Add USB to any PIC project for less then $3

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Feb 28, 2010

• #1

A new find for me but it's actually old info'. Now I can add USB to even the smallest 12F683 project using a $3 adapter. Yippee!!!

**broken link removed**

Here's a link that explains how to modify a $3 Nokia CA-42 USB-to-Serial cell phone cable for use on your microcontroller projects;

DIY USB to Serial Cable For $3

I searched for "nokia ca-42" on ebay and found the following vendor selling a CA-42 clone for $2.68 including shipping (from China);

**broken link removed**

Regards, Mike

 

Last edited: Mar 3, 2010

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upand_at_them

Active Member

• Feb 28, 2010

• #2

Nice. I wonder about those cheap prices out of China with shipping included. I've seen them offer items under $1 with free shipping. You couldn't possibly ship international for <$1. Let us know if you buy one.

 

AtomSoft

Well-Known Member

• Feb 28, 2010

• #3

Should have been called USB to TTL(UART) for Under $3

 

Last edited: Feb 28, 2010

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Wp100

Well-Known Member

• Feb 28, 2010

• #4

Hi,

Yes, think many of us would order some of them, but suspicious of the low cost / postage.

The free shipping is an often asked question see this for one-
what is Standard Int'l Flat Rate Shipping? in Community Help Boards in Community
Doesn't really answer the question though..

 

Hero999

Banned

• Feb 28, 2010

• #5

I've bought a couple of those, one for my parallel programmer and another for my old printer.

My current motherboard does have a parallel port but it's broken and it's cheaper than buying a new port. I bought mine off ebay for a bit less than the one linked above.

 

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Blueteeth

Well-Known Member

• Mar 2, 2010

• #6

I bought 4 of these for $0.99 each, pretty good for a simple USB-TTL. But be warned, you need to add a power mosfet if you need to use it to power your circuit if your circuit draws >100mA. Happened to me for hours until I realised...and it crashed my machine (blue screens).

 

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 2, 2010

• #7

Blueteeth said:

I bought 4 of these for $0.99 each, pretty good for a simple USB-TTL. But be warned, you need to add a power mosfet if you need to use it to power your circuit if your circuit draws >100mA. Happened to me for hours until I realised...and it crashed my machine (blue screens).

Click to expand...

Well it was clearly stated in the article (post #1 link) about the 100-ma limit.

What I'd like to know is where you found them for 99 cents?

 

Last edited: Mar 2, 2010

Oznog

Active Member

• Mar 2, 2010

• #8

Nice- I've used USB-to-RS232 adapter cables, but 1) it needs level-shifting hardware, and 2) it doesn't supply the 5v out. Now I'm betting that inside there there's logic-level serial IO traces which could be tapped into, and also of course the 5v is available in there somewhere. But the housing was cast into a monolithic case and I couldn't get inside it, well not without completely destroying the case. This cable seems nice.

 

Oznog

Active Member

• Mar 2, 2010

• #9

upand_at_them said:

Nice. I wonder about those cheap prices out of China with shipping included. I've seen them offer items under $1 with free shipping. You couldn't possibly ship international for <$1. Let us know if you buy one.

Click to expand...

I have. I forgot to put some flashlight O-rings on one order, so I filed another order with just a pack of O-rings just for kicks. I didn't seriously believe they'd ship an international package for a ~$1 set of O-rings. I figured they'd hold it until I came back and placed a "real" order again.

Then, two weeks later, package arrives from China. Customs stamps and all. Yep, they shipped the O-rings, all alone.

 

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upand_at_them

Active Member

• Mar 2, 2010

• #10

Somebody must be stealing the boxes out of the factory. Then getting a deal at the post office.

 

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Blueteeth

Well-Known Member

• Mar 3, 2010

• #11

$0.99 from ebay Chinese ebay shop so shipping took about 2 weeks to the UK, but I wasn't in any hurry. Think shipping was 2.95 or something, which in fairness raised the average price of each cable. This was about two years ago?

The prolific chip they use is pretty good, but obviously only works with a USB-serial driver. Still, the extra lines on the chip (which you can solder kynar wire to) are handy for resets and simulated button pushes for testing.

 

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 3, 2010

• #12

Thanks for info' Blueteeth. I see now some 99 cent cables on ebay but they want $5 for shipping.

I just purchased one of the $2.68 (free shipping) cables so I'll see what I get here in a couple weeks.

Regards...

 

B

Blueteeth

Well-Known Member

• Mar 3, 2010

• #13

Most welcome, if anyone wants a schematic of the cable (which is pretty basic) I can knock one up in eagle...although I'm sure the original article provides everything one needs.

 

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 25, 2010

• #14

Just received my CA-42 cable today and managed to install the **broken link removed** driver. The cable is recognized and shows up correctly as Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (Com 5) in Device Manager on my XP-SP2 machine but with an error message; "This device cannot start. (Code 10)"

Did anyone else order one of these $2.68 cables from the vendor I mentioned earlier?

Mike

 

atferrari

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 25, 2010

• #15

Why SP2 only

Hola Mike,

Not trying to derail the thread: why you do not have already SP3 for XP?

 

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upand_at_them

Active Member

• Mar 25, 2010

• #16

Is this any help?: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/943104/

 

Last edited: Mar 25, 2010

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 25, 2010

• #17

atferrari said:

Hola Mike,

Not trying to derail the thread: why you do not have already SP3 for XP?

Click to expand...

Hi Agustín,

You're right. I looked and I'm running XP-Pro with SP3. Sorry about that...

 

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 25, 2010

• #18

upand_at_them said:

Is this any help?: Description of Code 10-related errors that Device Manager generates in Windows-based computers

Click to expand...

I will check out that Microsoft Knowledge Base Article. Thank you...

<added>

Looks like I'm up-to-date on Microsoft operating system updates and running the latest-n'-greatest Prolific drivers too.

Maybe I've just got a bad CA-42 cable. I'll keep you all posted if I make any progress...

 

Last edited: Mar 25, 2010

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upand_at_them

Active Member

• Mar 26, 2010

• #19

Is it just the cable, or do you have the cable connected to something? I would think the cable wouldn't work until a device was connected.

 

Mike - K8LH

Well-Known Member

• Mar 26, 2010

• #20

upand_at_them said:

Is it just the cable, or do you have the cable connected to something? I would think the cable wouldn't work until a device was connected.

Click to expand...

I have the TX and RX wires connected together (loopback test). I'm going to try it on my wife's Vista notebook later today. I think I may just have a bad cable...