RFID Shielding Pouch Out of 'Trash'

Step 21 More technical bits

Update, 23 Oct 07: Will this go through airport security without problem? Yes! Traveling to and from ToorCon, I had no problems with security. On the way down, I had 7 pouches, put them all in a plastic bag, and placed them in the bin next to my bag of travel-size liquids. No problems in Seattle, Phoenix and San Francisco!

• Tested at 125kHz and13.56MHz on commercially produced readers and tags in the wild (Seattle metropolitan area) and in a fantastic collaborative hackerspace lab lair. We have yet to acquire use of a spectrum analyzer and related antennas to rigorously test and quantify the specific amount of shielding/attenuation... requests are out to the tooth fairy.
• Some instances tags were shielded while in the plain pockets, with the pouch open. Direction of pouch in relation to antenna affects amount of attenuation. The electromagnetic properties of the environment affect attenuation. Electromagnetism is cool and fun to learn about. Some people call antenna design a 'magic black art!' Go investigate! Did you build and then 'break' this? Let me know.
• Tested a compact sleeve available for sale. It allowed a card to be read when placed on a reader. A faraday wallet shielded when closed, but tags could be read when it was open.
• Explored shielding properties of various combinations of these materials: catalog-ordered conductive textiles, layers of aluminum foil, aluminum screen, aluminum tape, zinc plate, kittens, and special lab helpers.

A coincidental fact relating to the date this instructable was published: On October 17, 1907, a defining event in world communication occurred on a bog outside of Clifden, Connemara, Co. Galway, Ireland. The first commercial transatlantic message was transmitted from Guglielmo Marconi's Station in Clifden to his North American complex in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. This message effectively launched the concept of telecommunication accessibility for all. Wikipedie on Marconi

keywords

• antenna
• collaborative
• credit cards
• hackerbotlabs
• hackerspaces
• informed consent
• ID
• maker
• privacy
• radio waves
• recycling
• RFID
• passport
• security
• shielding
• trash
• wearable computing
• wearable technology

Comments

[Vectorr]

Can I make a wall poster of "Enthusiastic lab helper?"

[RansomReckon]

She's cute. ;X

[dentsinger]

Hehe, I can't help but notice the table in step 21 photo. Nice.