The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Be careful of placement of the new Pikepass sticker.

There can be issues with the sticker interfering with Onstar's signal.

In order to move the Pikepass, you have to destroy it and get another to replace it.

Contact Onstar or OK Pikepass for suggestions on where you can stick it.  (smiley winky face)

I'm more than mildly annoyed they are completely eliminating the old-style tags. I like being able to put my tag in a rental car or a friend's car when they're driving. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and OOCEA do it correctly. They essentially give away the stick-on tags ($10 in most stores, and they come with $10 worth of toll credit), but still have the old style tag if you want/need it and are willing to pay more for it. ($40-$50, IIRC)

Do I at least get my deposit back when they swap my old tag out for the new stick on?  :P

I was told by the Pikepass voice on the phone they don't want the old ones back.

Not yet, but supposedly they're going to be replacing all the old ones over the next couple of years. AFAIK, the stickers are only for new customers/cars at the moment. Either way, the battery will eventually die on my older tags, and since they chose not to distribute the version with the user-replaceable battery, I won't be able to replace it without breaking it. ;)

Now if I could figure out what I did with my SO's old EPass and somehow get them to activate that. EPass, like PikePass uses/used the IT2221 tag, they just bought it with the LED and replaceable battery option rather than the no-LED sealed unit.

She actually told me to throw them away or take them to be disposed of.  "We don't want them back."

How unsurprising that they would post misinformation on their website.  :P

That's eerily similar to what I said about my ex wife.

That ain't similar, that's EXACTLY what I said.

 :D

Correct me if Im wrong, but the new sticker is just that, a sticker with no RFID that is simply proof that you have a Pikepass account if OHP ever pulls you over.  What they read now is the tag number as you drive through.

As in the toll tag (Pikepass) or car tag?

If you are claiming it's the license tag, I think you are wrong on that one.  I believe they've still got the capability to take a picture of a car tag if you roll through without a Pikepass, but that is not how they deduct from your account.

The sticker is a beam-powered RFID tag (with a writable memory area, as I understand it), as opposed to the old battery-powered RFID tags.

It's not just a sticker.  It's got a chip in it and apparently sends out a signal.

Im almost certain they deducted from my account when I forgot my Pikepass, by just using Optical Character Recognition of the car tag.  I understand that's how they ultimately plan to do it.

As far as moving the pass from vehicle to vehicle, is there a reason the new stickers cant just be scotch-taped to the windshield instead of using the "permanent" adhesive?

I have had the new stickers on both of my vehicles for a month or so. I hate the placement since they have you mount it at basically dead center of your windshield. It's permanent adhesive so you can't even adjust it if you mess it up. There is a chip in it like mentioned above.

so what is to keep you from just tossing the sticker on your dash without removing the backing?  Or sticking it to something that you can toss onto your dash, or stick to the old pike pass velcro?

If that were the case I wouldn't have gotten a ticket from OTA via mail one time.  For some reason, my Pikepass didn't scan when I went through the gate.  A couple of weeks later I got a ticket in the mail with a photo of my license plate.  If they deducted from the plate, I would have never gotten the ticket in the first place.

I think the tag is coupled to the windshield. It doesn't act as an antenna so much (which is how they describe it) as much as a ground plane. It's like those through-the-glass cell phone antennas.

If nothing else, I could probably velcro a piece of safety glass somewhere on the car and stick the tag to that. How well it works would depend on how the antenna is tuned, though.

I just happened across a newsok article from earlier this year that states that the old transponders are no longer being produced. That's not entirely true. Transcore still makes them, but OTA isn't buying. (presumably it costs more money to get the pikepass-specific plastic produced)

OTA has never been exactly lauded for being good purveyors of the truth.  ;)

I wonder why they didnt just look up the plate number and see that it was a Pikepass customer?  They certainly have the capability.  Maybe they are just waiting on automation.

Also, glass is an insulator and doesnt have the electrical properties to be a ground plane...

Well, however it works, the antennas are tuned such that when they're stuck on a windshield in the correct location, they have about 9 meters of range, while without the glass, its range is less than 2 meters. (this according to some papers on the subject I was able to turn up using teh Googles)

Just another Turnpike authority cluster.

I know people with the transponder who have always kept it in their center console and apparently it reads just fine.  I've been told the only way to keep one from reading in the cockpit of your car was to wrap it in foil.

I use mine so little I had reason to use it yesterday.  I forgot and I left it in my center console compartment (Grizz, you're likely familiar with where this is in our model car).  Drove through the initial scanner on the Creek yesterday on my way to Jenks (yes I go there sometimes) and heard an odd beep from my console.  So it does read through glass and a layer of plastic.  Haven't got my new 'sticker' yet; hope I don't because I'm not sticking anything to my windshield that I cannot get off with some semblance of ease and have it not scratch up my glass (*cough*cough*inspectionstickers*cough*cough).

That's just the way I roll, I guess.  Call it caring about the re-sell value of my car.

Interestingly, someone claims on the City Data forum to have used a sunpass mini (they sell both the passive tag and the active transponder) by holding it up to the windshield while passing through a toll plaza.

Further research shows that a frame on which a sticker tag can be applied that then attaches to the windshield like the old tags has been patented by some company in New York. So obviously the windshield itself isn't actually required, so long as the tag is bonded to something with similar dielectric properties.

My Pikepass will sometimes read when it's not mounted, but sometimes it won't. Had that problem just the other day when going to Wichita, actually.

