NFC and RFID

The R7 and R7Ex can be retrofitted with either a RFID or NFC shroud. 

The RFID shroud, for example, can be used in conjunction with the VB400 Body Worn Cameras: at the start of the shift, the worker scans their radio and VideoManager automatically allocates a camera to them. Another possible application for this is radio pool allocation: instead of relying on a label or writing the serial number down, the user can simply take a radio off the charger, scan it and it get automatically allocated to them.

On the R7, fitting the shroud is easy and only requires a Torx 6 IP (Plus) driver to undo and tighten the screw and a plastic spudger. The procedure to fit the tags is described in the R7 Basic Service Manual MN007849A01.

• PMLN8471A uses a NXP ICODE SLIX NFC chip that supports ISO/IEC 15693 which allows for a reading range of about 1 meter.
• PMLN8553A uses an ISO/IEC 18000-63 EPC Class 1 Gen2v2 RFID chip and operates in the 866-868MHz band which allows for a reading range of about 40 centimetres.

There are different part numbers for the R7A: PMLN8470A (NFC) and PMLN8555A (RFID).

Similar shrouds are available for the R7Ex:

• PMLN8699A NFC
• PMLN8707A RFID

Both of these shrouds use the same chips as the R7. More importantly, they can be retrofitted without endangering the ATEX certification since the radio is not opened to fit them. Two things to note though: this radio uses a T6-head pan screw that must be tightened to 0.17Nm.

As with the R7, the procedure and required tools are in the Basic Service Manual MN011010A01.

For the R5, the part numbers to order are:

• PMLN8671A NFC
• PMLN8672A RFID

Installation instructions are shown in MN010794A01.

The USA (and elsewhere?) has a different frequency allocation for RFID and there will be different part numbers for these. In my experience, a number of RFID readers are able to support both frequency bands.

The Basic Service Manuals are, I'm assuming, also region-specific so you might need to search for the description rather than the document number if you are outside of the EMEA region.