Splicing USB Extender cable

[shiloh]

Hello all,

My first post here. I've been tracking ADS-B and AIS with a couple of DVB dongles for a Little while now. Now, I want to move my dongles on the second floor of the house or even maybe in the loft. I will be using active USB extender cables. However, I need to drill a few holes to achieve that.

does anyone know if I can cut the active USB extender cable at one end, get it through the holes I will be doing and solder back the cut end?

This way I wont have to drill huge hole in the hardwood flooring. I'm wondering if the cable will still work after?

thanks!

[Anmer]

Practice on a spare USB cable.

[Smokey]

Hi shiloh,

Yes you can - I have done that many times

BUT !!

Depending on the specific cable, be careful not to cut the foil when you cut through the outer insulation & omit to join the foil again. I have joined anything from thick, high quality, double braid & foil USB cable to cheap rubbish with only a ground strand with the 4 conductors - all worked, on condition, in the case of braid / foil - make sure they are joined appropriately ( in case of foil, use some sticky copper / aluminium tape) , Especially for extender USB cables, you want to preserve as much of the original characteristics as possible - and that is possible through careful re-assembly.

If you dont get it right the 1st time, you can surely spare 10cm & redo 

[Saudistu]

I used a USB to Network conversion kit when I first started using my SBS-1. Worked pretty well with only the occasional dropout. You can pick them up for less than 20 quid nowadays....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-Ethernet-RJ45-Extender-Adapter/dp/B0029HRYBK

Obviously you need some Cat 5 as well, but that is also very cheap. I suppose it all depends on how big you want to make the holes !

[shiloh]

Thanks Smokey, very usefull information.

Saudistu: I already have a USB over Cat5 extender, but it only work at USB 1.1 speeds (which is really slow) and I dont think it'll be fast enough for two dongles.

[IanH]

Re the USB to Network extenders, I'm not convinced that they will work with dongles.

Both Anmer and I have more elaborate (and different) versions of these but the presence of the dongle is not transmitted to the receiving PC.

Both SBS-1e and Radarbox work over these extenders, just not the dongles.

Hence my experiments with a Raspberry Pi and now a netbox computer in the loft to provide ethernet connectivity to the dongle.

If anyone has different experience please shout!

Someone did indicate on here that the USB to USB extenders do work with the dongles.