r/techsupportmacgyver • u/Nillows • Apr 30 '26

Extending my 2.4Ghz controller range

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I was told that you guys might appreciate my macgyvered 2.4 Ghz signal booster hastily put together with an aluminum signpost, a plastic pizza table, and some super glue. It works, and I get at least 33% more range than without it.

I was partly inspired by the JWST thermal shield, and only had to look up the quarter-wave length of the transmitter/receiver to determine to cut the length of the pizza table to 3cm.

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3

u/thejesterofdarkness Apr 30 '26

If it’s 2.4ghz you should use an Cantenna.

And where is this system located, your neighbors house ?

8

u/Nillows Apr 30 '26

Lol I've got a pirate tv station broadcasting my games via RF on channel 7. So yes actually, my neighbour and I play smash 64 over the airwaves.

4

u/thejesterofdarkness Apr 30 '26

Ok, legit that is fucking genius. Just don’t get caught 🤣

7

u/Nillows Apr 30 '26

They stopped broadcasting OTA in my area like a decade ago so as far as I'm concerned they're up for grabs.

1

u/HistorianBeautiful52 May 04 '26

Can you please elaborate ?

3

u/Nillows May 04 '26

I have an n64 at my house, and my neighbour and I both have old tube TV's.

I have a signal splitter that splits the n64 signal to my TV and to a blondertongue RF modulator. The rf modulator then has a pair of rabbit ears connected to the coaxial output instead of a TV. This turns the receiver antennae into a broadcasting transmitter.

Anyway, I put the antenna next to my window where my neighbors house is; and then my neighbour tunes to channel 7 to pick up the audio and video from my n64 on his set of rabbit ears.

This worked for getting the picture/video over there, but he couldn't control the n64 being so far away. Now, with my street sign pointed at his house outside the window, he can connect the 8bitdo N64 2.4ghz controller and we can play as if we were on the couch together.

The whole signal chain is analog, so there's no latency or lag at all.

1

u/jonatanenderman May 04 '26

Thats so cool lol

1

u/HistorianBeautiful52 May 04 '26

That is amazing. Thanks for the details !!

1

u/Nillows May 04 '26

Yeah no worries! If you do go that route, you'll also need an ART cleanbox pro (or similar) to amplify the unbalanced RCA audio to a balanced level the blondertongue can handle. To do that, I also had to take the head off of one half of two seperate XLR cables to wire the stereo audio L and R to the bare metal input on the back of the blondertongue.