.... maybe, maybe not...

But that's what the driver of a bus I was on today suggested when 2 or 3
oyster cards failed to be read.

I overheard the conversation...

DRIVER: "Have you had your card near any mobile phones or computers?"
PASSENGER: "Err, yes."
DRIVER: "That's what the problem is then - take it back to where you bought
it from."


I don't buy the 'being near a computer' argument for one minute, but could
oyster card be damaged by mobile phones?


Steve.

Steve wrote the following in:


I don't buy the 'being near a computer' argument for one minute,
but could oyster card be damaged by mobile phones?

My oyster hasn't been. Mind you, my phone has become disabled in its
old age.

--
message by Robin May, but you can call me Mr Smith.
Enjoy the Routemaster while you still can.

"Handlebar catch and nipple."

In message , Steve
writes
... maybe, maybe not...

But that's what the driver of a bus I was on today suggested when 2 or 3
oyster cards failed to be read.

I overheard the conversation...

DRIVER: "Have you had your card near any mobile phones or computers?"
PASSENGER: "Err, yes."
DRIVER: "That's what the problem is then - take it back to where you bought
it from."


I don't buy the 'being near a computer' argument for one minute, but could
oyster card be damaged by mobile phones?

When I'm working my Oyster is always near my mobile and I've had no
problems.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.

I keep my mobile in the same pocket as my Oyster and haven't had any
problems so I would say that the statement is a load of cobblers.


"Steve" wrote in message
...
... maybe, maybe not...

But that's what the driver of a bus I was on today suggested when 2 or 3
oyster cards failed to be read.

I overheard the conversation...

DRIVER: "Have you had your card near any mobile phones or computers?"
PASSENGER: "Err, yes."
DRIVER: "That's what the problem is then - take it back to where you
bought
it from."


I don't buy the 'being near a computer' argument for one minute, but could
oyster card be damaged by mobile phones?


Steve.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve"
Newsgroups: uk.transport.london
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 7:13 PM
Subject: Oyster cards damaged by mobile phones??



I don't buy the 'being near a computer' argument for one minute, but could
oyster card be damaged by mobile phones?

Possible, though unlikely.

Oysters might be affected when placed on shop counters that use RF security
stickers (the counter 'busts' the chip in the sticker by pounding it with a
very strong radio wave).

--
TC

TC wrote:

Oysters might be affected when placed on shop counters that use RF security
stickers (the counter 'busts' the chip in the sticker by pounding it with a
very strong radio wave).


My girlfriend recently started setting off the RF security detector
things at the doors to shops. We have been very puzzled about it, and
now I suddenly wonder if it's her Oyster card. The problem started
about the same time she bought it.

Surely not?

Haddock wrote:
My girlfriend recently started setting off the RF security detector
things at the doors to shops. We have been very puzzled about it, and
now I suddenly wonder if it's her Oyster card. The problem started
about the same time she bought it.

Surely not?

About 2-3 years ago my Polar Heart Rate Monitor, which I was using both
whilst jogging and also as a normal watch did similiar things in a shop in
Venlo, NL - we double-checked at the time and it was definitely my "watch"
that was triggering the alarms.
Paul B.

--
"Some day my ship WILL come in - with
MY luck I'll be at the airport!"

Haddock typed


TC wrote:

Oysters might be affected when placed on shop counters that use RF
security
stickers (the counter 'busts' the chip in the sticker by pounding it
with a
very strong radio wave).


My girlfriend recently started setting off the RF security detector
things at the doors to shops. We have been very puzzled about it, and
now I suddenly wonder if it's her Oyster card. The problem started
about the same time she bought it.

Surely not?

Sounds possible but places like the Broadwalk Shopping Centre in Edgware
would have had a major problem by now if it was the case. There again, I
remember the mother of a child who was an inpatient in the hospital I
worked complaining bitterly how he'd set off all the shop alarms the day
she was allowed to take him for an outing...

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

"Haddock" wrote in message
...
TC wrote:

Oysters might be affected when placed on shop counters that use RF
security
stickers (the counter 'busts' the chip in the sticker by pounding it
with a
very strong radio wave).


My girlfriend recently started setting off the RF security detector
things at the doors to shops. We have been very puzzled about it, and
now I suddenly wonder if it's her Oyster card. The problem started
about the same time she bought it.

Surely not?

It is possible - since both RF tags and Oyster use radio waves for power.
The two fundamental differences are that an RF tag has a resistor and oyster
a smartchip - and a RF tag has a spiral loop and the oyster a single loop*.
The RF tag idea is that the resistor changes the radio frequency (which gets
retransmitted) and then this is picked up by the sensors (I guess in a
similar way to a TV van). We have a lot of trouble at work with simple loops
of cable (ie. stuff we actually sell!) setting off the alarms occasionaly -
so I guess the resistor is not required and anything can produce the right
frequency - so it might be possible.

You could try to 'investigate' by seeing if the store really uses RF tags or
magnetic labels. Failing that try waving the oyster at a sensor....

Anyhow, my original point was - can the chip be 'busted' in the same fashion
as the resistor? (this would seem to be a serious design flaw...)

--
TC

* I think - since I've only seen the inside of a SmartRider (similar bus
card technology) not an Oyster.

In article , TC wrote:
It is possible - since both RF tags and Oyster use radio waves for power.
The two fundamental differences are that an RF tag has a resistor and oyster
a smartchip - and a RF tag has a spiral loop and the oyster a single loop*.
The RF tag idea is that the resistor changes the radio frequency (which gets
retransmitted) and then this is picked up by the sensors (I guess in a
similar way to a TV van). We have a lot of trouble at work with simple loops
of cable (ie. stuff we actually sell!) setting off the alarms occasionaly -
so I guess the resistor is not required and anything can produce the right
frequency - so it might be possible.

I can confirm that Cotag security building passes will interfere with the
operation of an Oyster card. Cotag is an RF based system, and it appears that
if a Cotag pass is in the same wallet as an Oyster card, both cards gets
activated, and the it appears that both respond about the same time, leading
to corrupt signals being received by the gate. The gate reads
"Seek assistance". I found out that having pulled the oyster card from the
wallet, and try again, and it works fine.

Most (not all) Cotag readers appear to be a little more tolerant of
'interference' from other contactless cards.

--
Simon Hewison