Adafruit
FTDI Serial TTL-232 USB Type C Cable - 5V Power and Logic
Just about all electronics use a UART serial port with RX and TX pins for debugging, bootloading, programming, serial output, etc. But it's rare for a comput...
Get notified when back in stock
Just about all electronics use a UART serial port with RX and TX pins for debugging, bootloading, programming, serial output, etc. But it's rare for a computer to have a serial port anymore. Thus, a serial cable is an essential part of any electrical engineer's toolkit.
This is a USB C to TTL serial cable with an FTDI FT232R usb/serial chip embedded in the head. It has a 6-pin socket at the end with 5V power and ground, as well as RX, TX, RTS and CTS at 3V logic levels. Useful whenever you want to communicate with a TTL serial device such as an Arduino Pro Mini or ESP breakout, and the pinout will match up exactly to any 'FTDI' 6-pin header.
The version we have is the 5V Power / 5V Logic. The data signals are at 5V and the power line provides 5V. We suggest this for any product that needs FTDI cables and has 5V logic/power usage or is 5V-logic friendly.
If you have a device that is running at 5V logic and power, this cable will work fine. If you want to tweak the voltages and signals a little, you should also check out the FTDI friend.
We also carry a 3V Power / 3V Logic FTDI Cable.
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- breakout
- A breakout board carries a small or fine-pitched component and brings its connections out to standard, breadboard- and header-friendly pins. Describing a part as a breakout means it can be wired into a project without soldering directly to the component's tiny contacts.
- CTS
- CTS stands for Clear To Send, a serial flow-control signal that tells the other device it may transmit. It matters for reliable high-speed serial communication where buffers could otherwise overflow.
- RTS
- RTS stands for Request To Send, a serial flow-control signal used to manage when a device is ready to receive data. It matters when moving fast serial streams because flow control can help prevent lost data.
- RX
- RX means receive, usually showing data being received by the board. An RX indicator LED can help with troubleshooting USB or serial communication.
- TTL serial
- A simple serial data connection that uses microcontroller logic-level voltages (typically 3.3 V or 5 V) rather than the higher, inverted voltages of computer RS-232. When a device lists TTL serial, it can usually wire straight to a microcontroller's UART pins or to a USB-to-TTL serial adapter, but it needs a level converter before connecting to a true RS-232 port.
- TX
- TX means transmit, usually showing data being sent from the board. A TX indicator LED can help you see when the board is communicating or uploading code.
- UART
- UART is a simple asynchronous serial interface that sends data over separate transmit and receive wires, usually labelled TX and RX, with both ends set to the same baud rate. It is a common way for microcontrollers and other serial devices to exchange data.
Related Tutorials
Free guides on learn.littlebird.com.au
