Turn NUSB to USB

We all know the 'U' in USB stands for Universal (though unlikely ET is using it), but some times companies like to make their own universe, even though they know that there can only be one universe in this..universe, they still do so. Some may argue that there are parallel universes but hey, we are talking about USB, S is serial, not parallel!

So, what does NUSB stands for? Read on.

Most electronic devices come with a micro USB cable and a separate charger. Some likes the idea of sharing and using the USB cable for data transfer and charging (save cost?), like my trustworthy HTC charger with a USB receptacle here:

With this you only need to bring one USB cable when travelling. When I got my Sony PSVita, it used the same idea of sharing the cable, but, it had a NUSB receptacle, the Non-Universal Serial Bus. Well in this case I'm talking about the mechanical design (two notches) of the charger the prevent standard USB plug from plugging in, while the pin-out remains the same. Only the supplied Vita cable with special cut-out at both sides is able to plug into the charger.

The urge to bypass the limitation arose when I need to power up my Raspberry Pi, where >1A supply current is recommended for use with a WiFi dongle, and The Vita charger supplied a nice 1.5A current.

The solution? A very simple+short+naked USB extender.

The extender has no problem plugging in to any USB receptacle. And any USB cable can be easily plugged into the Vita charger now.

With this, I only needed to bring one charger and one USB cable when travelling to charge my phone and the Vita. I also made and option for selecting between USB and AC charging using a jumper shorting the D+ and D-. The purpose of picking USB charging is to protect the charger when your device requires more amperes the charger can supply. When USB charging selected, the maximum current draw is limited to 500mA, which are the standard output of older charger.