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| From | Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | sci.electronics.design |
| Subject | RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands |
| Date | 2017-04-28 19:10 -0700 |
| Organization | Rowland Institute |
| Message-ID | <oe0smv02ha5@drn.newsguy.com> (permalink) |
Disney theme park customers have special RFID bands, called MagicBand, helping
them use the parks. A 13-month old Wired article called this a $1B bet on their
MagicBands, but such an expenditure would have been more on the back end, rather
than on the bands themselves. https://www.wired.com/2015/03/disney-magicband/
At the time, Disney was quite forthcoming with tech details, photos and
teardowns about the RFID bands. EETimes has a video,
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=69&doc_id=1320977
At one level the MagicBands operated as 2.4GHz devices, but they also had a
longer-range low-frequency capability they didn't discuss. This was explored by
the fellow at AtDisneyAgain. See
https://atdisneyagain.com/2014/01/27/making-the-band-magicband-teardown-and-more/
Their design has recently dramatically changed, which is obvious by comparing
this photo I took, see dropbox, to the earlier teardowns.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sl5c4sh22idv4mp/2017_Disney_MagicBand_pcb.jpg?dl=0
I wasn't able to identify the new 32-pin primary RFID controller IC. But note
the coupling components and the 1/4 turn 2.4GHz antenna.
I also wasn't able to identify the large RF driver-IC / module connected to the
outer five-turn low-frequency antenna loop (outer diameter 0.85 x 1.0 inches).
Nor could I find any information about the low-frequency system, except that it
could work at longer ranges.
Perhaps somebody here can help.
--
Thanks,
- Win
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RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu> - 2017-04-28 19:10 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands piglet <erichpwagner@hotmail.com> - 2017-04-29 07:50 +0100
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Mikko OH2HVJ <mikko.syrjalahti@nospam.fi> - 2017-04-29 11:53 +0300
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu> - 2017-04-29 05:08 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 05:30 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> - 2017-04-29 11:00 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> - 2017-04-29 12:58 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> - 2017-04-29 13:39 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> - 2017-04-29 17:49 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> - 2017-04-30 08:45 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-04-30 13:01 -0400
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> - 2017-04-30 10:55 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-04-30 13:14 -0400
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> - 2017-04-30 11:28 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> - 2017-04-30 11:41 -0700
Re: RFID - the Disney way, two frequency bands bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net> - 2017-04-30 08:36 -0400
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