Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I was told that RFI chokes worked by "absorbing" unwanted frequencies, but here I test a commercially available snap on choke to see if that's how it really works.
After 50 years of thinking I understood RFI chokes, I discovered I was at least partially wrong. This covers a hands-on electronics experiment, and I revisit a decades-old belief about snap-on ferrite chokes and how they block interference from AM radio stations, crystal radios, and other noise sources in audio gear. Using a signal generator, oscilloscope, and split-core ferrite, I test efficiency across AM band frequencies and reveal why the real mechanism isn’t just “absorbing” high-frequency noise as heat. Instead, these common chokes often shunt unwanted signals between live and neutral, preventing interference from entering (or leaving) your device. Whether you’re a DIYer, electronics hobbyist, or tech enthusiast, this practical demonstration clears up common misconceptions, shows the correct way to use ferrite chokes, and helps you improve noise suppression in your own builds.
#ElectronicsDIY #RFIChoke #TechExperiment #ElectronicsTutorial
I was told that RFI chokes worked by "absorbing" unwanted frequencies, but here I test a commercially available snap on choke to see if that's how it really works.
After 50 years of thinking I understood RFI chokes, I discovered I was at least partially wrong. This covers a hands-on electronics experiment, and I revisit a decades-old belief about snap-on ferrite chokes and how they block interference from AM radio stations, crystal radios, and other noise sources in audio gear. Using a signal generator, oscilloscope, and split-core ferrite, I test efficiency across AM band frequencies and reveal why the real mechanism isn’t just “absorbing” high-frequency noise as heat. Instead, these common chokes often shunt unwanted signals between live and neutral, preventing interference from entering (or leaving) your device. Whether you’re a DIYer, electronics hobbyist, or tech enthusiast, this practical demonstration clears up common misconceptions, shows the correct way to use ferrite chokes, and helps you improve noise suppression in your own builds.
#ElectronicsDIY #RFIChoke #TechExperiment #ElectronicsTutorial
