Schlagwort: Cable Tester

  • Instantly test your cables by plugging them into this device

    Instantly test your cables by plugging them into this device

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Arduino TeamOctober 7th, 2021

    Cables come in a wide variety of styles and attempting to diagnose a potential fault in one of their tiny wires can be tricky, especially without access to fancy test equipment. To combat this problem, TechKiwiGadgets created a small device called the Touch Screen Cable Tracer, which has several varieties of connectors on both ends that allow for a USB and RJ45 cable to be plugged in and subsequently tested. 

    The board selected for this project was an Arduino Mega due to its large amount of RAM and GPIO pins. Placed on top of this was an ILI9325 2.8” TFT screen, which shows the menu for the cable tracing device and the current state of the attached cable. TechKiwiGadgets also designed, fabricated, and assembled a custom cable tracer shield that snaps onto the Arduino and exposes a mirrored set of connectors on either end. 

    After putting the Touch Screen Cable Tracer together and placing it into a custom enclosure, it was time to test it out. There are two modes (auto and manual) that can be used to select the type of cable being used. Once the cable has been detected, the Mega attempts to pass current through the wires and read it on the other end. If a fault has occurred, it shows up on the screen as a missing conductor. 

    If this unit looks familiar, that’s because it was based on an earlier version previously covered on our blog. However, the Touch Screen Cable Tracer is 70% smaller than its predecessor and employs the custom shield and snap-together parts to eliminate meticulous soldering. More details on the device can be found in TechKiwiGadgets post here.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNKpWFi9JJM?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

    Website: LINK

  • Test and diagnose your USB cables with this Arduino device

    Test and diagnose your USB cables with this Arduino device

    Reading Time: < 1 minute

    Arduino TeamJuly 9th, 2021

    USB cables come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with a different of internal connections that may be unknown to the user. For an easy way to figure out these connections, and to diagnose if the cable itself is faulty, TechKiwiGadgets has come up the Arduino Cable Tracer.

    This device features an Arduino Mega board inside a 3D-printed enclosure, with IO pins connected to USB-A, USB-C, Micro-B, and Mini-B ports. It scans these ports to determine the configuration and lets the user know exactly how the cable is wired via a 2.8” TFT screen on top.

    Code and build info can be found here if you’d like to make your own Arduino Cable Tracer.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljssJ0HwHGw?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6kcbeNbBlo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Website: LINK