Introduction: Male to Male a to a USB Cable
Thought not that common, male to male A-A USB cables are used to connect USB devices to a PC or another USB device.
My old USB Hub need it for external power supply to provide full power to every port.
Step 1: Materials and Tools
You need:
- 2 spare usb cable, or 1 spare usb cable and a type A usb cable plug (I've got mine from two dead mouse)
- a multimeter (a continuity tester works fine too)
- Soldering equipment (cheap 30W soldering iron works fine)
- Electrical tape or heat shrink tubes
- Wire strippers and/or cutting pliers (scissors as alternative)
- Hot Glue or superglue/cianoacrilic glue
Step 2: Take Apart the USB Cable
Take the usb cables and cut the ends. Strip circa 2 cm of the external protective layer of the cable and you'll find 4 wires, each one colored differently from the others. The standard color of wires is reported in the images, but sometimes they are differently color coded.
Strip the wires, and using a multimeter find out the correspondences between the cables and the pins of the usb plug.
Step 3: Solder Time
Solder the wires of the USB cables between them. You have to solder the wire corresponding to pin 4 of the cable 1 with the wire corresponding to pin 4 of the cable 2 and so on.
Now insulate the wires from each other with electrical tape to avoid any shorts. If possible use heat shrink tube instead of electrical tape, it gives a nicer finish of the wire. At last insulate the cable with electrical tape (worst option ever, with time the tape moves and it sticks everywhere), heat glue or heat shrink tube.
Step 4: Done!
Now you have your male to male A-A USB cables, enjoy it.
P.S.: Sorry for the lack of photos of the steps, I've created this cable in a hurry.