A surgical tracker and method of operating the same involve the surgical tracking including one or more tracking markers, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, an infrared (IR) receiver, and a tracker controller coupled to the RF transmitter and the IR receiver. The tracker controller obtains sensor data and operates the IR receiver to wirelessly receive a command to manage an operating parameter of the surgical tracker with respect to RF communication. The tracker controller operates the RF transmitter to wirelessly transmit the sensor data using RF communication managed in accordance with the operating parameter.