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Batteries for ETAG RFID readers


Meelyn Pandit

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Hey everyone,

I am Meelyn Pandit, a PhD Student in the Bridge Lab at OU. We have been getting many questions on what batteries to use with the latest version of the ETAG reader. I previously used these 5V lithium polymer battery packs that are used for charging cellphones:

Anker 6700 mAh battery pack

This will give you less than a day of power though. Larger batteries such as this 10000 maAh model or this 20000 maH model will give you a few days (2-3 and 5-6 days respectively). I have used these batteries in my bluebird research and they work well, but they require exchanging the batteries every few days to avoid losing data. Unfortunately, you cannot attach a solar panel to this battery setup because of the voltage regulator inside the battery case which prevents the battery from being charged by the solar panel and powering the ETAG reader.

The best option for powering the ETAG reader in the field would be to use lead acid battery with a down voltage regulator (lead acid batteries are usually rated for 12V, but if you down regulate the voltage to 5V then it will multiply the amp hours by 2, more or less). You will need to waterproof the battery and the regulator using a plastic or metal case.

Hope this information helps! If you have any questions on powering the ETAG reader or any general questions about using or coding the reader feel free to email me at meelyn.pandit@ou.edu.

Kind regards,

Meelyn Pandit

 

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