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RFID Distance — Parallax Forums

RFID Distance

Scott PortocarreroScott Portocarrero Posts: 72
edited 2009-12-02 18:29 in Accessories
Does anybody know of a way to extend the rfid range up to about 3 inches? Maybe an external antenna?

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2009-12-02 18:28
    You should be able to get a range of 3 inches from the RFID reader as is. It is possible to attach an external antenna by cutting the traces on the printed circuit board, scraping off the solder mask coating, and soldering leads to the narrow traces. You won't get better range though. The existing coil is optimized for the driver circuitry in the RFID reader and you can't do significantly better. I had done this to add reed relay switches to select among 10 or 12 smaller coils in a pattern. The range deliberately was only about 2 inches.
  • John R.John R. Posts: 1,376
    edited 2009-12-02 18:29
    What type of tag are you using?

    Using the round "world tags", I was getting more than a 3" read distance.

    The orientation and speed of the tag are also factors.

    In talking with the folks from Parallax at one of the shows, I got the impression that the current antenna was pretty well optimized. I think to get more distance, you would need to re-do the entire transmitter circuit to get more power. I'm also not certain how much power the chip can handle.

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