Although I had already written a weigand decoder using a PIC microcontroller (see below), that code wasn't the best and used custom hardware. This is a wiegand decoder implemented with an Arduino Uno so that you can read data from a HID RFID reader.

Based on on the AVRFID project to create an RFID tag using only an AVR microcontroller and a coil, I modified the source to work with 35-bit formats and updated the parity calculations. I also created a PCB for the surface-mount version of the AVR, which looks cool and works very well.

Getting the bits from an RFID reader is one thing, but what do those bits represent? Access control RFID readers have a variety of "formats" which determine what the bits represent. I've figured out two of the more common formats here.

Ever play with any commercial RFID readers or access control hardware? If you have, you may have encountered a data format known as Wiegand, a common security protocol used because of it's simplicity and ability to run over very long cable lengths. I wanted to understand this protocol and create a device to convert it to standard serial over a COM port or USB so that I could use some RFID readers I have acquired.

Why pay for broadband internet when superfast campus wi-fi is only a few blocks away? I built a biquad antenna from spare parts and mounted it to a satellite dish to get a solid internet connection from the campus internet, and it works amazingly well.

As I learned more about antennas, I realized how inefficient my original biquad antenna design was. While extremely cheap, I could get some mesh antennas which work a lot better for a little bit more, add another router and build a server to manage the connections. Now I can combine two internet connections into one.

In my new dorm this year, I live in a 6 person apartment. We all have our own rooms, plus bathrooms and a common area. We all get along great, but sometimes we close our doors, or are on the other side of the apartment (it's pretty big). So I decided we should have some kind of central computer, or kiosk, where we could list our status and where we are, leave messages and annoucements for each other, and other cool things like a touch screen.

Info coming soon ...

Info coming soon ...

Info coming soon ...