Project:USB Cable Tester

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USB Cable Tester

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Status: infancy
Release Date: 2019-02-02
Initiator: Luzian
Materials Used:
Tools Used: soldering iron
Software Used: Maybe PlatformIO
Approx. Cost: ~10€


Project Background

Do you know the moment when you try to connect a device and expect a USB cable to have connected data lines but you don´t know for sure? Or you want to figure out, which cable is best for charging your power hungry phone or Raspberry Pi?

In these moments, it would be great to have a measuring instrument that tells you exactly that.

As a starting point, the idea is to build such a device for the CoMakingSpace and later possibly think about designing a a PCB and host a seminar.

The idea

Feature wise, the cable tester should support USB A, micro USB and type C since these are the most pupular cable and connector types.

It should be able to tell whether the data pins are connected or the manufacturer cheeped out on "non essential" lanes.
Additionally, it should be able to measure the resistance of the power lanes in order to indicate the cable quality.

It would be nice to have a build in power source so you don´t have to plug it in when you want to use it. I haven´t decided yet whether or not to include a micro controller. For example an ESP8266.