Ensuring the highest read rates.

[Brian Agee]

If you're new to using this system there is a few things you should know to help ensure you will reliably achieve 100% read rates. You can time just about any type of events with this system as long as you keep the following things in mind:

1. Tags need to be clearly seen and come across at as close to 0-degree angle to the antenna as possible. In the diagram below you can see how the read range dramatically drops off the closer you get to a 90 degree angle (the tag is turned 'knife edge' to the antenna).

2. During the pre-race announcements you should give final instructions on how the tag should be worn. Tags should not be stuffed through the top of the laces or into the shoe or socks in any way. The tags should be hanging freely on the outside of the shoe. If the tags are worn on the hip, they should be on the outermost part of the shorts, not on the front or back of the shorts. People are used to the Ipico, Championchip, or D-tags that go on the top of the laces so the first time they see these tags they might assume that's where they're supposed to go and they could end up damaging the tag if they try to shove it through the top of the laces. If the tag has a severe crease in it, it shouldn't be used anymore.

If you're timing a college or high school track or cross country meet you really have to be careful to check the tags because younger athletes (in my experience) are the worst about listening to instructions on tag placement.

You'll want to avoid placing RFID tags really close to skin, carbon substances, metal, or water.

3. Obviously your tags should be programmed correctly. If you ever see someone run through with tags on that should have been clearly visible to the antennas then the odds are those tags are not programmed correctly. They were either not programmed at all or they were assigned to a different race and you forgot to re-program the tag so that they can be used in the race you're currently timing.

4. Antennas should be positioned so that they get the clearest view possible of the tag. As you can see from the diagram above, you want as close to a 0-degree read as possible. If you purchase antennas and tripods from us, then you'll want the neck of the tripod at high as it will go, but the legs spread apart to the next widest position they will go. This places the antennas at the perfect height for the shoe/hip tags but it also makes it so that the antennas do not blow over easily. You'll want to error on the side of possibly having the antennas too high than having them too low if you're not sure exactly how high to place them.

5. If you've purchased your own equipment instead of buying from us, and you're getting poor read rates, then of course it could be something related to the hardware. There are MANY types of RFID antenas, tags, and readers, so you have to be careful to make sure you get the correct equipment. For example if you purchase Linear antennas instead of Circular antennas then you will not reliably get 100% read rates. If you purchase a used reader then you'll want to do a factory reset on the reader to make sure the previous owner didn't turn the power settings down or make any other alterations that could effect the performance.

Here is a video where I talk about tag and antenna placement and tag sensitivity: https://youtu.be/20uO8dp6Mqs

[blueridgetiming]

Would using avery labels on your chips, effect the read rates? 

[John Kirby]

I have chip timed 2 races thus far and have an Avery label, similar to your pic, also laminated, and have had a 100% read rate.

Both were 5ks. One had 34 runners, the other 140.

By the way, I like the label. Very clear and professional looking

[blueridgetiming]

John, I can send you the Avery templete file if you'd like. Even though they were clearly written, as you can see by the pictures, the athletes still cut the chips.

I used to hand out small zip ties to make it easy to attach, but since that race I just have athletes use their laces.

[ohioraceday]

We thought about labelling and then sorting tags after each race.  But now we re-program our tags rather than try to sort them out after a race.  It seems faster but is probably not.  It does fix the "missing tag" issue when one doesn't get returned.  They are numbered with a wet-erase marker and runners tie them or safety pin them to their shoes.  See the photo.

[blueridgetiming]

The sorting isn't really that bad. Most of the tags do get returned and if not I usually just handwrite the missing tag on a label similar to the templete.

REMOVING LABELS - I timed a rainy race and some labels got real beat up. From this I found that if the labels are wet, they are real east to take off of the chip. Just watch out for the chip itself when removing it. So if you wanted to remove labels you could just get them all wet and take labels off and start over.

[ohioraceday]

That sounds like a decent system.  We initially tried some potted plant labels for our tags and stuck the RFID inlays to them.  (see the photo) This was back when Brian was using the Tyvek tags and hadn't come out with the laminated tags we have today.  You can get the plant labels printed with a thermal printer from the supplier.  A local blueberry patch owner/friend also could print them, if I recall, because they had the tag printing device to put their plant names and info on them.  Here was our trial.  They were definitely more durable then the Tyvek tags but I think it may have affected the read rate somewhat because we were missing tags.  But we were also still newbies at the system and could have had other issues and variables creating problems.  We abandoned that idea.  Anybody want to buy them?  LOL.

[peakperfor...@gmail.com]

Brian,

I would like to try using some of the Smartrac Frog3D tags as laminated shoe tags. Who do you have laminate the tags for you, so I could get some of the laminated. I would like to try these because of their superior omnidirectional reading capability. I realize they have a shorter read range than the 9662 tags you use, but with the width of my finish lines and antennas on both sides I think the read range would be more than sufficient and they might prevent missed reads when the participants decide to leave the tags laying on the top of their shoes rather than hanging from the sides. I also think they might be a better option to be used on bib tags if people want to use the wet inlays.  So again my question, where get the Smartrac Frog3D tags laminated?

http://www.smartrac-group.com/files/content/Products_Services/Datasheet/1_Inlay_and_Tags/1_1_Inlays_and_Labels/UHF/PDF/Frog3D_M4.pdf

[Brian Agee]

We laminate them ourselves. Every tag is hand made. I never intended in getting into the 'tag business', however after months of testing different tagging methods I knew the best results were achieved when the tag was placed on the side of the shorts or the side of the shoe. After looking all of the tags currently on the market, and after talking many "converters" (companies that make products with RFID tags) I found that the best option was for me to make the takes myself. The 'converters' wanted me to spend a few thousands dollars for the 'die' to make the tag and after that the cost per tag would still be around $2 for each one. So making them myself was the only way to get exactly what I wanted at an affordable price.

Back when I was researching all of the tags on the market I found the Frog3D and was intrigued. You're right, it looks amazing, however I think I steared away from it because of price or something. I have one here at my house, but I haven't really done a lot of tests with it.

If you laminate it, just use 3mil laminate paper and your laminator should be on the "3mil" or low heat setting. It's not recommended to place any kind of paper label on the tags because paper holds water, and even a thin layer of water dramatically decreases the tags potential of being picked up by the antennas.

[My Best Friend's 5k Road Race]

I've used the ART system twice now and had poor read rates. I'm using the Thinkify  TR200 with one antenna. How high is the antenna when you position your tripod when the neck of the tripod is as high as it will go and the legs spread apart to the next widest position they will go? I have a similar tripod and a circular antenna and only get a 40% read rate. I positioned the antenna opposite the reader and tilted slightly downward. The finish line is only 6 feet wide. Any other suggestions?

[Brian Agee]

Oh no, something is terribly wrong with the setup then. Here are some questions and comments that I have to help troubleshoot this.

Do you have any pictures of the setup that we can see?

The antennas should not be angled down, they should be reading directly across the finish line.

What type of tag(s) are you using and how are they being worn by the participants?  Bib tags, shoe tags, hip tags, etc.? The tag(s) should be worn so that they come across directly facing the antenna. For example, bib tags with a small USB reader wouldn't work well at all.

[Tim Irvine]

Peak, 

    I used the Frog 3D tags for the marathon here one year and found them to be awesome. The only reason I don't still use them is I had to but 5,000 at a time. I don't like to buy that many tags at once. So I went back to dog bones so I can buy 1,000 at a time.

[JK Race Timing Systems]

Hi Tim

You have got me interested in going back and trying the frogs again.

I wasnt very impressed last time I had them out but my setup only had it's training wheels on at that time and considering I have about 1000 laminated frogs I would love to use them again.

Out again over the weekend to test is my plan.

Thanks and regards

JK

[Tim Irvine]

Please post the results. Thanks!

[John Tanton]

I seem to be missing a number of reads at the finish line, last race we missed 30 out of 220. I am using a 4 port fx7500 and an 8 port fx9500 with plenty of good range antennas aimed appropriately. We used reusable HuTags from RaceResult. I dont think the readers, tags or antennas are the issue as we have previously achieved 100% read rate with this setup. On this occasion both readers were used, both had similar misread rates.

It was a hot day and the 10m low loss antenna cables were coiled directly behind the antenna pads to shorten them.

Could the read rates have been affected by overheating readers?

Does coiled cables near the antennas affect pickup rates?

Any advice will be welcome. Thank you.

[Christian C.]

Do you have any photo of your installation, something is not right!

[JK Race Timing Systems]

Hi

How close are set 1 ( Antennae from reader 1) and Set 2 ( antennae from reader 2) away from each other.

Are the Circular or linear antennae

A picture would tell a thousand words

regards

JK

[Tim Irvine]

I doubt the coiled cables are your issue as they are shielded cables. Or at least I hope they are. If the cables are too long, that could play into it. The readers can get too hot, always keep a shade over the readers. Without seeing the setup, I can think of two things that might play into your issues. too many antennas (If you have 8 antennas on your 9500), or antennas from both readers pointing at each other and cancelling each other out. All this could be proved to not be the case once we see that setup. Hopefully you take photos of your setup. I take 3 pictures of my finish line every race for my records. You never know when those pictures will come in handy. Also make sure the cables are not too long. If you are coiling them up and use the same setup each time, just shorten and number the cables so you use the same cables in the same spot each time. The less distance the signal has to go the sooner the next antenna will turn on. All this will speed up the read rate cycle of your antennas.

[John Tanton]

Thank you for your replies. I dont usually photograph the set up although it sounds like good practise and something we will start doing. I have attached a screenshot of the start video.

We had 4 antennas attached to each reader arranged with 2 opposite each other. However the antennas from the second reader were alongside the first so there may have been a cancelling issue. The close black box pictured on the left is one of the readers in a Peli Case, top close over - probably better if left open. May consider wiring up a laptop fan in the Peli Case.

[JK Race Timing Systems]

Well that is your answer right there

You cant have 2 readers firing off into the same area, It causes tag confusion and the resultant being that no response will be captured.

The results of this can be seen very easily at home if you just set up the same setup and have 2 antennae side by side but feeding into reader 1 and 2.

I have carried out numerous tests ( I spend more time testing than I do on racing) and you can get it to the point where you can walk through the finish line without a tag being captured.

Test Test Test, that is the key to 100% reads, 100% of the time

[Christian C.]

Next time you do a cable coil do it "loose" and arm length and do not mount them directly against the back of the antenna.

Motorolla readers must be very different from Alien showing virtually no difference between 1 or 2 reader in the same area. I just recored this in the house, the 2 reader are 10' apart facing each other and the tag is placed directly in the centre of the 2. Antenna is circular 9.5dBi. The readers are set at Global Scroll mode.

Dual: https://youtu.be/G0-DmI2PIKg

Single: https://youtu.be/qudSuUv5Lrg

[JK Race Timing Systems]

Hi Christian

You video indeed explains perfectly why 2 readers should not be used in the same area .

In your demonstration of the reader in single mode you will see the read count higher and the TAG Icon staying the one colour all the time.

When you have the 2 running you will see the TAG Icon going to red, Every time that icon goes red it was a failure of the reader to read the Tag. You can see that both readers struggle to read at the same time.

This accounts for the sporadic failure that the user was experiencing.

In fact here is the documentation from the Alien RFID gateway software.

The EPC has a colored background, determined by the read strength for the tag. If the EPC background is green, the tag is reading well. If the EPC background is yellow, the tag is on the fringe of the read range. Moving the tag further away will result in a red background, and eventually the message “[No Tag]” when the tag can no longer be read. The values that define the thresholds between green, yellow, and red tag displays can be changed in the Preferences section. 

I also use the Alien readers and have experienced similiar results as the motorola.  

Regards

John

[Christian C.]

Hello John

I understand that the read are not constant to the reader but it the break is really fast (I was also told this by Alien tech support), this enable the chip to respond to each reader and it dose not have any effect on the read count/sec as both dual and single mode show a 80read/sec. You would think that the read count would be higher in single mode vs dual reader.

Like I have said before, I'm not knowledgeable as many of you, I'm just sharing my experience and my tests.

[Tim Irvine]

Those speaker stands to hold the antennas are serious. If you time in windy conditions, they will certainly make a difference.

The coiled wires around the back of the antennas worry me, in that if they are coiled tightly each time, over time the shielding inside will start to break down or the dielectric will become indented which would result in signal loss. Always wrap the cables loosely or as I said in a previous post, measure the cables to the right length to keep the antennas firing more rapidly. 

  I do think the biggest issue is the 2 readers too close and that alone may fix your issues. But as you are able to fine tune things, you'll want to shorten those cables. 

[Joe Fertsch]

I am
Planning on setting up an announcer station maybe 60 feet from finish line. I’ll be using a separate reader from my finish line reader and antennas. I’ll have antennas pointed away from one another from the different readers do you feel they are safe from any chip confusion?

[JK Race Timing Systems]

Hi

You are well safe there at that distance.