Little exclusive - Free-standing, active Opal readers

[matthew858]

So after a tip-off from the Circular Quay Opal reader thread, this morning I ventured to Kirribilli Ferry Wharf to see how their Opal rollout progress is coming along considering there is no barriers. Much to my delight, there are fully active, free-standing Opal readers there!





I had my PayPass-enabled debit MasterCard on me, so I thought I'd tap that and see what happened. Much to my surprise it actually registered!



Seems tapping the card right on the reader does nothing, but holding it a few cm in front causes a near-instantanious response.

Anyone seen these readers at any other ferry wharves? Neutral Bay wharf only just opened yesterday after a massive revamp so I assume they're there as well?

[boxythingy]

Wow! They look nice.

[kypros1992]

I like it. It doesn't have that colourful feel like myki readers but it looks much more modern than the readers in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane

[Mitch]

They look like retro-fitted pedestrian call buttons that you'd find on traffic signals.

And I agree with Kypros, they're not as colourful but they do look good.

Thanks,
Mitchul [;

[cal_t]

They will probably be more durable given its casing.

[chuppa]

Think they've left them unbranded for now to keep interest at bay until launch. Can see a nice big sticker going over the front of that white perspex.

[Daniel]

Yes, I agree with the above. Or perhaps they will go below the Perspex cover? We shall see.
Does anyone else think the the appearance looks a little like an original iPod with rounded edges?

[matthewg]

Seems tapping the card right on the reader does nothing, but holding it a few cm in front causes a near-instantanious response.

Did you do more than the video to verify this ?. Based on just the video, the card was within range of the reader for 4 seconds before it responded. 4 seconds response is too slow, if the readers on station gates and buses take 4 seconds, it will be chaos.

My experience with Miki is that they are too slow as well, (but faster than 4 seconds!). Oyster and Ezlink are near instantaneous, but myki has a noticeable pause.

I don't remember any response time issues from my GoCard experience in Brisbane either.

[matthew858]

Did you do more than the video to verify this ?. Based on just the video, the card was within range of the reader for 4 seconds before it responded. 4 seconds response is too slow, if the readers on station gates and buses take 4 seconds, it will be chaos.

I tapped my card to it before filming to make sure something happened, but to be totally honest I can't remember what eventuated. My only problem with the video, as you can see, is that I think the actual RFID "field" means it doesn't respond when the card is flat on the reader; something only happened when I withdrew the card/got it to a "close but not touching" range.

My apologies for not filming again. I noticed someone heading for the wharf (only 20 or 30 seconds from me) and what I was doing looked very suss to begin with!

[CityTrainGuy]

Looks good as some of u have said the Melbourne myki dose look better but still looks really nice I'm with Mitch I think they do kinda look like the traffic light button things, and I all so agree with chuppaI can see them putting a sticker on them (that will make them look beter) and cal_t they mite not look as nice as myki but they do look more durable so I'm guessing in years to come myki will look all faded at least Opal will hopefully stay looking more brighter, at least it will work better than myki (well we hope) with the card part I thing the Opal Cards will work better than a bank card or any outer card as the Opal Cards will be made for the readers

[Kliamet]

Do we know if the paypass cards have the same antenna as transport smart cards? I seem to remember the banks advertising that you need to hold the paypass logo of the card to the paypass logo of the reader whereas that's never an issue with oyster/octopus etc.
If it's the case that paypass doesn't have the antenna then you'll notice in the video that the actual chip didn't come in contact with the reader until later in the video.

[BestFriendHasLeprosy]

That looks better than the go card readers here in Brisbane - especially the screen.

[Kliamet]

Anyone seen these readers at any other ferry wharves? Neutral Bay wharf only just opened yesterday after a massive revamp so I assume they're there as well?

Had a look at Neutral Bay today and there are no readers but there are three poles just at the entrance. The new wharf does look very nice on a side note! Also happened to be in the area of Cremorne, and Mosman wharves and saw the same there.

[matthew858]

Very interesting note from your pics - the poles are the identical poles that are going into train stations. I guess the Kirribilli Wharf Opal readers are going to be found at all ferry wharves and train stops, no custom designs for each of the transportation methods.

[Kliamet]

yeah well they changed the ticket barriers at circular quay to be more like the cityrail. I kinda like the surgical steel theme... It's more chic and modern rather than some tacky design that's only going to look cheap and stupid after a while.... the real test will be how bizarre the logo is. Given the long pile of ridiculous names they trawled through to get to opal...

[CityTrainGuy]

yeah well they changed the ticket barriers at circular quay to be more like the cityrail. I kinda like the surgical steel theme... It's more chic and modern rather than some tacky design that's only going to look cheap and stupid after a while.... the real test will be how bizarre the logo is. Given the long pile of ridiculous names they trawled through to get to opal...

I know its it funny all theme name they had to choose from n they choose Opal like really LMFAO

[CB80]

I would advise against judging the response of the readers when used with anything except an actual Opal card, anything else could have less than desirable results.

Its good to see what they look like though, I think they look really good, although the screen looks a bit small, but it depends what they intend to display on it I suppose.

[kypros1992]

Some more images from Evan from Geek in Sydney
http://www.geekinsydney.com/2415/opal-ticketing-system/

[boxythingy]

See my pics and videos here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66085&start=250#p820938