Houston, we have a problem.
A reader commented on a problem charging an XHDATA D-808 radio with a USB-C to USB-C cable. The XHDATA supplied USB-A to USB-C cable worked, but not the other.
This reminded me of something from a user guide:
TYPE-C input
— LiJiANi Rd239 User Guide (V3.0)
a. TYPE-C data cable… Please connect 5V charger, computer interface, standard USB output port, etc. Please do not connect the phone fast charger; the phone fast charger output has 9V or 12V. It may burn the machine. This machine has done this protection, but the risk still exists. …
I’ve been doing some testing with a standard USB-C end-to-end cable with 4 USB chargers:
- An outlet strip with USB-A and USB-C ports, labeled with aggregate capacity of 3.1A.
- A Bscane portable charger (photo below).
- Tesla Model Y (2023) vehicle
- Apple 20W wall wart
(click to expand)
| Device/Charger | Outlet strip | Bscane portable charger | Car | 20W Apple charger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HanRongDa HRD-701 | Y | N | N | N |
| LiJiANi Rd239 | Y | N | N | N |
| Raddy RF75A | Y | N | N | N |
| XHDATA D-109 | Y | N | N | N |
| XHDATA D-109WB | Y | N | N | N |
| XHDATA D-608 | Y | N | N | N |
| XHDATA D-808 | Y | N | N | N |
| Kindle 11th Gen | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Enegon camera battery | Y | Y | Y | Y |
There are two types of charging under the USB standard, standard charging and advanced power delivery. USB-C devices that can be charged are supposed to provide specified resistance across certain pins to tell the charger what power and voltage the device needs — no resistance, no power. My outlet strip doesn’t implement USB-C power delivery and it will send 5V down the cable no matter what is attached.
The problem with the radios is that they do not implement the USB-C standard — basically they are designed like a Micro USB radio with a different jack substituted, and that’s why they only come with USB-A to USB-C cables. A USB-C compliant charger will not respond to them.
So no, your smart phone charger with a USB-C end-to-end cable is not going to charge your XHDATA D-808 or any other radio I own with a USB-C charging jack.
I found a relatively simple solution, a USB-C to USB-A adapter. I got two of them on Amazon for $6.99. Plug the adapter into the USB-C port and then plug the cable that comes with the radio into that. There are also more compact versions without the cord.
To learn more about the USB-C charging standards, I recommend the following video — just ignore the title and opening graphic because this is exactly the cable to use for your portable radios.
Just got the XHData D-808 and plugging it in to the USBC charger I use for everything didn’t work. I thought I got a defective unit. Thanks to Google and your article I am now a little more educated and have confirmed the radio charges fine with the supplied cable. Thank you very much!!