[Gllug] Oyster cards vulnerable?

[David L Neil Mailing list a/c]

=Having largely given up on the buses around ShepBush, Hammersmith,
Fulham... my bike is gathering wear and my PayG Oyster languishing, so I
haven't really been paying attention here...

Jack Bertram wrote:
> * Tethys <sta296 at astradyne.co.uk> [080130 09:16]:
>>
>> Nix writes:
>>
>>> The way to fix *that* is not to wave the card *over* the reader. Slap it
>>> face-down on the reader and it triggers instantly.
>> That's what I do, and I've never once had it trigger instantly...
...

=It does intrigue me that some think that the harder one slaps down the
Oyster on the reader the greater the likelihood it will be successfully
read/read first time - as if the kinetic energy would improve the
wireless reception? Chuckle!


> I think we can all agree that waiting behind someone who is balancing
> their handbag on the reader in fourteen different orientations trying to
> get the gate to read the card through the handbag is what really
> irritates...

=If the cards are RFID, the ticket barrier/machine energises the chip
and antenna. Very low levels, of course. Have there been any reports of
the contents of "handbags" etc being affected by proximity to a 'live
card', eg mag stripes being re-programmed or wiped clean? What about the
other clutter of handbags, eg mobile phones (switched on) - is there any
'crosstalk' or other interference (apart from physical distance and
interposition)?

=idle curiosity...
=dn
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