That has been my experience also. With a single disc inside the mirror (that exact model) mine will not open the gate. It works if I hold it in my hand but not inside the mirror.

I haven't tried stacking them inside the mirror and I have no desire to tape one outside the mirror.

I don't stack them. I install one on the top, bottom, and side of the housing. I think the orientation of the disc affects the function.

Now that's an interesting thought. Thanks, I will give that a try.

I have not had that issue yet, but I don't get out much. I know it works well at the gate near Sawgrass and the one heading into the Village of Charlotte.

Hi,

I orderd that programmer and it came today, but it's not reading my Villages Card. Is this the same one you have? Just want to be sure it works with these cards. I'm guessing I have a lemon.

What I'm doing is pressing and holding Read while I'm holding the Left side of the unit on or near the card. Just keeps saying Busy. I'm thinking the read should be pretty fast, is that your experience @jjdlad?

It should read the card within a few seconds. Are you sure the batteries are good?

Yes, brand new batteries.

I'm thinking maybe this reader isn't the right one. One of the reviews for it says that if the Antenna Inside is a rounded rectangle that goes around the perimeter that you likely have a 13.56 MHz card and this reader is for 125 kHz card.

I don't think that is correct. I have the exact same reader, and mine works fine. Have you tried using other cards? Also, you may have a defective reader device.

Yeah, it certainly may be defective. That was my first thought. When you shine a flashlight on the bottom of your card and look at it from the top do you have a tiny circle antenna or one like mine that runs the perimeter of the card? Really appreciate your help, knowing that you're using the same reader makes me want to get a replacement vs not.

The gate cards are the only RFID card I have so I can't test it on anything else sadly.

I did some more research online and I think what the reviewer said about the rounded rectangle being 13.56 MHz is not correct. I do think the card is 125 kHz. I have a replacement coming, should arrive on Monday.

125 is correct. That looks like the same device I bought though they all look very similar.

There is no holding for mine. I have the card on the table, put the left side of the reader against the card (the upper part of the reader on the same side as the finger grips), then press and release the read button. I immediately see the busy light come on, hear three beeps, and then the green light comes on. This happens so quickly that it might all take place before I actually release the button.

You might want to make sure your card still works and you didn’t accidentally overwrite it (not sure if that’s even possible). If the card is still good it sounds like maybe the reader is bad.

I have both types of cards, one with a circle and one with a rectangle around the card perimeter. The one with the circle says HID ProxCard II and the other one says XceedID. I got both cards from The Villages. My card reader will read both cards.

It sounds like you need to return your reader and buy another one from one of the other Amazon vendors. Also, you can buy a new card from The Villages for about $15 or so.

Thanks guys. I have a new one coming. I *think* my card still works, but it's been a minute since I used it. I have a mirror disc that I use. Couldn't get the reader to read that either. I don't have any real need for a new card or disc, but I just wanted to have the ability to make my own copies, maybe help a neighbor etc. I'll post back on Monday when the new one comes.

Appreciate the insights!

You want to get
125Khz (NOT 13mhz - they won't work on present readers)
T5577 compatible
Writable

Did you get your replacement? Just curious if the new one is still not reading? There is a small learning curve to using the device. I found that the sweet spot on the reader is on the left side but lined up exactly with the text on the face of it. I also found that you have to pass the reader over the card or disc you are reading or writing to as opposed to holding it in one spot.