[{"element_type":"text","content":"\n        \u003cp\u003eA few hours ago, I saw an announcement of a new Adafruit product #5961, connecting Stemma QT/Qwiic connector to a breadboard.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI quickly realized that by having two of these, with headers soldered on (consider using right-angle headers for this), one can use \"Flat Flexible Cable\" (\"FFC\") AF04-5-ND from Digi-Key, along with Digi-Key crimp-on connectors 609-3512-ND, to connect something like a sensor on one side of a door/operating window/etc to a microcontroller on the other side.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe FFC is MUCH thinner than a normal Stemma QT/Qwiic cable, or indeed any sort of \"ribbon\" cable I've seen in my nearly 60 years of \"doing\" electronics, so the FFC is MUCH better at getting through doors/windows/etc.\u0026nbsp; You may be familiar with FFC in a custom form (often called Flexible Printed Circuits) for connectors on various small displays.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI should mention that those \"crimp on\" connectors can be a tad bit ornery to get on.\u0026nbsp; I usually find that a largish pair of \"pump\" pliers to do the ''crimping' and another pair of pliers to \"convince\" the side pieces to close will do the trick.\u0026nbsp; Also, if you have a sensor exposed to the weather, you might want to consider adding some conformal coating (though the device and connections before applying the coating, and if your sensor includes humidity and/or barometric pressure, be sure to protect the \"sensor hole\" from the coating.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne instance of this that I've used the FFC for is a sensor outside a window while keeping an ESP-8266 safely on the window sill.\u0026nbsp; I also have sensors inside both the fridge section and freezer section of my side-by-side with an ESP-8266 on top of the unit.\u0026nbsp; (A fridge would make a pretty good Faraday Cage, so WiFi inside the fridge probably wouldn't work.)\u003c/p\u003e\n      ","metadata":{}}]