Ive just started using Eagle to put together my first outline for a module. Its an RFID reader based on the ID innovations ID-12 or ID-20. Ive hooked it up to my spider via an extender and at least got things working.
Now eagle is totally new to me and im stuck with creating the holes for mounting. The hole sizing doesn’t make sense to me. It just seems like the whole scaling is out of whack. It should be in mm but when i add a hole it only gives me drill sizes that look like via drills not mount drill holes :-[
i am probably trying to run before i walk though but any advice is welcome 
This is very exciting but I have to mention that our RFID module will be available in 2 or 3 weeks
Coool! dont tell me its based on the same reader?
Either way I will still probably work this one up as a learning experience. Ive got to write the proper driver etc yet too. Eagle is my sticking point at the moment.
Please make it by all means. You may have it done even before we have ours available.
RFID Reader Modules, I can hardly wait to get my hands on those. So can I buy them now just to avoid the release rush that will surely happen?
@ HughB - I did the super simple breakout module for exactly that same reason - to get better at eagle and get more familiar with the whole process of turning an idea into a working module. Eagle has its quirks that also slowed me down early in the process. I picked up a book called “Build Your Own Circuit Board” by Al Williams. It should be called “Learn Eagle in 24 Hours”. It was published in 2004 so the Eagle version used is a bit dated, but the basics are still the same and well explained. There’s plenty of online tutorials to get you going, as well.
Why not provide RFID Writer/reader. Most modules are only reader.
@ Tzu I think the Pin out for the I’d innovations reader chips is the same for the writers too. This module will allow for the reader to be soldered directly to the board or if you add headers you can use the spark fun breakout board http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8423 so you can swap it out any time.
I’ve just got to get my head around Eagle first 
@ ransomhall I had a look at one of the online webinar videos which was really good. It went through the whole process and allowed me to put this together in about an hour there are some really great tutorials out there. My real problem is the holes for mounting and how to set them up it’s eluding me which is frustrating.
Thanks
I review the I’d innovations web, there are powerful reader I am looking for like
http://www.id-innovations.com/httpdocs/long%20range%20reader%20id125(en).htm
@ Tzu
Wow 180 cm read range, awesome. The nice thing about these readers is they support 3 different types of output which an be selected by connecting certain pins together. In ASCII mode it’s really simple to use a uart port and raise an event when the data is received and parse it for the id number.
It works nicely although at the moment my prototype module seems to read more than once which is probably to do with the trigger I’m using.
Does your module can be used for this reader?
mmm wow, 1.8m tag reader with only 280ma@ 12V consumption.
Tsu, this device just puts out RS232 so you could connect it to any RS232 chip, but I haven’t actually seen an RS232 to TTL UART module using something like a MAX232 or equivalent.
Hugh, for mounting holes if you type HOLE and select a large drill (I have 3.2mm as the largest hole size) then you can place it. If you grab one of the Fez eagle files you can see how it’s done on that board which can help learn some of Gus’ tricks.
I don’t know if this is of any use, but I made a driver for the ST CRX14 chip that allows you to read/write ISO-14443 B tags. You can find it here: http://code.tinyclr.com/project/427/st-crx14-rfid-reader-driver/.
@ Brett many thanks for the info. I will give it a go
Cool
@ HughB are you still working on a RFID reader/writer or otherwise still working on a RFID reader? Certainly I’ll order some RFID reader modules from GHI when they become available, but one RFID reader, doesn’t the spectrum cover, so I’d be interested in what you might be working on as well.
Thanks
@ duke
Still working on it, work and home life has been insane recently and I haven’t done much on it. I have it breadboarded and working via uart on my spider through the extender module at the moment. It reads the tag and you get a nice string with the tag data. Interestingly the chip does give multiple reads very quickly.
I’m trying to build a module in eagle too. I’m about 50% there with eagle still got loads the learn.
Next step is to finish the board layout and then get the driver written which will be a first for me on many fronts.
I am out of the country at the moment but once I am back then I will send you the code if you like? It’s a bit of a hack and had some borrowed code for handling the serial read etc but it’s functional at least for a v0.1