SDRplay Community Forum

What USB cables are successfully being used to connect the SDRPlay to tablets with a mini USB connector? The square Type B male on the SDRPlay does not seem to be a standard cable to a USB mini on tablets.

Thanks, Ron

Oops. the connector on the tablet is a MICRO USB type.

Ron

Hi Ron,

You can either get a micro USB to USB B cable or micro USB to USB-A female and then use your regular PC USB A-B cable.

Best regards,

SDRplay Support

I understand physically which cable adapters will work, I have an adapter installed. I posted another thread relating that I cannot get the tablet to recognize the radio when connected. Do you happen to know whether USB adapters are straight-through, or do some have circuitry which might restrict the tablet from communicating with the radio?

Thanks, Ron

Hi Rons,
I am sorry, we don't know. It is possible however that your speculation on the previous thread that the tablet being unable to supply enough power to run the RSP might be the cause of the problem. Some people have had this problem with certain tablets. One way to check this would be if you happen to have a powered USB hub and use that you power your RSP. This would also enable you to get rid of your adapter and use standard cables. I know using a powered hub is far from ideal with a tablet, but it would enable you to confirm whether there is any other problem or not.

Sincerely

SDRplay Tech_support

Connecting the USB hub was a great idea. The hub did not see the tablet, so the problem is absolutely with the USB port. Further research has identified a slew of USB problems with the Lenovo Yoga products so I am returning it. Would you recommend a tablet which has been proven to work with the SDRPlay.

Thanks, Ron

Hi!

When I connect my SDRplay to a tablet with a micro USB socket, I usually go with two cables. One is the cable I normally use with printers, and then I plug that into a USB On-The-Go cable that plugs into the tablet's micro USB socket. This works well for me with my Win10 tablets, but these tablets are not capable of supporting the full 8 MHz bandwidth from the SDRplay. I find that I have to work with the 1.544 MHz bandwidth, or less, when using the SDRplay with any of these low-end Windows tablets. Tablets like the Microsoft Surface line, which are more like laptops in a tablet form factor, should be able to support the full bandwidth from devices like the SDRplay.

Good luck!

I solved my problem. For the next person who tries, a normal micro USB to USB cable is not the same as an OTG (On-The-Go) USB adapter. Apparently OTG cables have some additional circuity required to run normal USB devices on micro USB connectors found on tablets and other small devices. OTG cables can be easily found on Amazon or other online stores once you know what to look for.

FYI, the Lenovo Yoga 2 8" tablet now runs both HDSDR and SDR Console with the SDRPlay radio just fine.

Ron
K2RAS

nope, no circuitry. just pin 4 (sense) tied to pin 5 ground in the micro-usb end.
If you look close, micro-usb connectors have 5 contacts, sometimes number 4 is missing. That is the sense pin. tying it to ground on pin 5 tells the device to change from client to host mode.
Glad you put it all together..

73