The Siemens 6GT2813-1BC10 is a SIMATIC RF680M mobile UHF RFID reader, part of the RF600 family. It is a handheld unit built on a Psion Workabout Pro 3 platform, running Windows Embedded CE 5.0 and equipped with a 3.6-inch VGA color touchscreen. Its job is to read and write UHF RFID tags in the 902–928 MHz FCC band, supporting EPCglobal Class 1 Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C protocols. The reader achieves a typical read range of 600 mm and transmits at an equivalent isotropically radiated power adjustable from 16 to 820 mW. It is multi-tag capable and handles a maximum data rate of 400 kbit/s over the air. This makes it suited for warehouse, logistics, and production-floor asset tracking where you need to scan pallets, bins, or work-in-progress from a short distance.
Built for the floor
The housing is rated IP54, meaning it is protected against dust ingress and splashing water — enough for a dry indoor warehouse or a clean manufacturing floor, but not for washdown zones. It is specified for a 1.5 m drop height, so it can survive being knocked off a forklift or workbench. Power comes from a permanently installed, non-user-replaceable lithium-ion backup battery, with a typical operating period of 8 hours per charge. The unit ships without a rechargeable battery (the accumulator is ordered separately as 6GT2898-0CA00). It can also run on mains power through the docking station, which provides a low-insertion-force connection alongside RS232 and USB 1.1 interfaces. Programming is done via.NET and C++ using Microsoft Visual Studio through the 'RFID reader interface' API. The unit has 256 Mibyte of RAM and 1000 Mibyte of data and program memory, of which 900 Mibyte is usable for data.