I recently discovered a heat issue with the USB interface on the TelosB wireless modules. Heat can drastically corrupt the data collection when you try to read packets over a USB port. To see the problem yourself, I have created a video demonstrating what happens. Sorry for the blurry screen in the video.
USB ports, due to their serial architecture, run at a set data rate. My guess is that by heating up the node, the oscillator that the system uses to clock data is changing frequency enough to make the serial interface go haywire. I could be wrong though, just a thought. If anyone has an idea of why this is happening, feel free to post in the YouTube comment section.
Remember to keep your TelosBs away from any kind of heat source, including your laptop CPU vent. If you're doing experiments outside, keep the base node out of direct sunlight to avoid a problem.