Before I learned about ferrite cores I assumed those blocks were added protection or some sort of strain resistance.
Ferrite cores (or Ferrite bead) are added to cords to reduce their electromagnet interference with other electronics. They are composed of a magnetic but non conductive ferrite. Fun explainer vid from @EkinYetkinEN on YouTube
Ferrite beads (sometimes used interchangeably called a ferrite choke, ferrite clamp, ferrite collar, EMI filter bead, or even a ferrite ring filter) can be a bit of a mystery. The electrical function of a ferrite bead resembles that of an inductor, but a ferrite bead’s frequency response deviates from this functionality at high frequencies. Additionally, different types of ferrite beads and ferrite materials, such as wirewound ferrite beads and chip ferrite beads, provide different responses to noise reduction. For example, wirewound ferrite beads operate over a wide range of frequencies but offer less resistance in direct current setups.
When you start out with electronics, you’ll hear a lot about power supplies – they’re in every electronics project and they are the backbone of everything! A good power supply will make your project hum along nicely. A bad power supply will make life frustrating: stuff will work sometimes but not others, inconsistent results, motors not working, sensor data always off. Understanding power supplies (boring though they may be) is key to making your project work!
A lot of people don’t pay much attention to power supplies until problems show up. We think you should always think about your power supply from day one – How are you going to power it? How long will the batteries last? Will it overheat? Can it get damaged by accidentally plugging in the wrong thing?
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A Fabulous Year for Python on Hardware and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
