Hey can you guys ammend this posting if you find anything that works with the reader?

What tag type did yours come with? And where in the store did you find yours? If the part number is no good online, will i be able to call in to my local stores to check if they have any in stock?

Got a couple last week, both with some random tags. Fired it right up with a Bus Pirate since I only have 3.3V USB-to-serial converters. Works ok, but I noticed that it will spontaneously spit out bogus codes, maybe 1 every 10 minutes or so. I don’t know if it’s cell phone interference or just some quirk.

Side note: the tag in books and DVD cases are not RFID. They’re tuned loops that are designed just to set off the detectors.

The Parallax reader works with EM4100-type tags. Parallax seems to be selling them from their site for about a buck each – but Seeedstudio sells them at 5 for $2.50:

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/rfid-tag-combo-125khz-5-pcs-p-194.html?cPath=40

@chango Random interference. I forget if it was in the docs or a previous HaD, but comparing 2 successive readings was recommended.

“a tag of the kind that can be found in books and DVD cases. Neither worked with the reader, but we’ll keep looking.”

The HaD editorial process is always amazing to me. How does the dude who doesn’t know what RFID is get assigned the RFID article?

Anyway, I will have to go around the local Radio Shacks and see if they have any of these left. I have seen them on previous trips, but always dismissed them because of cost; though I am pretty sure I saw them for $30 and not $50, so perhaps this has been a steady price drop.

I can verify this, the Parallax RFID reader and a few other things have gone on Clearance just recently. I remember putting out the tag for it. I’ll get some exact pricing on a couple things tomorrow during my shift.

@tripp
I also heard about the TSL230R Light to Frequency Converter being marked down as well, but considering its only a couple of bucks to start with its not as great of a steal. What I’d like to see is the PING))) module come down. My local has about 5 or 6 of those in stock.

@Comrade
Get buddy-buddy with someone on a forum somewhere?

@ comrade, drop me an email, see what i can do.

nutz4hs(at)yahoo(.)com

just picked one of these up. plugged into my arduino and it was good to go.

Sure they are $10. Sure they are cheap. But really, how useful is this thing? If it can only read one thing at a time, at very close range, I don’t see why you couldn’t just use say, an analog pin and resistor ladder.

I am very tempted at $10 but I see no use for RFID.

Thanks for the post Hackaday!!! I just picked two of these guys up. Time to play! :D

the one from seedstudios is available for 13 bucks and reads all 125khz tags (even the ATtiny ones ;)… And the 13 Ghz Reader costs 30 bucks there …

Just picked up two of these at the 2nd RadShack I visited. I’m hoping to eventually build a reader/spoofer to get free parking in one of the many overpriced garages near me in Atlanta (or at least clone my roommate’s $68/month pass). I know i’ll need different hardware but these should provide a good starting point.

Here’s the clearance item number. Call ahead to make sure they have some in stock first, or to find another location that does.

RFID Sendor Module ($9.97) 2760032

And yeah, the light-to-frequency converter is on clearance too. Not a huge deal but still cool.

Light to Frequency Converter ($1.97) 2760034

FYI:
At the Davis, CA store, they told me:
“They were on clearance for $10 but sold out *about a month ago*”

I also picked one up. Thought about buying the other one they had, but I figured there must be another hack a day reader in my area who could use one. The price was still marked as $50 and I can confirm the markdown will be taken at the register automatically.

Thanks bluewraith and hack a day!

My local RS had two… now they have none : p

Went to Cookeville, TN radioshack – can confirm that it does ring up as ~$10.00 (it was more like $9.90)

The manager was confused and called up another radioshack to verify. Came out with 2 readers for 25 bucks :)

Strange mine all 3 of mine came with 2 credit card sized tags…

Got it working with the Arduino as an auth device. Seems like it has a noticeable read delay but that might just be a quirk in my code. There’s some example code in the Arduino playground, but that wouldn’t have been fun, so I decided to reinvent the wheel. The garbage data hasn’t been an issue since the key transmission is encapsulated by start and end constant bytes. Just have to read the key twice to be sure we’re not authenticating a monkey at a typewriter.

I’m thinking I’ll throw this into a motorcycle with a push-button starter that only works if I’m sitting on the bike. That should confuse people enough for a little entertainment. I’ll have to make sure that’s legal in my area (or not). Also, I agree with previous posts that the range might be a concern.

I have been wanting to play with Arduino and RFID, but didn’t think about using them together. This price markdown got me excited, and somehow left the Radio Shack with 7 of the little buggers.

doesn’t work with 90% of RFID standards, it’s not even worth the clearance.

I grabbed the last two from my former store.
As soon as I read the article I grabbed the wife and shot out there to say hi ho to my former boss and grab those things.

Might be fun in the future.

i got it the other day, i went to radioshack, got one, brought it hoe, it didnt work, returned it, that one didnt work, returned that one, got a new one, didnt work. RETURNED IT AGAIN, got one with a chip resistor missing, and i finally complained to the manager, he would not refund me because it was supposedly my fault that the chip resistor was not there. i pointed out that this thing looks wave soldered, and there was no solder on the contact pads of the board, he rudely gave me a credit card, with a $3 restocking fee. I will never go back.

