USB cable testers - what I should have had in my collection for years but didn't

[bitman]

Not sure how this won't come across like advertising - it's not meant to be. Just to illustrate how a hobbyist in electronics (me) finally found the answer to why powering and interfacing with his electronics over the years have caused so many odd errors and issues.

Beyond eevblog I follow quite a few other electronics/makers, on youtube and elsewhere.  One is Andreas Spiess (the guy with the Swiss accent) and while I thought I knew the basics of USB C I watched his video "USB-C Tutorial for Everybody (Connector, Cable, PD, Data Transfer, Devices". I knew that not all cables are created equal, I was stunned when he showed a simple board to TEST the cables for their capabilities. I knew you could do that - but I didn't realize it was that simple.

So while not the exact model, I found https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF95VL2Y and I now have to label (or get rid of) a bunch of my cables as "only charging" while expecting I just had to label which ones supported high 5-10mbps speeds. Soo many cables that doesn't even have D-/D+ - I had no clue and it explains why I so many times struggled to get a simple MCU programmed via USB because it claimed it wasn't there or "communication error".

There's several of these - the one Andreas show-case is USB C plugs only - the one I link to covers the old usb 1/2 plugs too. They're cheap and well, will allow me to keep the few hairs I have left since I no longer have to pull them out in frustration when a simple upload fails (never again).

If you like me are looking to use USB C for your own projects instead of the old plugs, Andreas' video is worth a watch. Not only does he cover which chips he recommends for controlling the power portion, but tips like using a tester like this will be helpful. It was to me - and I wanted to share. I can now clean my collection of cables out knowing which ones are really bad (too cheap to have all the wires needed).

[MarkT]

Surely if a cable has a open or short fault it won't work?

I'd be more interested in characterizing the bandwidth and the series resistance of the power and ground wires...

[bitman]

Surely if a cable has a open or short fault it won't work?

I'd be more interested in characterizing the bandwidth and the series resistance of the power and ground wires...

I suggest watching Andreas' video. It's not about shorting like wiring a +5V pin to a ground pin -it's about advertising features that cannot be done with the cable, because there simply aren't wires to connect data pins or for USB C the power pins for negotiation of power, leaving you with just USB 2's 5V instead of 16-20V and more current. Or not including the high speed data wires. Etc.  It's about selling cables that doesn't confirm with the standards they claim to follow, does not have the features promised etc.

My lesson learned from this is that I've been a cheap-scape and I need to pay for the cables I need, instead of paying less and not getting what I need.

[petl]

Surely if a cable has a open or short fault it won't work?

I'd be more interested in characterizing the bandwidth and the series resistance of the power and ground wires...

I've looked at this problem for a long while and while the only bandwidth capable tester available seems to be the total phase tester at a mere 15k€ https://www.totalphase.com/products/advanced-cable-tester-v2/, but there is a product aimed at something similar: https://ble.caberqu.com/

USB-C could actually profit from some simplification, making it a bit easier to understand.

[petl]

Interesting to update on this, the tester is now available: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/electr/1360724082

Any ideas on what is in there and how it really performs?

[thm_w]

Any ideas on what is in there and how it really performs?

From what is shown, it is only measuring Vbus resistance. Looking at the PCB he shows maybe there is some muxing on the USB port as well to let MCU digitally test the pins (his other project was pin to pin tester). Otherwise its just emarker data no?

I don't think its actually testing data throughput, and its definitely not testing power at 250W.

[LinuxHata]

I have built a device which will measure resistance of all wires of USB cable. It was long time ago, even USB 3.0 was not available yet. If anyone interested, I can check my archives, whenever circuit and firmware survived. It was based on PIC mcu and 0802 LCD screen.