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Description

Make Near Field Communication detectors using a simple piece of wire and an LED. Then try them out on adult phones and wireless chargers!

Resources

Lengths of small gauge wire, approx 1m long. Wire-ended LEDs, terminal blocks. Phones/devices with wireless communications i.e. phone that can be used on a bank machine or charged wirelessly, a bank machine itself (e.g. SumUp or similar), a wireless charge pad.

Note this needs a powered device to work; it won't detect passive NFC devices like bank cards or Oyster cards.

Instructions

Pictorial instructions attached. We used terminal blocks instead of copper tape as I had some handy...
When made, stick it near the back of the device and you should see the LED flash as the NFC protocol tries to discover if there is another device nearby it can talk to.

Now you can explain a bit about what is happening - magnetic coupling between a coil inside the device and the one you just made will transfer energy to the LED, enough to make it light up. Quite surprising this much energy can flow across a crude air transformer! The flashing is the device looking for a compatible NFC device to talk to. This is how your bank card talks to the machine for example.

More details here: https://etsy.me/3LeKFd3

Thanks to Tanya (@solderandchaos@mastodon.me) for the instructions!

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