I will never go back their because the service is crap, prices are marked up terribly high, and thier products are failures!

“you’ve got questions, we’ve got blank stares”

The dude at my store could not even point me to the soldering kits. He showed me the soldering iron, and pointed out that this one had a lot of other stuff included in the bag (solder, pick, wick, etc)

I found it in the parts drawer. It was not marked down and did ring up as “on sale”. Came with one card tag and a round “world” tag.

I would not even call ahead, the sales droids don’t even know what a MOSFET is.

These are not the sales droids you are looking foor

W00t, local store had none in drawer but six in back. I got three. :-D The sales “droid” was at least helpful enough to dig through the back for the thing. Good to know service is still important somewhere. I hope this doesn’t mean the end to components at RS; I would no longer have any reason to come into the store. It has already decomposed into “The Shack” and the next step will probably be “The Shizzack” then “Tha Shizzie” where you can get only cellular phones. Just a prediction.

price confirmed for Monroe Louisiana, louisville ave location. 2 remaining as of right now.

duluth, mn 1 left in parts bin ;o)

I can confirm the price of 10$ great deal plus no shipping

Left one behind at the store in Washington, MI. $9.97/ea.

Lansing MI – there is 1 at the clippert st store and 2 at Cedar st.

Grabbed two from each of my two local ‘Slacks. I have a friend who might want one or two. If not, into the parts box they go (no project yet).
WHY can’t I resist cheap geekery!? I really don’t NEED these, they just looked too fun to pass up!

@GCL

This is actually pretty typical for radio shack, in my experience. I am assuming that they could have various reasons for cutting it (doesn’t sell enough/they are replacing it with something else/etc) but I have gotten CRAZY deals on random things at that store over the years, all clearanced for seemingly unknown reasons.

Well just found out about this yesterday and well I checked my local Radio Shack they were 36.99. Was this a few day sale?

@Luke

That must be a mistake. Just called a store near lansing, MI, they list the price as $9.97. Did you give them the stock number 2760032? Maybe they somehow entered the SKU for that other parallax thingy that is in the same drawer with the RFID reader?

got two at the local ft smith, ar store.. might as well use this one for the wireless door lock system featured on here about six months ago rfid door lock the right way

@Jake (Or anyone)

I just called my other Radio Shack and they have them for $36.97. Bummer I wanted to grab a few.

Also is it RadioShack or Radio Shack?

Does anybody know where I could get standard card size tags for this reader that also have magnetic stripes?

@Luke

NO FIVE DOLLAR FOOT LONG!?

D:

@Luke

Actually, I didn’t mind her. I’ll guarantee you that she wouldn’t have let ol’ McCain spend almost 4 trillion non-existent dollars in less than 2 years!!!

@Luke

I wonder if you could get someone on here to ship you some? A USPS small flat rate box is only $4.95 to ship, and most large cities in my state have at least 3 or 4 stores, if not more. I don’t have any extra at this point, but if I get some, I’ll let you know. I am heading to Grand Rapids, MI this weekend and I am pretty sure there is a radio shack in each mall that I am going to.

@Luke

Roger that.

Have used it with my BS2. See the link http://www.parallax.com/RS and follow N&V #120 for BS1 or BS2 code.

Will try next with the Propeller. I need to find something to lock, like the refrigerator, so my 2 teenage boys don’t eat me out of house and home at night. :)

I got a couple of these to play with.
Thanks bluewraith for the heads up.

@Ken
It’s simple, you complete an application and they hire you. There’s a store near me, one in Forest Hills, the manager there reminds me of the typical Red Neck, each time I walk in to either browse or buy something even, he dares me to be insulting to him. (I can’t! He’s already been insulted by me.)

Oh and don’t ask about the part, swing over to their cabinets and dive into the one called Sensors, it should be in there.

@Luke, it might be the same here. Franchising is common for those stores. For RS, in a small town not even big enough for a mall, they might arrange for a small amount to be roosting in a general store.

Good new! I ignored the information the guy at the one Radio Shack gave me and visited another location today. Their system said they had 4 in stock (only found 2 in the drawer though) even though the company wide inventory system showed 0 for the local store as well as all others around it. Whatever, I’m happy I was able to find one!

Plus, the associate I dealt with tonight was a much more useful human being and actually seemed to understand that not all their customers are stupid people looking for cell phone accessories.

I’m selling a few on ebay if our overseas friends want to take advantage of this bargain.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Parallax-RFID-Reader-Module-/180519444127

Anyone else having trouble with their unit sending only bytes containing FF?

I’m thinking it’s just a mistake somewhere in my wiring, but all mine ever outputs is 0xFF, usually once when I wiggle any RFID tag by the antenna.

In case anyone sees this post via google, they are still out there. I visited two stores today, one didnt have any left but the other still had two. Might be worth a shot to look if you are near a radio shack.

I got the last two of these my local Radio Shack had in stock yesterday, $8.47 each.