This is a brand new idea, I've done very little research. As is my usual process, I post here before having done much research, so that my research might be guided by the responses I get.
Here's the backstory:
At work I developed a system based around this RFID reader to read the ISO10374/AEI/ATA 902 to 928 MHz UHF RFID tags that are affixed to railcars. The system is installed at a railcar unloading position and will not allow the automated unloading process to begin unless the correct railcar is positioned per an online schedule. I have installed several of these systems and there are several more planned in the coming months. I requested lead time on an additional several units and was told that the current estimate of first availability is the end of March 2022, but that date has already been pushed back a few times. This is to do with the whole "chip shortage" debacle. There are only a handful of manufacturers that make readers explicitly stated to support this niche ISO10374/AEI/ATA physical/air interface protocol, and all of them are way more expensive and are also on extreme backorder. I am stuck and need a way to move forward sooner than (at best) March 2022.
Here are the ideas I've had so far, (list is in its infancy, open to other suggestions):
Here's the backstory:
At work I developed a system based around this RFID reader to read the ISO10374/AEI/ATA 902 to 928 MHz UHF RFID tags that are affixed to railcars. The system is installed at a railcar unloading position and will not allow the automated unloading process to begin unless the correct railcar is positioned per an online schedule. I have installed several of these systems and there are several more planned in the coming months. I requested lead time on an additional several units and was told that the current estimate of first availability is the end of March 2022, but that date has already been pushed back a few times. This is to do with the whole "chip shortage" debacle. There are only a handful of manufacturers that make readers explicitly stated to support this niche ISO10374/AEI/ATA physical/air interface protocol, and all of them are way more expensive and are also on extreme backorder. I am stuck and need a way to move forward sooner than (at best) March 2022.
Here are the ideas I've had so far, (list is in its infancy, open to other suggestions):
- Get a commercial RFID reader that works in the 902 to 928 MHz UHF but that doesn't advertise compatibility with railcar tags, and hope it accidentally works or else hack it into submission.
- Order one of every RFID dev kit, shield, hat, module, etc. that there is, that works in the 902 to 928 MHz UHF range, and hope that one of them is sufficiently barebones that the ability to read railcars hasn't already been designed out of it.
- Get some kind of SDR kit (I know almost nothing about SDR, or radio for that matter) and maybe I could design some functionality of reading railcar tags with it
- Throw up my hands in defeat