SteamVR Lighthouse Setup

[Heliosurge]

@PZ

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Base Stations 1.0 vs. 2.0.

---

Table of Contents
Choosing version: 1.0 vs. 2.0 & Quantity
Setup by Quantity
Pimax Play/EVO Setup

Based on Guide by @PZ with contribution by @risa2000

[Heliosurge]

Choosing version: 1.0 vs. 2.0 & Quantity

1. Before you drill holes in your walls or buy tripods, you need to know which hardware you’re holding.

[!warning] Watning: You cannot mix 1.0 and 2.0 base stations in the same setup.

[!warning] Lighthouse v2.0 not compatible with LH v1.0 tracked accessories! ie Vive Wands v1.0 & Vive Tracking Pucks v1.0

[!info] Lighthouse v1.0 compatible with both v1.0 & v2.0 tracked accessories.

2. How Many Do You Need?

• 1 Base : If you are strictly seated in a cockpit, one station mounted in front of off to one side is often enough. It allows you to “lean” into your mirrors and gauges with zero drift.

• 2 Bases: The standard. Place these in opposite corners. This provides 360° coverage for most titles.

• 3-4 Bases: If you use Full Body Tracking or find yourself losing tracking when you reach for the floor, adding a 3rd or 4th station virtually eliminates “occlusion” (when your body blocks the laser).

[Heliosurge]

Setup by Quantity

Common Rules for All Setups:

• Height: Mount them at or above head height (ideally 2m / 6.5ft).

• Angle: Tilt them down 30°–45° toward the center of your play area.

• Reflections: Cover mirrors, glass doors, or TV screens, as they confuse lasers.

If you have 1 Base (Seated Only)

• Placement: In front slightly to left or right, slightly above eye level.

• 1.0 Setup: Press the button on the back until the channel shows “A”.

• 2.0 Setup: No special channel needed; it will just work on its default.

If you have 2 Bases (Standard Room-Scale)

• Placement: Opposite corners of your play area, facing each other.

• 1.0 Setup:

  • Wireless Sync: Set one to “b” and the other to “c”. They must have a clear line of sight to each other.

  • Cabled Sync: If they can’t see each other, use the long sync cable and set them to “A” and “b”.

• 2.0 Setup:

  • Plug them all in.

  • Open SteamVR > Settings > Base Station > Configure Base Station Channels.

  • Ensure each station is on a unique channel (e.g., 1, 5). SteamVR can auto-assign these via Bluetooth. They do not need to see each other.

  
  
  
  

If you have 3 or 4 Bases (2.0 Only)

• Placement: For 4 bases, place one in each corner of a square/rectangle. For 3, place them in a triangle.

• Setup: Same as above 2 bases for 2.0 setup and ensure each station is on a unique channel (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4).

• In case you want to swap the channels, press the small pinhole button on the back of the device while it is powered on.
  “Reserved for Pic”

[Heliosurge]

Pimax Play/EVO Setup

For the Dream Air Series (Dream Air / Dream Air SE)

The Dream Air series streamlines the process, but you must ensure you have the correct hardware version.

• Confirm you have the Dream Air Lighthouse version.

• Simply connect your headset to your PC. Pimax Play/EVO will automatically recognize the tracking mode.

• Just like the Crystal, a successful connection will be indicated by the Base Station icon lighting up in the Pimax Play/EVO interface.

For the Crystal Series (Crystal / Crystal Light / Crystal Super)

The Crystal series is modular, meaning you need to ensure the hardware and software are in sync.

• Ensure your Lighthouse Faceplate is installed.

• Open Pimax Play/EVO and navigate to Device Settings. Manually switch the tracking mode to “Lighthouse.”