Sparkfun UHF RFID reader M6e

Hi there, I bought a UHF Rfid m6e chip recently, I did some testing on it, and it worked fine, it stopped working recently but does not give any errors it says scanning and everything, but it does not seem to pick the tags up anymore, I’m using it with the suggested external antenna, any suggestions? Is there a chip reset?

UPDATE: I just tested it with Universal reader assistant, and it is working fine, is it possible that I damaged a serial chip on the board? My connecton is now with CH340 and RXI and TX0, and switch set to HW-UART, when using arduino uno wifi r4 I used normal HAT configuration (TX and RX pins) with switch set to HW-UART , RFID baud 115200 and serial 1.

Ig the M6E chip becomes to hot ( about 70 celcius), it will stop working. You then need to wait untill it cooled down and it works again (normally). Try touching the m6e and check that it is hot (carefull!!).

It becomes to hot when you apply a high read/write power without a proper cooling block.

Hi, thanks for the quick response, I ruled out that since the chip is cool, and it has a heatsink with fan on it. Any other suggestions? I also used an older UNO with its correct code and the serial monitor just prints SCANNING but does not scan any of the tags, I am using OMNI ID tags TAGS

Thanks. keep the read/write power low, 5dbm max unless you have a strong external power suplly directly connected to the M6E (NOT the UNO), The M6E is very sensative to strong power supply . When you connect the power from an UNO it is most of the time not strong enough. I apply a charged 3v7 lipo directly to the battery connection on the M6E to try to keep stable during testing.

Thanks, this solved my issue, quick question, the range I’m getting inside my building is 5-6m but outside it is far less, why would that be?

hard to say. Maybe try one of the other frequencies by selecting another region ( EU3 or NA etc) Each region has its own “free” frequency is the RFID-band. It could be that outside there is another system using the same free frequency and has an impact on your RFID reading.
And / Or try to position the antenna differently or in different direction.

And / Or Use enough read power (with external powersupply)