I have a Parallax Smartcard Reader (#32320) that I would like to read information on my computer. Unfortunately SparkFun doesn’t sell this type of product. I also have a Pocket AVR programmer and an atmel32 microcontroller. The smartcard reader board has six pins
1 - i/o
2 - cd
3 - clk
4 - rst
5 - vcc
6 - gnd
Do i need a logic analyzer to read information on pins 1-4? These cost around $200 so I am trying to avoid that. I would like to read data from the i/o and was thinking that i could buy a usb serial converter to accomplish this but that has pins as follows
1 - cts
2 - rx
3 - tx
4 - vout
5 - nc
6 - gnd
I would then just use the usb to pick up the rx if that is possible. Is there an easier way to do this?
A link to some info on the smart card is needed. My GUESS is that it needs to be interrogated before it’ll respond. Thus you’ll have to find a way to combine and switch the Tx/Rx lines. And that assumes the datastream ‘fits’ into one of the UART forms. The smartcard might use a form of I2C.
I’ve been fooling with the new < $1 ea near field communications (NFC) RFID tags. Most newer mobile phones have an NFC reader built in, in addition to cellular, bluetooth and WiFi. My HTC One is an example.
NFC tags all use the same protocol standard, and are available on line from many vendors. I bought some ones the size of a quarter but much thinner.
Then I setup on my phone EverNote. I put the tag on the cork of a bottle of wine in my collection. Program the tag’s ID # into evernote and store a photo of the bottle label, along with date purchased.
Easy to move phone among the bottles in the wine refrigerator and see the pop-ups on the phone. Versus taking the bottle out - they don’t come out easily.
Just one app.
I have one in my wallet and, withing the 1 inch range rule, it’ll read without opening my wallet. Just reads the S/N. The data stored on the tag, about 300 bytes, is usually encrypted.
Lots of PC and Android/iOS freeware for NFC tags out there.