Internal USB port comparo - Chose Mini B - photos inside

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 17

Hi all. I thought I'd put a post up with photos of the three most common USB port styles next to each other. So without further ado...

I have some more pictures up here...

http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/CVScam

I intend on mounting mini-B ports in all my cams. They're tiny and its easiest for me to get cables for them. Many digital cams already use mini-B, so you can use the same cord.

EDIT: This is a link to standard wiring diagrams for each kind of USB port...

http://www.physiol.ox.ac.uk/~trp/pinouts.html#2

Since most of the wiring intructions I found here refer only to the colors of the wires, so you have no idea which is which if you're starting from a bare port that needs to be soldered.

Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 40 Location: Denver, CO

Thanks for the shots.

I had scavenged a Mini Fuji Finepix connector out of a dead camera (smaller than Mini B) and did a slick install with just a small hole on the side of the cam. It was tricky to solder the surface-mount connector to some leads, but I finally got it all together.

Goal was to be able to travel light with my Fuji still cam and the CVS and be able to use a single cord.

Ended up getting all kinds of "glitches" in the downloaded video, and strange behavior in Ops. So, back to the centronix, hot glue gun monstrosity. Ugly thing is just so stable...

Let us know how it goes!

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 17

Thought I'd post a followup. I found a really slick way to mount the mini-B port. No epoxy or case cutting required, and its in there sturdy! It just happens to fit perfectly, you don't have to do anyhing special...

(click the pic to see more)

I used the wiring instructions found at the bottom of this page, which worked great...

http://rumkin.com/reference/dakota/

Except I moved the black wire from PCB pin 10 to pin 7, as found in many of the wire color/PCB diagrams on here.

After that, it just took a few tries to get the 3.70 cam unlocked. I found the text-free preview screen about 5-10 times before the cam would unlock. But now its working like a charm!

Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 21

That looks great and simple too!

But when you connect and remove your USB cable, the female doesn't come loose or move?

I plan to give a couple cameras away to kids so they will not be handeled as gingerly by them as by me. I wonder if this design would hold up?

Thanks for the idea and detailed post.

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 17

For kids, I'd probably shoot some epoxy down under the port after you have it installed and soldered. That should hold it very tight.

If you really reef on it, you can wiggle the port and probably pull it loose. The plug also fits really stiff, I'm hoping it will "break in" a little soon.

Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 1119

Looks like there is a good chance of the metal housing of the USB connector shorting against the edge connector pads... add insulation.

Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 17

Yeah, I was worried about that too. I have a strip of electrical tape between them now. I should probably slide in something more durable. It would take up some wiggle-room slack at the same time.