Lighthouse Noise

[LittleOng]

One of the light house is making really loud noises, almost like fan noises, is it suppose to be like that?

[Cryect]

No, is it on a stable surface? Normally if its making loud noises its due to vibrations of being on something allowing it to move.

[yezzer]

I also have that with one my my lighthouses. Mounted on a stable surface. Seems to work OK though.

[Motanum]

I've only noticed the noise when turning on or off the device, but once it's stable, it's silent.

[digitalfunkmachine]

The cables can also be a source of noise.

[76561198207091945]

One of our base stations was exhibiting a noisy vibration as well. After traveling with it for a couple days, the vibration was gone when we set up again in its original spot. Some internal component may be slightly off-kilter, you could try gently jostling it around to rebalance it.

[bendotcom]

We accepted some bases that had high vibration (due to shape or alignment issues with the rotors) in order to get as many out to developers as possible. For some, the vibration does not really cause any noise directly, but causes other things (cables touching the base, or whatever the base is mounted to) to make a lot of noise. The first thing to check is to lightly touch things near the base and see if the noise goes away. If it does, you can try to address that.

Some bases are inherently noisy. If you have multiple kits, you can try mixing and matching the quietest base stations where you need quiet bases. Just make sure to set each pair up so there's one "A" and one "b" base.

If all else fails, and the noise is causing a problem for you, make your case to the SteamVR alias and we'll see what we can do.

[Miss Stabby]

Will a "noisy" lighthouse have a shorter than regular lifespan?
Assuming the lighthouses eventually wear down after years of operation

[bendotcom]

The bases shipped with the dev kits only need to last for a few more months. In reality, most will probably last for many years, but our goal was getting them in your hands as soon as possible, warts and all.

The production bases have many improvements compared to the ones you have now. They use better motors, they don't vibrate, and they have systems to compensate for components that change with age.

[76561198238357344]

Very cool. Can I ask if the limiting range / precision factor is currently the vibration? Will we see larger ranges possible with the new bases?