@lentilcapacitor Ok.. so I got the RFID reader working ok. Only problem is I don't have much to test with... it didn't come with any RFID transponders, so my only test subject is this guy...
I suspect he has one of the small glass tube versions. I get a reading at about 8 cm. I haven't tried any tuning yet but I will do that next and let you know. I'll also try playing around with different power supplies as that also seems t impact distance quite a lot.