So… while recording this video I realized that touching the screw posts of the PM3 Easy could dramatically affect the LF antenna performance.
If you are having odd problems with LF performance, be sure you are not touching the screw posts or shorting them in some way… it can dramatically affect the voltage (and performance) of the LF antenna.
Nice video, should help people just getting started with the PM3 
. Just a slight correction, the original PM3 was open source hardware, but newer iterations aren’t. There are no officially released schematics or hardware design files for the PM3 rev 3 / PM3 easy or the latest PM3 RDV4 
I believe by the original license they need to be… but unless someone fronts a legal challenge, they are illegally keeping their design files closed… the rdv4 was even promoted on the crowdfunding campaign as “open source hardware” yet they realize the huge prices they can charge by keeping it closed has kept them from releasing.
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure all these designs are illegally kept closed.
The software/firmware is definitely open source, but reading the Kickstarter I don’t see them claim that it will be open hardware, just claims that “it will be open”. It’s a bit shady, but they could claim that the new design is proprietary but is fully compatible with the open firmware/software.
hmm… I just recall people talking about it and asking when the design files would be made available and they acknowledged that they would be … eventually… which has still not come to pass.
Just went looking - the schematics were originally released under the GPL, and as such any modifications to them should have been published under that too. Unfortunately, the hardware design files were not explicitly released under the GPL, in fact the website has no mention of the license of the hardware design files. As such, and considering that the schematic was likely re-implemented in eagle or some other PCB design suite, they could likely keep the hardware design files themselves closed source, but should be publishing the schematics under a GPL license.
