Short-range UHF reader

Sensors NFC & RFID
1

Hello,

I’m looking to build a race-timing system, and I need to do the following:

  • - Assign an RFID tag to each participant
  • - Read each tag as they cross the finish line

    • From what I can read, the second issue can be handled with the M6E Nano together with an antenna (e.g. the WRL-14131 UHF RFID Antenna). I’m having some trouble with the first issue though. As preparations for the race, I need to connect each participant to a tag. What I would like to do is to type the name of the participant, grab a tag, read the tag id, and store the participant + tag combination.

    So, I’m looking for a UHF RFID reader, but with a range of approximately 1-5 cm - I don’t want nearby tags to be registered. The M6E Nano can read 1-2 feet with the onboard antenna which might work, but I’d rather use that for the finish line and use a second, cheaper, solution for the registration. I’ve been looking at the RFID readers and it seems that the M6E Nano is the only UHF RFID reader, but I would like to know if there are other ways to solve this?

    2

    There’s an option for decreasing the output power of the reader in code, you might try dropping that to the minimum. Lower power output will mean reduced range.

    3

    Foil lined box?

    4

    YellowDog:
    There’s an option for decreasing the output power of the reader in code, you might try dropping that to the minimum. Lower power output will mean reduced range.

    That might be an option, but I would like to avoid buying two M6E Nano’s if possible. And I would like to set up the “finish line” reader before the registration starts.