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Comment by Eisenstein | Hacker News Reader

I got one of these (and some of the creator's other tester boards) and it has proven very useful:

* https://www.tindie.com/products/cuvoodoo/usb-c-cable-tester/

I mounted it in a little clear case back to back with the microUSB tester board. The battery should effectively last for a decade. There are multiple other similar boards on tindie for comparable prices. I picked based on being able to consolidate shipping price for multiple units; make sure to check where it ships from and how much if you only plan on getting one board.

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"This seller is taking a break until Feb. 9, 2023" - any good alternatives in the mean-time? (Tindie has a couple as you mention, just looking for specific recs.)

Searching for "usb c cable tester" on every major search engine pretty much solely returns port testers despite "cable tester" being in quotes. The product category must be pretty stark (and my god do search engines suck now).

I'm also pondering a way to mark my cables with the results of this thing. Color bands (like resitors) with nail polish or something?

I have heard good things about this one:

* https://www.tindie.com/products/petl/usb-c-cable-tester-c2c-...

but I have no experience with it, so I can't recommend it personally.

You should ask on the /r/usbchardware subreddit. They are generally a friendly bunch and have experience with these exact use-cases.

EDIT: re:color code marking:

* https://sa.lj.am/usbccccc/

I have this one https://aliexpress.com/item/1005002835878171.html

As opposed to the one GP linked which just shows which lanes are connected (i.e. if it's only USB2 or not, it has an e-marker or not), this one is fully featured: it reads the actual contents of the E-marker, revealing if the cable supports 100W, Thunderbolt, etc. It even sometimes shows the chipset brand name in the cable!

It can also check Qualcomm QC and USB-PD chargers to see what voltages/amperages they support.

Some "screenshots" of it in use https://bitbang.social/@kalleboo/109391700632886806

Thanks. Do you speak (or read) Chinese? If not, how did you find that?

You don't have to understand Chinese to browse aliexpress, it's all in english

The page that the parent linked certainly is not, which is why I asked.

Ah, Aliexpress has a tendency to randomly select a language, there should be a language dropdown in the top right (or top left if it has decided on arabic)

I don't read Chinese, IIRC I found it through another listing with more English and searched for the model number this listing was just cheaper

(I can read Japanese Kanji though, which along with the screenshots which are pretty clear on the feature set gave me the confidence this is the right thing)

At these prices why not get a proper USB meter that can do all of that plus check all kinds of USB power protocols?

Which USB meter is this? I think you might be mistaking a 'cable tester' for 'testing a USB port of some kind through a cable'. The device I linked to just requires two ends of the same cable be plugged into it. You cannot do that with the 'USB power meters' I know of that plug into USB ports.

The latest models of USB power meters have multiple ports and can also do some checking of cables (and chargers) including reading the actual e-marker chip for capabilities and testing the negotiation capabilities of attached USB-PD chargers.

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005002835878171.html

https://bitbang.social/@kalleboo/109391700632886806

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