What is this electronic object in SureFire package? **PICS** (E1L Cree)

Got my new E1L today and noticed some kind of electronic device inside of the package. I suspect that it is some kind of RFID (radio frequency identification device) that surefire uses. It also contains the text "Alien 2005" on it. Are we being invaded? :green: Here are a few pics.



Closer pic


And a pic of the new E1L cree of course.


Just curious if anyone know what this device is. And by the way I like my new E1L Cree!

Re: What is this electronic object in surefire package? **PICS** (E1L Cree)

Nice light.........


Maybe an anti-shoplifting device, often they come covered in black plastic and this one may have slipped by in the machine when being made.

OR......maybe it a tracking device and Sure Fire wants to know where you live.....quick, get rid of the box.




Bill

Re: What is this electronic object in surefire package? **PICS** (E1L Cree)

Yes, maybe an anti-shpolifting device but that seems to added by the store? I ordered it on-line from Brightguy.

Or maybe it is a tracking device from SureFire and I hit the lottery! I am just waiting for PK to show up at my house with a bunch of free flashlights!

It's a passive RFID tag. They can be anything from shoplifting prevention devices to a way for Surefire or Brightguy or whoever to track shipments and inventory. Since you mailordered it, I suspect it's the latter. When the box goes by a checkpoint on say a shipping or manufacturing line it gets asked "who are you" and it replies "I'm Surefire model E1E Serial Number xxxxx".

Alien Technology is in Morgan Hill, CA (just south of San Jose) that provides RFID tags and readers for customers in government, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, transportation and other industries. Alien's products are used in such applications as supply chain management, logistics and anti-counterfeiting to improve inventory management.

RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a small silicon chip attached to a small, flexible antenna creating a tag. The chip provides data storage to record and store information. A reader sends a signal to the tag, which then reflects a return radio signal containing information from its memory.

One of the coolest applications for RFID I've ever seen was at Baldor, the electric motor manufacturer in Arkansas. They have a fully automated line that could make any small frame motor. Not all the same kind at teh same time, but mixed. There are a bunch of platforms on the line, each with an RFID tag. Each platform gets told what kind of motor it will have on it, and as the platform passes each station it is interrogated by the line and the appropriate parts installed or the correct winding done. Then the tag is updated with the current stage of manufacture and it goes to the next station. No people around. Fascinating to watch.

Some of the possibilities of RFID tags are sort of scary though. I remember talk about how a retailer, say Walmart, could have all their products, including clothing, RFID tagged. Many of them are small enough that you wouldn't even know they are there. The scary part comes in that when you check out the RFID tags in the products you buy (we'll say clothing for this example) are logged and referenced against your identity, say a check or credit card you used to pay for them. Now in the future, when you come back into the store, they could read the RFID tags still embedded in your clothing and know that you have come back to the store. When you go to check out, the products you buy are all read and then stored against your saved "identity." Even if it wasn't attached to personally identifiable info, it's still pretty scary stuff. RFID tags would generally survive washing with no problems. I think the more paranoid among us, or anyone who doesn't want to be tracked every time they go to the store, will have to start microwaving their clothes when the get home with them. A few seconds in the microwave should be all it takes to fry the RFID circuitry.

Avatar28 said:

I think the more paranoid among us, or anyone who doesn't want to be tracked every time they go to the store, will have to start microwaving their clothes when the get home with them. A few seconds in the microwave should be all it takes to fry the RFID circuitry.

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LOL, it will be especially important to microwave your underpants, otherwise there would be no limit to the sort of personal information they would be able to transmit about you.

I just checked the inner side of the package: the L1 CREE I bought from BatteryJunction recently has an identical tag.

The number is 1800033-001 A 915

It should be easy to learn whether it originates in SF or BJ. Please check yours.

That's funny, mine has that exact number on it. I would assume they are installed by SureFire because it would almost require opening the package to stick it on the inside.

Does anyone know what frequency these RFID's transmit on? Would be interesting to see if you could hear it on a scanner. They must transmit a number to differentiate them.

Kilovolt said:

I just checked the inner side of the package: the L1 CREE I bought from BatteryJunction recently has an identical tag.

The number is 1800033-001 A 915

It should be easy to learn whether it originates in SF or BJ. Please check yours.

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The device you have is a passive RFID tag. It is called passive because it has no onboard power. It takes it's power from the signal coming from the transmitter interrogating it and uses that to reply. This is much less expensive than adding a battery, but reduces range to just a few meters.

RFID runs on a variety of frequencies, some requiring licensing, some not. See this very good article on it;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID

The code number says this RFID device operates in accordance with ISO 18000 Standard (860 - 930 MHz).

More info:

http://www.alientechnology.com/docs/products/DS_ALN_9540_Squiggle.pdf

Thanks for the info guys! Very interesting technology.

Yeah, it is! It's also somewhat controversial. But it sure is useful.

I have a friend who lives in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Pretty much everywhere she goes she drives toll roads. Attached to her windshield is a little RFID gadget that lets her buzz through the toll booth (EasyPass). She feeds her account money once a month, and it is debited every time she goes through a booth. Convenient. Also an easy way to track the populace, but that's a subject for a different thread (and forum).

I will have to say they are used by Surefire in their factory. Both my E2L and 6PL package from Optics HQ have them and I seem to remember the 9P package I had ordered straight from Surefire had one also.

MikeLip said:

Pretty much everywhere she goes she drives toll roads. Attached to her windshield is a little RFID gadget that lets her buzz through the toll booth (EasyPass). She feeds her account money once a month, and it is debited every time she goes through a booth. Convenient. Also an easy way to track the populace...

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The ugly side is it makes a hell of a selective bomb trigger.
Some were annoyed they were putting them in American passports.

MikeLip said:

I have a friend who lives in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Pretty much everywhere she goes she drives toll roads. Attached to her windshield is a little RFID gadget that lets her buzz through the toll booth (EasyPass). She feeds her account money once a month, and it is debited every time she goes through a booth. Convenient. Also an easy way to track the populace, but that's a subject for a different thread (and forum).

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True, but it's also the easiest way to go through toll roads, in Orlando you can drive through the toll areas at full speed no slowing down and leaving the highway like you have to pay cash. For toll roads the benefits far out weigh the potential privacy implications.

Though personally I could do without toll roads since Florida highways seem to be well maintained.

UGH!!! RFID tags...throw that tag in the microwave or oven and NUKE IT! :huh:

DM51 said:

LOL, it will be especially important to microwave your underpants, otherwise there would be no limit to the sort of personal information they would be able to transmit about you.

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This has to be the most unusual piece of advice I have EVER seen on CPF!

souptree said:

This has to be the most unusual piece of advice I have EVER seen on CPF!

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Umm, maybe it would be a good idea to take them off first!