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Light/Tech Qs
 

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lrzipris
Joined: 04 Mar 2004
Posts: 532
Location: Doylestown, PA

3/2/13 2:39 PM

Light/Tech Qs

For safety, I'm looking to upgrade my lighting systems, but it seems like more and more LED-type lights are rechargeable through a USB connection. Seems weird--plugging a light into a computer USB port and the computer plugged into a standard electrical outlet. What's the advantage over plugging the device directly into a wall outlet? Moreover, if you're traveling, you might not have access to a computer or USB port, no?

Are there after-market cables that would allow me to plug a USB-connected device into a standard wall outlet? I think there are surge protectors that have USB capability, if I read things correctly.

I know that I could replace a standard wall outlet with one that has USB ports built in, but I'm not interested in that. And I'm more of a luddite than a hi-tech guy, so home-made lights don't appeal to me.

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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY

3/2/13 2:58 PM

Ton's of wall wart adapters out there.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp;jsessionid=B88B2363B287AA56EA55FA48A90DE919.bbolsp-app04-16?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-4893759680061515571&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=usb+ac+adapter&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&qp=&list=n&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n

Couple of bucks.

SB

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Dave B
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4511
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

3/2/13 4:18 PM

Most of the rechargable lights (and other battery powered devices) I see have a wall wart that plugs into an AC outlet but has a USB port built in and the detachable cord has a USB plug at one end and whatever configuration the light requires at the other.

My NiteRider Newt 250, a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch and a new Samsung cell phone all have this type of charger that allows USB or wall AC charging.

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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3712
Location: Brooklyn, NY

3/2/13 5:10 PM

Most iPod chargers are wall warts with USB ports, no?

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

3/3/13 1:41 PM

USB is just a convenient, standardized...

...source for 5v power. you can buy oodles of USB wall adapters, no need to involve a computer to charge your lights.

i personally like the kindle USB chargers, super-duper small and minimal draw when not actively charging a device. work with any USB cable you have handy.

<img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31iwY-qltqL._AA160_.jpg">

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

3/3/13 7:40 PM

My Garmin, cell phone and NightRider Lumina headlight are all using the same corded "USB" (with narrow plug at the end of the thin wire) wall-charger that was supplied with the cell phone.

This same type of narrow plug is on the free end of the USB cord that I keep plugged into the PC, but I assume that the "USB" end is the wider, thinner end that actually plugs into the PC.

So what's the narrower end of the cord called, the end that plugs into a Garmin, headlight or phone?

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Steve B.
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Posts: 769
Location: Long Island, NY

3/3/13 9:24 PM

The larger connectors are standard USB A an B connectors, what's in the photo is the new device standard called Micro USB.

Standard A is what's on the end of the cable and are what plug into chargers, computers, etc.., devices such as printers have the B connector.

The Micro USB is the current standard for cell phones and tablets, etc..

Apple chose to not use this, for whatever reason.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

3/4/13 5:59 AM

Actually...

...the photo is of a mini-B connector. Here's a link to the various types:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Types-usb_th1.svg.

Micro-B seems to be the cell phone (except Apple) standard, and is also used by at least some Kindles (e.g., Fire) and other devices.

The mini seems to be losing popularity; a few years ago, when I bought an MP3 player, mini was a standard. Apparently phone manufacturers decided tat one standard wasn't good enough, and the result was, for a time, chaos--the phones could talk USB, but only using a manufacturer-supplied cable.

Sanity seems to have emerged, and the micro-B is now common across a lot of carriers.

Oh, and also? Phone manufacturers (and some computer manufacturers!) seem to have standardized on a 4-conductor 3.5mm (that's 1/8" for those of us who grew up in the '70s) headphone/microphone audio jack.

Whew.

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

3/4/13 2:41 PM

usb connector images redux

micro, mini, std

<img src="http://images.wisegeek.com/micro-usb-mini-usb-and-standard-usb.jpg">

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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

3/4/13 8:31 PM

Thanks for clarifying.

So I mis-wrote that my Garmin used the same mini plug as my phone and my headlight.
Actually, ONLY the Garmin (and btw also my digital cameras) use the mini plug, while the headlight and my phone use the Micro.

I'm not thrilled with the micro plug, since it's harder to figure out the right-side-up alignment, but at least I haven't been able to damage it yet.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

3/5/13 4:19 AM

suggestion

1. Mate cable and device.
2. Put a tiny dot of paint on connector and device to show alignment.
3. Mark other devices to correspond with cable.

Alternatively, my experience has been that all or nearly all micro connectors are micro-B, so one side is curved. Use that to align them.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

3/5/13 7:37 AM

Context: the A connector plugs into the source (computer, wall socket,) the B plugs into the peripheral (phone, printer.)

You can't knock marking any connector in my book. Anything to make it easier.

It is part of the spec that the front / top of the B connector has the USB 'pitchfork' logo molded into the grip. The other side is smooth. For the most part that corresponds with the forward or top facing part of the peripheral.

I've also noticed that micro-B is a different from the other two in that the seam of the metal connector is on the front. The bottom sides on all generations are always more complex, less smooth, because that is the side where the physical resistance is made to keep the plug from pulling out.

I've had to plug in so many connectors blind that those details are important. The spec writers must think so to. FWIW, I've noticed Dell motherboards' A connectors are upside down compared to everyone else', but they are consistent in their reversal.

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

3/5/13 7:57 AM

+1 on paint marking connectors for alignment

even on the larger USB-std plugs it's handy, as they're invariably black and plugged in someplace with poor lighting. i use my wife's nail-polish.

fwiw, i believe for usb-micro the nominal "front/top" is indeed the flat, non-curved side *except* for motorola devices and kindles. for some reason they've oriented their usb-micro receptacles upside-down. i still mark all my cables correctly and just remember that moto/kindle devices are reversed.

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/USB_Micro_B.png/90px-USB_Micro_B.png">

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

3/5/13 12:49 PM

Upside down?

My Nokia 820 has the micro-B port set curved-side up/front.

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daddy-o
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 3307
Location: Springfield

3/5/13 2:19 PM

According to the USB Implementer's Forum, Inc. the USB trident logo goes on the "top of both overmolds."

Oddly, page 18 of the diagrams in the spec (opens a PDF) present the logo facing down, go figure, but still oriented like the large photograph linked above in this thread.

Your connection appears to be compliant Andy. This is where I might put in something about sleeping through the night.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

3/5/13 6:26 PM

This actually explains something!

daddy-o's link includes the following definitions, which make sense of what otherwise seems (at times) the chaos of USB specifications:

A-Device:

A device with a Type-A plug inserted into its receptacle. The A-device supplies power to VBUS and is host at the start of a session. If the A-device is On-The-Go, it may relinquish the role of host to an On-The-Go B-device under certain conditions,

B-Device:

A device with a Type-B plug inserted into its receptacle. The B-device is a peripheral at the start of a session. If the B-device is OTG, it may be granted the role of host from an OTG A-device.

This makes perfect sense out of the differential connectors used with (say) a computer (A) and a printer (B).

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Craig
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 591

3/5/13 10:44 PM

These, or similar, are popping up in your local Home Depot. If you have a "usual" place where you charge your lights it's not that hard to convert an outlet.

http://theworldsbestever.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/usb-socket.jpg

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