A USB-C Mod for RTL-SDR Blog V3/V4 Dongles
Over on GitHub, umbertoragone has uploaded some schematics for a USB-C modification he's made for RTL-SDR Blog V3 and V4 dongles. The modification removes the stock USB-A plug on the dongle, and instead replaces it with a USB-C connector mounted on an adapter PCB.
The repo contains all the gerbers, BOM, and assembly details required to replicate the modification. He notes that he is also selling a pre-made USB-C adapter board over on his Tindie or Lectronz store for US$4 (currently out of stock).
Let us know in the comments if you would be interested in seeing an official USB-C version of the Blog V3 and V4 line of dongles. Previous polling has indicated that USB-A is still the preferred choice by a wide margin, but attitudes may have changed over the years.
It doesn’t matter if it’s USB-C or USB-B, but the critical improvement is that the RTL-SDR should have a USB socket, not a USB plug.
I’m honestly not sure how it’s intended to be used right now. It’s impressively small as a radio but still over 10mm wider and 5mm thicker than the USB’s maximum allowed overmold boot. Do you unplug your other devices so there’s enough room to plug it in, use it for a little while, and then unplug it so you can use your normal devices again?
I’m going to have to buy an external USB extension for this, anyway. (I’m also a little scared of attaching a giant lever arm to my motherboard.) I’d gladly have paid $10 extra for a model which came with a USB-B or USB-C socket.
I’d also have paid an extra $10 for a model with a BNC connector. SMA is way too tiny and fragile, especially for a radio which covers so much of the spectrum that I’ll naturally be experimenting with many different antennas.
It’s a great little device, apart from the odd choice of connectors!
While it may be convenient to have one USB type connector for all systems, for RTL-SDR sticks there is the mechanical side and the interference side to consider.
Unless you mechanically fix the RTL-SDR stick, the attached USB cable and the antenna (cable) all to a secure base, my choice is always USB-A or USB-B, incl. the USB 3.0 Versions, connector types to provide the best stability. USB-C is at best my second choice, since I already had several USB-C connectors snap of under mechanical stress, the same for USB-mini, with USB-micro providing me with the most damaged connecters.
From the interference viewpoint it is not just the connector type, but mainly how well the shielding to the RTL-SDR case for the USB-C female connector and between the USB cable and USB-C connector, assuming that the USB cable is shielded. Unless a case provides nearly 100 % of shielding any small gap, slot or opening will increase RFI.
Replacing the USB-A connector with the USB-C PCB will, without measurements data to back may claim, decrease interference robustness for the RTL-SDR circuit itself and increase unwanted radiation from the RTL-SDR stick.
Therefore I prefer the USB-A connector.
Even at USB2 speeds, the USB-C connector is preferred. Feels much more robust, we can choose our own cable lengths, and C-to-C cables are common now.
On my current v3, it’s a lot of unsupported weight hanging off the USB port and I’m always nervous about snapping it off.
When I use a C-to-A cable on a modern laptop (with only C), the slightest bump disconnects the device. Could be a flakey C-to-A cable, or just the A side is not a tight fit. A C-C cable/connection should solve that too.
Yes USB-C would be very welcome. Much faster throughput and make useof the plug on my laptop
The USB-C connector itself does not have faster throughput. It’s the protocol(in case of RTL-SDR USB 2.0). So this is just a convenience.
For faster throughput, you would need to redesign the USB part of the dongle. And how complex that is, I don’t know…
USB-C please!!!
What are the dimensions of the pcb ?
The USB-C adapter PCB measures only 10 x 12 mm
Thank you .
That usb-c port seems too short
That picture was posted accidentally bruh
USB-C yes please! One cable to rule them all.
I would absolutely love this as long as it it’s C2C compliant with PD handshake and all that jazz. I don’t want to have to fish out a C2A cable just to make this work. C2C would be perfect for field kits running apps on today’s phones.
Yes, it has the two pull-down resistors on the CC1 and CC2 pins of the USB-C, so it can negotiate through PD 5V@3A. Thanks to this, it gets recognized even using USB-C to USB-C cables by laptops using only Type-C ports, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on Android phones also.
Yes to USB-C. “A” is the soon to be Dodo of USB
Yes for USB-C
Totally USB-B (rugged, best) or USB-C (fair).
Having it all as a lever to break stuff isn’t what I see as ideal.
I would love to see testing of how much EMI is changed between USB-A and USB-C with an average cable. If there is less cable noise and you get the dongle away from the computer’s own EMI it could be a huge improvement. Even just a quick comparison would be useful.
Absolutely would love a version with usb-c, Constantly worried about damaging my ports with a chunky dongle sticking out.
USB-C sockets on future dongles gets a thumbs up from me, for sure. Carrying around a USB-A extension just for my radio dongle isn’t much more cumbersome, but I’d still prefer being able to just plug it into any of the dozens of USB-C cables I already carry.