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Omnidirectional RFID UHF antennas with medium (~25mm) range recommendations?

penguin

Please bear with me as I couldn't even be considered a novice yet. I'm just a coder with an idea that I want to try out using RFID technology.


I want to identify and record data from passive RFID tags that are up to approximately 10 inches (25 cm) away from the device in any direction. There may be a few inches of low density foam between the antenna and the RFID tags. Small size and weight are important factors. Number of simultaneous tag reads... let's say, up to 5 at a time.

Based on my online research, I've come to the conclusion that a UHF reader is the way to go however, it seems like all antennas are either very short (few inches) or very long range. Can anyone recommend some antennas that might be suitable for these requirements?

Thanks in advance.

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  • 0

    You didn't mention what region you require operation in, but if it's Europe, then this antenna looks ideal and is low-cost:

    https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/kyocera-avx/9000468/21442857 

    It is omni-directional, and I suspect (can't guarantee it, you'd need to try it) that it may support the range you're looking at.

    However, you'd need to mount it to a 70 x 70 mm ground plane, which is pretty easy to DIY (you can get the PCB ground plane manufactured for sub-$10, even in single quantity, from many PCB manufacturers in China).

    If you're in North America, then this antenna looks suitable:

    https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/kyocera-avx/9000469/21442939

    Again, it requires the 70 x 70 mm ground plane. If you need more info about how to make the ground plane, let me know.

    (And again, no guarantee it will support the range you're looking for, but at the low price it's definitely worth a shot.

    The ground plane will end up looking something like this (the example here is for GPS, not RFID, but it will be almost identical).

    image

  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    So, I'm starting to look at this a little more. Still mostly over my head, and probably a dumb question, but... do you happen to know of an RFID reader to pair with this antenna? I'm trying to figure out how I would utilize an antenna like this.
    My limited experience now is just using PN5180 readers which has reader and antenna as a single unit and ports to wire them (to an ESP32 board in my case). I'm kind of at a loss at how I would even attempt similar with this antenna.
    Initial research suggests maybe a RAIN (UHF) reader.. but those look to be hundreds of dollars and I'm not even sure it's what I need.
    Any thoughts?
    Thanks!

  • 0 in reply to penguin

    Hi,

    RAIN is a very suitable option (in my opinion), and the commercial systems will for sure cost a few hundred $. One chip manufacturer is Phychips, and there are RFID reader boards (modules) on AliExpress, which are lower-cost (the search term for the older generation chips is PR9200), but you'd need to search for code or write your own, for a PC or microcontroller to communicate to it, whereas the ready-made commercial systems will be able to directly connect to a computer and have interfacing software and an API.

    Some of the simpler boards/modules have a serial connection known as UART (a bit like RS-232, but different voltage levels), which could be attached to a PC using a USB-UART adapter cable. I have one of the PR9200 AliExpress modules, it's been on the back-burner to build a little test board for it. But as mentioned, there would be software effort required. If you believe this is the way to go and are interested in writing the code and sharing it : ) I'd be happy to work on the board a little bit, and publish the board layout so you can order it from any PCB manufacturer and assemble it. There are no guarantees it will work since I've not used the modules before (I have worked on a solution in the past that used the commercial systems for retail applications).

  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    Thanks for the info. An intriguing idea (writing and sharing the code). I'd say that a definite possibility down the road. Right now I'm in just kind of fast prototyping mode. Kinda trying to see what works and how well, then go back and try to understand what I did and how I can streamline it. So I think my first goal will be to finish up what I'm doing with the PN5180's. Then probably try something like the antenna you mentioned and a ThingMagic RAIN reader. I want to see how that performs. If it does well, then I'll probably want to look into reducing the cost and going with something like what you're talking about... a more customized, slimmed down solution. I'm actually excited about that prospect. I would love to work on that! Will probably be a process getting to that point though. Will definitely let you know if/when I'm able to collaborate on that.

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  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    Thanks for the info. An intriguing idea (writing and sharing the code). I'd say that a definite possibility down the road. Right now I'm in just kind of fast prototyping mode. Kinda trying to see what works and how well, then go back and try to understand what I did and how I can streamline it. So I think my first goal will be to finish up what I'm doing with the PN5180's. Then probably try something like the antenna you mentioned and a ThingMagic RAIN reader. I want to see how that performs. If it does well, then I'll probably want to look into reducing the cost and going with something like what you're talking about... a more customized, slimmed down solution. I'm actually excited about that prospect. I would love to work on that! Will probably be a process getting to that point though. Will definitely let you know if/when I'm able to collaborate on that.

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