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RFID kit

2007-11-29 19:02:56.951199+00 by Dan Lyke 6 comments

Hmmm... an RFID experimentation kit that came from here related to a query about making bank cards with chips unreadable, but that makes me think that this plus a decent solenoid or worm-drive deadbolt might replace a key with some other RFID capable ID mechanism that I'm already carrying.

Any suggestions for an electrically actuated deadbolt and/or a backup mechanism when the power's out?

[ related topics: Hardware Hackery RFID ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-29 20:55:08.068102+00 by: petronius

A crowbar

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-29 21:27:42.751321+00 by: meuon

When I was in the USAF I worked with a paranoid nut named Tony. As he built his new house, he did some weird things, including frame 2x12's around the door frame and put the deadbolts in the frame, special long throw deadbolts.

But the idea stuck with me, and if I were going to really secure a door, I'd do it from the frame. Put your mechanism there, and have a manual deadbolt style setup to release or retract the electronic one.

Real systems like the above have their own gel cell battery backups near the door, and/or slightly hidden contacts that applying some voltage to will actuate the lock.

Solenoid ones can often be caused to buzz and open with a de-gaussing coil.. (so can some door magnets) worm drive/motor drive ones are slower, but harder to hack/force.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-29 22:21:39.067523+00 by: Larry Burton

See if this lock fits the bill.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-29 22:35:49.738168+00 by: Dan Lyke

Petronius, while I admire the thought, and think every room needs an easily accessible crowbar, opening a door in an emergency situation with a crowbar seems like a last resort rather than a first one.

Meuon, we're looking at living closer in to town, which probably means a place where we'll want to be locking the door, but as Petronius points out, if I have to start worrying about long throw deadbolts in the frame then I'm probably past bars on the windows, and I don't ever want to live in a neighborhood where I feel like I need bars on the windows.

Larry, those look like what I was wanting. Didn't see a price anywhere, it's all "contact us"...

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-29 23:06:36.983465+00 by: meuon

Any good commercial locksmith handles those. Locally "Builders Hardware" on Dodds Ave. stocks it all. And I've hooked up more than one doorbell/intercom/door release system.. including one with a complicated but do-able way of opening the door from a phone call..

#Comment Re: made: 2007-11-30 04:42:49.295084+00 by: TheSHAD0W

Think about magnetic door locks. Yeah, they require a constant current source, but they're dead nuts reliable, with no moving parts.