Software projects have portability; you spend X amount of time, and others can use your labor for free or nearly free. In comparison, hardware projects have co

Software projects have portability; you spend X amount of time, and others can use your labor for free or nearly free. In comparison, hardware projects have costs even if the 'hard work' is done: PCBs to buy, components to assemble, parts to purchase. Even BEST case here, and discounting peoples time, it looks like the cost of all the components listed would be in the neighborhood of $200. And that assumes you can source the same 'demo' cable that the OP purchased for the same cheap price. Realistically I bet actual costs would be $300+ I have nothing against DIY hardware projects, the problem is that hardware projects must pass a much higher bar: you have to be cost competitive at a minimum with existing products on the market, or you need to be better in some way (and, that way can be trivial, as long as it's interesting). This appears to be neither.