Application Tips

RFID Read Performance

The Tagged Asset and the Surrounding Environment

Radio waves from the reader are reflected by metals and absorbed by liquids, which may hamper or prevent tag reading. If this cannot be worked around by repositioning the tags, then special tags such as ones from Omni-ID may be needed.

The Environment in Use

The tags are electronic components and can be damaged by static electricity, so precautions may be needed.

Extreme temperatures, humidity and handling should also be taken into account as these can degrade and damage the tags. In harsh environments, paper-based tags should be coated, or harsh-environment / durable tags can be used. Most tag manufacturers have spec sheets that state optimal environmental ranges for their different tags.

Reader Distance and Tag Antenna Size

In general, the larger the tag, the farther away it can be read, although antenna design and technology has improved and a newer but smaller tag may outperform an older but larger one.

The antenna design and orientation was discussed on the RFID Intro page. Tags that have single-dipole antennas will best read with the reader's polarization parallel to the tag antenna.

Reader

StockCheck uses the system clock to record the time of the scans.

There is a backup battery inside the reader that is used to keep the system clock running. Fully charged and on its own, it can maintain the clock for about 28 hours, and if it is drained, the clock will need to be set up again when the system is powered up. (When drained, the main battery fully charges this backup battery in about 4 hours).

For extended periods of non-use, it is recommended that the reader be powered off rather than put into standby - the main battery runs down in about 20 hours in standby mode.

(Battery life remaining is reported in the Help menu à About StockCheck, and it is also shown in the Windows CE task bar).

Excel File Sizes

The CS101's CPU and memory (400 MHz and 128 MB Flash, 64 MB RAM) are limited compared to a typical notebook or desktop computer. A file with more than 1000 tags takes several seconds to open, for instance. For speedier performance, we recommend organizing the tags across more files with smaller files sizes.