with no success:

• Replace batteries (same prob. with various new Alkalines)
• Swapped controller and receiver - same problem
• Tried different channel number - same problem
• Different sequence of channels (e.g. 1,4, 7, 11 instead of 1,2,3,4) - no difference
• Raised the GameCube from floor height to about 4'. Hard to say, but this seems to have given a slight improvement.

I can't believe that both Wavebird/receiver combinations I tried are faulty, when these seem to have such a good success rate, so I must be doing something wrong...........

Is it possible that the 20 foot range is over-optimistic, and I'm really near the useable limit?

Any other suggestions very gratefuly received.

Do you have any other wireless kit in your setup?

WAP network cards are wireless video senders all use the same frequency spectrum (2.4GHz - I seem to remember)

I get problems when I have too many of these things switched on.

[Richard Harnwell]

No other wireless stuff in the house unfortunately (except when I use my Mario Kart Bit-Char-G car!).

[Ono]

I had something similar to this with my 2 Wavebirds.

I just tried different combinations on the channels and it works fine now.

No problems for me with my single wavebird since the US launch ::touch wood:: I'd check if the reciever is seated correctly in the gameport again just to make sure.

[Chaos Star]

Trying sitting closer?


Has this happened since new or all of a sudden.

I was thinking of buying a set of wavebirds, wont if this happens.

[Sinzer]

Perhaps one of your neighbours has some kind of wireless paraphenalia that may be interfering. What happens if you only leave one wavebird in ie remove the other 3 so they are no longer on.

[Richard Harnwell]

Thanks for all the thoughts/help so far guys.

I'm lucky enough (matter of opinion I guess) to live in the sticks surrounded by fields, so I can rule out neigbhour problems.

I haven't tried just leaving the one active receiver plugged in. That'll be an interesting experiment. I could also try the single receiver in one of the other ports (just use #1 so far).

It's also a good idea to shorten the distance, though this will have to be done by moving the GameCube itself (heavy coffee table prevents me moving forwards). It would be a shame if I had to do this permanently, as the joy of the wavebirds is to keep the console well out of the way.

By the way, this has happened since I got them, I've just spent ages assuming it was due to duff batteries etc.

I have an important appointment with lots of beer tonight, so I'll probably end up trying some of these things over the weekend. Thanks again for the help so far, and please keep those ideas coming!

I'll send an update when I've tried some of the suggestions.