Is USB Powered Hub Really Required

The place to discuss the use of the LimeSDR Mini for amateur TV applications
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Nick
Posts: 121
Joined: Sat Oct 03, 2015 10:09 am

Is USB Powered Hub Really Required

Post by Nick » Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:49 am

Wondering if I can just use a short USB extension cable (male to female), cut the supply cores in it and supply the 5V to the Lime SDR this way, leaving the 5V supply from the Pi disconnected, or maybe just connect the 0V lead from Pi to Lime and leave just the 5V line cut.

Has anyone tried this ?

Regards,

Nick.

g4eml
Posts: 673
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:36 am

Re: Is USB Powered Hub Really Required

Post by g4eml » Sun Mar 24, 2019 11:14 am

I am using the latest version Pi and I have found that it works fine with no Hub. Just connected directly to the Pi USB port.
I am using a good quality power supply of 5.2V

If I do find any issues then I plan to do something like your suggestion. I have mounted the Lime in a diecast box with a short connection to a standard B type USB socket, making it much more rugged. It would be easy to add a separate power connector to this arrangement.

M0IVJ
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:18 pm

Re: Is USB Powered Hub Really Required

Post by M0IVJ » Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:16 am

For some reason the Raspberry Pi would not reliably see the Lime SDR via the USB hub I have, and there wasn’t room in the case for it without moving things about. So in the end I changed a USB patch lead by cutting the positive wire (Isolating the Pi) and powering the LimeSDR from the Portsdown 5volt power.
PD_USB Power.jpg
PD_USB Power.jpg (40.91 KiB) Viewed 3861 times

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