Looking for RFID hardware and software insight

I have given some thought to throwing some coin a Proxmark 3 clone version. If I was invested in the RFID technology and not just on the fringe I would reconsider the knock off and maybe the real deal. I have had some difficultly finding a reliable source to have the software working. The hardware is one piece but ensuring the software functions under Ubuntu 20.04 is a concern. That is the reason for my cry in the wilderness looking for someone that has experience.

Thanks. Lots of resources. I have been using the calculator to understand cost. I'm thinking of dipping into the grand children's college fund, to support my habit of purchasing stuff to just learn about it. I can't say I can answer the question "What are you going to do with it when you are done?" at the moment.

I appreciate the confidence comment. Unfortunately I have spent a few sleepless nights asking myself the question, why did I start a project I knew nothing about. I am not a trail blazer. I do have a passion for exploring and learning.  I like before starting that I have some confidence it does work. It may take some effort but it does work.

A Ubuntu 20.04 setup using Proxmark3 software and cloned hardware is my dream setup. Being able to perform the tasks on a Pi setup would be the next step. It will cost me a few hundred Canadian to realize if that is possible.

There has been a few suggestion to use a cell phone. I have a reluctance to even invest in that since the depth and breath of cell phone and it also depends where you are located. Canadian cell phone distributors don't have the products other countries have. That cell phone world concerns me because of the technology.

I am professionally dedicated to the development of card payment solutions through Point of Sale Systems (POS)

Transport contactless card top-ups. Mainly with NXP Mifare and Mifare SAM cards and Hardware Security Modules (HSM).

And also contactless EMV payments with card present for the LATAM and EMEA areas of the main brands Mastercard, VISA, AMEX ...

If you need any advice on these issues I will try to help you. As for documentation, everything goes under NDA.

These tools are interesting if you have an Android with NFC antenna

NFC TagInfo by NXP,

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nxp.taginfolite&hl=en&gl=US

EMV CTLS test cards for brand certifications

AMEX

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.americanexpress.android.testemulator&hl=en_IE

VISA

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.visa.app.cdet&hl=en_IE

Amazing what you can find on the net these days... with just a quick scratch... 2 interesting research papers were uncovered... can't vouch for what they have to say about cloning but in both cases the Proxmark system featured prominently.

http://www.cs.ru.nl/~rverdult/A_Toolbox_for_RFID_Protocol_Analysis-EURASIP_RFID_2012.pdf

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83115201.pdf

http://norma.ncirl.ie/4524/1/andrzejmackiewicz.pdf

Now if you head down the Arduino/Raspberry Pi DIY route you'll probably have to develop your own software (and that takes time) as I've not come across anything before... but then again that's more likely because I never looked (I'm always surprised as 9 times out of 10 if I look for something very specific I tend to find that someone has already done it and published some library or other).

These are the artifacts I use:

An Ehuoyan reader that came with an RFID card. These are of the "not-smart" kind. The card has an ID and the reader can read RFIDs.

Simple, easy, good. The reader acts as a USB keyboard.

A µFR reader/writer came with 5 key fobs. The device is smart. The key fobs are - like the Ehuoyan card, tags with an ID.

I use this device a lot, because it supports many standards, from simple ID reading to talking to MiFare and ISO14443 cards. (and Digital Logic has amazing support).

The 3 Infineon cards in the left bottom corner are ISO14443 cards that run an application. You can open a session and interact with them. They come with a crypto currency example (with full source code !!)

My cup runneth over with your generosity BigG .

I will be forced to put aside my fiction read of the current Gray Man novel and look at the non-fiction reading resources you have provided.

The part picture contents you displayed was it an online purchase? Secondly, I am not an MS Window user. What environment have you got this working in?

The Ehuoyan is a USB keyboard. That works with almost anything.

The Digital Logic µFR, I have used with Windows, Linux ARM (Pi) and Linux x64

The Infineon cards were an element14 road test. All the rest is purchased online.

Ehuoyan from Aliexpress, µFR from Digital Logic.

I also use an Android phone with nfc - development enabled - with Android Studio as development/debug envionment: