cardTag

The cardTag was the size of a credit card and a little thicker, so it suited an employee badge in a building with controlled doors. It could also sit on the flat surface of a piece of equipment.

With cardTags on people and tags on assets, the system knew who could move what. When an asset moved without its assigned owner, the system raised an alarm and could lock the exit door.

It slept until a reader or a field generator called it, or until its own timer woke it. Then it sent its ID and other data to its assigned reader. Its options were housing colors and extra memory.

Specifications

The datasheets are historical documents. Their phone numbers, addresses and e-mail are no longer ActiveWave's.

User Memory 0 - 256 Kbits

Multi-Tag Read Capability Yes

Transmit Frequency 916 MHz, 927 MHz, or 868 MHz

Receive Frequency 433 MHz

Read range Receive 85m (280 feet) *max with extended range antenna
Transmit 152m (500 feet) *max with extended range antenna

Power 3V Lithium-ion watch battery

Battery Life 1 - 3 years depending on use (tag has low battery detection)

Dimensions 85.0 mm x 54.3 mm x 5.6 mm (3.3 in x 2.1 in x 0.2 in)

Weight 23 grams (0.8 oz)

Case Material ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

Temperature Operating -35C to +50C (-31F to +122F)
Storage -40C to +85C (-40F to +185F)

Options Memory 0 - 128Kbit memory sizes available in 2x increments

User Memory	0 - 256 Kbits
Multi-Tag Read Capability	Yes
Transmit Frequency	916 MHz, 927 MHz, or 868 MHz
Receive Frequency	433 MHz
Read range	Receive 85m (280 feet) max with extended range antenna Transmit 152m (500 feet) max with extended range antenna
Power	3V Lithium-ion watch battery
Battery Life	1 - 3 years depending on use (tag has low battery detection)
Dimensions	85.0 mm x 54.3 mm x 5.6 mm (3.3 in x 2.1 in x 0.2 in)
Weight	23 grams (0.8 oz)
Case Material	ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
Temperature	Operating -35C to +50C (-31F to +122F) Storage -40C to +85C (-40F to +185F)
Options	Memory 0 - 128Kbit memory sizes available in 2x increments

Quoted from page 2 of the cardTag datasheet (version 11). The datasheet gives the user memory as 0 - 256 Kbits in one row and the memory option as 0 - 128Kbit in another. This page quotes both as printed.

These figures are the original units' claims, quoted as their source printed them. Where two ActiveWave datasheets disagree, this site quotes each and does not reconcile them. A rating or a test result belongs to the original units and does not carry over to a rebuild.

Nothing on this site says a rebuild may transmit on these frequencies as they are. Radio rules differ by country, and the TigeRFID project checks them before it chooses a rebuild's radios.

The datasheet

cardTag datasheet (version 11) (PDF). This page's description comes from its first page, and the figures above from its second.

Files in the TigeRFID repository

These links open the repository as it stood at its activewave-2018 tag. Nobody has rebuilt the original hardware recently, so these files may not make a working unit as they stand.