Questions re: FloJack reader

[AdamModerator]

Hi, we received our reader and it’s working well but had some questions I can’t find answers to elsewhere, see below.

1). Do you have any data/ comments about how long the battery lasts for reading NFC tags?
2). Does it draw any charge from the headphone jack?
3). Can you recharge it via the micro usb port and any old usb charger? (documentation just says “usb cable” but also notes 3.2-3.7 v dc which is less than usb).
4).Do you have any info on what the colors on the status LED mean?
(I see Green when connected to the iPhone and app running, Amber when charging and Red when receiving too much current or charging but not connected to the iOS device)

[RichardKeymaster]

Hey Adam, great questions. My thoughts inline below:

1). Do you have any data/comments about how long the battery lasts for reading NFC tags?

Since the FloJack can be reset and put to sleep within the app we’ve seen a single charge last several days of use. Battery performance ranges based on how often you configure the FloJack to poll for tags. The more often you turn on the antenna to check for tags in the field, the faster the battery is depleted. We set the tag polling rate to twice a second by default to mimic Android, but the FloJack is capable of polling as fast as 4 times a second or as slow as you want, once every few seconds, once a state changes in your iPad application, etc. I prepared a stress test to study the performance of the FloJack over a continuous use period. Below is how that went:

Test setup:

• iPad connected to FloJack via 12in audio cable extension.
• MiFare Ultralight and MiFare Classic test cards.
• FloJack App configured to poll for tags at frequency 2Hz (polls/second).
• Once App has launched and reader reset, test card was placed on the reader surface and left there.

Observations:

• Scans occur back to back, a counter is keeping track of UUIDs retrieved.
• On scan, App plays scan sound for a duration of 1 sec. Audio routing transitions take 1 sec each. So 1 scan takes approx. 3 secs to complete.
• FloJack LED is on during the entire test.

Results:

• 21,918 polls recorded.
• 3653 scans recorded.
• Test ran for 2hrs and 8mins before FloJack shutdown.

2). Does it draw any charge from the headphone jack?

The FloJack doesn’t draw any charge from the headphone jack. It requires recharging entirely through the microUSB port. That said, you can have the FloJack plugged in to power via microUSB while still using it connected via audio jack. This allows for ongoing operation.

3). Can you recharge it via the micro usb port and any old usb charger?

We’ve been charging it successfully with off the shelf chargers… stock iPhone, Samsung, and OEM chargers all do the job well enough. Full charge is achieved in 30mins or less depending on initial battery level.

4).Do you have any info on what the colors on the status LED mean?

The LED is controllable from the app and colors can mean whatever you need them to mean. When charging Amber means midlevel charge and Red means high level charge. Once the Red LED goes off, the unit is fully charged. While in operation, Green LED means the FloJack is awake and exchanging commands. It may or may not have the NFC field powered on though. This is a direct result of special commands issued to the reader to power on the NFC field to detect tags.

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