compactTag

The compactTag was about the size of a car remote. It was made for tracking equipment and stock, such as cars on a rental lot, bins in a factory or crates in a warehouse.

Like the rest of the family, it slept until a reader or a field generator sent a wake-up command. A command could name one tag's address or go to all tags as a broadcast. When one was meant for it, the tag woke and sent its ID and other data to its assigned reader.

It could also wake on a timer, report in and go back to sleep, which saved its battery. An anti-collision scheme let many tags answer at the same time, and every packet carried a cyclic redundancy check.

With cardTags worn by people, compactTags let the system catch an asset moving without its assigned owner. The system then raised an alarm and could lock the exit door. The compactTag's options were a mounting bracket, a light, a buzzer 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The datasheets are historical documents.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 30m (100 feet)
Transmit 45m (150 feet)

Power 3V Lithium-ion replaceable watch battery

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

Dimensions 59.9 mm x 30.5 mm x 10.2 mm (2.4 in x 1.2 in x 0.4 in)

Weight 14 grams (0.5 oz)

Case Material ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

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

Tag options Tamper Alarms if tag removed from optional bracket
LED Blinks when called
Buzzer Beeps when called
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 30m (100 feet) Transmit 45m (150 feet)
Power	3V Lithium-ion replaceable watch battery
Battery Life	1 - 3 years depending on use (tag has low battery detection)
Dimensions	59.9 mm x 30.5 mm x 10.2 mm (2.4 in x 1.2 in x 0.4 in)
Weight	14 grams (0.5 oz)
Case Material	ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
Temperature	Operating -35C to +50C (-31F to +122F) Storage -40C to +85C (-40F to +185F)
Tag options	Tamper Alarms if tag removed from optional bracket LED Blinks when called Buzzer Beeps when called Memory 0 - 128Kbit memory sizes available in 2x increments

Quoted from page 2 of the compactTag datasheet (version 10). 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

compactTag datasheet (version 10) (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.