So low-budget it hurts - USB hub
Just wanted to show off something I whipped up for the car last weekend.
Problem: what if you want to charge a device but dont want to risk any filesystem problems on your untested device? What if your friend wants to charge their phone while you want to play your music?
Solution: usb hub which has one port for full function, and one for charging only.
Not a lot of work involved here: I took an old keyboard apart for parts, and it had a little 2-port usb board in it. The harness coming off the USB port had dedicated wires for each port (2 5v power lines, 4 data lines, 2 ground lines), so I could simply cut off the data lines going to the second port, and splice the rest together. Splice the whole mess into a USB cable and voila.
Mount the kit and kaboodle in the old USB-project favorite: the Altoids tin.
Spray paint for the indie look and garnish with a picture to let people know which port will play music (and hence, which one is for charging only). Apply electrical tape as need to really make it look cheesy.
Tested and works fine - my mp3 player will happily charge while my Iphone plays through the stereo, and vice versa. I did get mixed results depending on which iphone -cable- I was using, but I found one that worked exactly as expected, so it lives in the car now.
The way I figure it, if youve got USB at your disposal, its critically important to know that you are able to charge any device you need at any time. This gives me that option without giving up the tunes.
This inspired me to build a mounted USB charging station into my civic, but thats a different story.
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