some active rfid products

Have any of you guys actually used these yet? I can't wait to get mine but then again I'm not sure where I was planning on using them other than for car indicators and maybe the garbage can. I'm a bit worried that the garbage is handled too rough for one of these. I watched the truck pick these up and throw the can back down over the holidays and man it's no wonder those bins do not last very long. I could also see the transmitter going in the truck with the trash.
 
I haven't used these yet, but do have the iAutomate RFID, and haven't had a whole lot of luck with garbage cans. I have two receivers, and even though I can gain access to the signal levels received by each, the signal is not consistent and there is not a real accurate way to detect if the garbage can is on the side of the house, maybe 15 feet from the receiver, or at the end of the driveway, maybe 100 feet from the receiver. I can read the same signal levels at either location one day, and even see lower levels when the can is close other days. The RFID does work good on cars or keyfobs when all I want to know is Home or Not Home. But garbage can location is still a work in progress.

I mounted my tags on the back of the can above where the claws grab the can. It does get some shaking when emptied, but it still runs fine.
 
Remember, the "Cheaper RFID" hardware mentioned here does not measure signal strength so you will just have a "yes" or "no" answer (i.e. no distance).
 
Even for the more advanced (and expensive) iAutomate receivers, you should never confuse signal level with distance. I routinely receive a higher signal level from a tag on the other side of my house than from a tag right next to the receiver. I could put a short distance antenna on each reader, but then I would sacrifice overall coverage.
 
Yes as BSR states, these are On or Off, but then at the price the whole system is working out at I am more than happy.

I only have one receiver and one transmitter at this time but its working brilliantly with Blades plugin.

The new stuff should be here soon and then I will have 2 receivers, 5 x 8 meter tags for the humans and car and one 40 meter tag for my motorcycle... it lives at the back of the house so is further away.

If all works out as planned the 8 meter ones will live in the girls purses, mine will be in the car and the 40 on the bike.

Ill report back as soon as they arrive and let you know how they perform.

IMO Signal strength is not an issue here as the plugin detects within 8 seconds if they go out of range, I tried using figures lower than 8 seconds but started getting false readings, using 8 and above its been rock solid.

TrOjAn
 
Trojan;

I agree, these appear to be a great value for the performance they offer. I myself would only need to know on or off anyway, so I'm going to get around to order some of these eventually.

One question I have for you. I really don't want to change my current HomeSeer 1.7.43 version yet for 2.x. Is there any version of the RFID current plugins in development that would work with this older HomeSeer version? (Maybe convince a "certain" buddy of yours to write one mate? :( ;) )!!

Please keep us updated. I will probably be bugging you for additional information whenever I do get mine. ;)

Regards and thanks for your input,

BSR
 
Alas BSR, its Homeseer 2 only for Blades plugin.

I understand its still beta after just over a year but I can say its actually getting there.

Its stable, runs well and gets better with each release.. If I remember correctly you use CADDX and need a plugin for that?? I dont know anything about it so cannot help you, sorry.

IF?? You do decide to upgrade to HS2 Ill be only too pleased to help out where I can, good luck,

TrOjAn
 
Rupp,

Thanks for pointing us CheapRFID.

Just ordered one receiver/case, two 8m xmitters/cases and one 40m xmitter/case to play with.

Just what I was looking for to identify myself and the wife when we pull into the drive way.

Regards,
TCIII
 
I do not have any of these devices but I did look at the interface spec and it looks to be nothing more that basic serial communication for present/not present indication. I would think that all that one would want is mapping of the tag ID to a device (or xAP ID) and update of the status to be ON/OFF. Other plugins such as DooMotion or mcsMovement would be used to do groups, ID relationships, charting, etc. Is there something else that the BL or CheapRFID pluigin is doing with these? What capabilities does the ExpensiveRFID plugin/hardware have to make RFID a more robust and usable HA tool?
 
Michael McSharry said:
I do not have any of these devices but I did look at the interface spec and it looks to be nothing more that basic serial communication for present/not present indication. I would think that all that one would want is mapping of the tag ID to a device (or xAP ID) and update of the status to be ON/OFF. Other plugins such as DooMotion or mcsMovement would be used to do groups, ID relationships, charting, etc. Is there something else that the BL or CheapRFID pluigin is doing with these? What capabilities does the ExpensiveRFID plugin/hardware have to make RFID a more robust and usable HA tool?
Michael,
You nailed it on the fact that these are simply "in or out of range" based on receiving the data via the serial port so a HS 1.7 script would even work. What the more expensive RFID system offers is the ability to tell if you are coming or going based on the power of the signal and better packaging.
 
Back
Top