I don't think you would have dialectric properties between the RFID and windshield since glass is a terrible conductor.  I'm willing to bet you could even hang it on a short string on your rear view mirror and it would read just fine.  I'm sure we will hear more ways to beat sticking it on as they become more prevalent.  I've still not seen one yet, but I've not been looking for it either.

As I mentioned, there are several papers on the subject available on google scholar that claim otherwise.

Intuitively, I agree with you. Obviously RFID tags can work fine without being stuck to anything, given that one often finds them inserted in books and what have you these days. I presume the difficulty has something to do with the antenna being designed to be stuck to a windshield and optimized for that particular condition.

Hmm, this patent (http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT6121880&id=TjgGAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=windshield+sticker+tag+rfid&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q&f=false) seems to give an overview: "The antenna has a characteristic impedance defined in part by a dielectric constant of the flexible circuit substrate and in combination with a dielectric constant of the glass surface. As a result, proper impedance match is achieved only when the sticker is affixed to the glass surface"

So the range issue when it's not stuck to a windshield or something is due to an impedance mismatch in the antenna dissipating power in the antenna instead of transmitting it back to the reader.

Edited to add:

More from the patent (the numbers make sense if you look at the drawings):

Has anyone heard how OTA will accomodate trailer towing?  I have both a 2 axle and 3 axle Pike Pass in my car.  I keep the one I'm not using in the anti-static bag they used when they sent the Pike Pass to me through the mail.  The bag is a zip lock type and the material looks like the bag that static sensitive circuit boards come in. Works fine, I have not gotten any double billing.

My old pikepass was only registering 1 out of 3 times so I went to get a new one expecting to get the new sticker but they gave me another old style pikepass (the white plastic shell with the 2 velcro straps).

They have to mail them or you go to a store like the one at the turnpike gate on 44.


The directions state that you must get out as many of the airbubbles as possible or it may not work.

Which likely means they provide you with a cardboard 'edge' to smooth those bubbles out.

Going to their website, they indicate these can be peeled off rather easily.  If so, I don't have as much of a problem affixing it to my windshield.  But I'll reserve judgment until someone can tell me for sure it's easy to peel off.

I found this inconvenient answer on the Pike Pass web site. They really need to come up with something better.

12. What if I occasionally pull a trailer?
You can still use a PIKEPASS Sticker. Contact the Customer Service Center at 1-800-745-3727 before and after your trip. If you did not make the class change on your account prior to traveling, you should stop at an attended toll booth on the turnpike(s). A toll collector can make the change for you for that (one way) trip. We are planning to add a function for PIKEPASS online customers to temporarily adjust the class of their vehicles themselves.

Yeah, I'll get right on that...

Some years ago, I asked that same question of a booth attendant, and he told me the sensor in the road would count my axles and calculate my pikepass toll accordingly.  It came from an OTA employee, and I never had any issues all the years I went through the lane with a horse trailer, so that's news to me.  ;D

Wow, learned something today.  The windshield becomes another capacitor in the tank circuit of the transponder, so it would have to be attached to a piece of glass of a certain thickness to complete the circuit and resonate properly.  Clever.

They provide no cardboard edge or squegee, you would destroy the electronics.

Mine stuck pretty firmly on first touch.

As I posted earlier, I have a 3 axle Pike Pass for when I tow a trailer. Sometimes I'll take the Creek Turnpike in one direction and drop off the trailer and then, within a half hour, go the other direction without the trailer.  I have occasionally forgotten to change the 3 axle pass back to the 2 axle pass. (I don't remember forgetting the other way.)  I have never seen a 2 axle toll on my 3 axle pass.  I did have a state trooper come along side me once on the Indian Nations Tpk  just after I passed through the high speed Pike Pass lane with my trailer.  He appeared to point a Pike Pass reading device at my car, was satisfied that I had a 3 axle pass and kept on going. 

It's possible that the readers where you have to slow down and wait for the Pike Pass Thanks You light that it counts your axles.

LoL.

Gotta <3 the OTC / OTA.

Here's another fun bureaucracy, inefficiency story:

I sold a car in 2009 to a guy in Texas,  a month ago I get a tag renewal form for the car ???

So I call up a tag agency wanting to know if there was anything that needed to be done on my part legally.  They said, I kid you not: "Well, you could A) come to the agency and pay $10 to have the title updated in our system, or B) you could just ignore the renewal notice when you get them.

Right, I'll get right on that.  ::)

OK, now that we know what it takes to make the new Pikepasses portable again, what about Townsend's original question about them interfering with OnStar?

Seems difficult, but not impossible.  While the Pikepass RFID that Conan looked up just occupies one frequency, CDMA devices like Sprint, Verizon and OnStar are spread-spectrum, in that it will search for whatever frequencies are clear enough to handshake with the tower, (even though the Pikepass and OnStar frequencies appear to overlap).   

Looking at OTA's installation video (complete with hokey guitar score) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vRbTbDdWc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
the sticker is installed far enough down the windshield to be in the field of view. (If it were anything other than a Pikepass you would likely get a ticket for obstructing your windshield).  From what im seeing sofar, the Pikepass sticker would be more likely to interfere with the aiming of a dashcam or a radar detector than OnStar or a cell phone.
I was wrong earlier about the sticker being inert, so it's possible I just havent found anything corroborating the OnStar interference.   

I called Onstar and Pikepass.  Both said there have been issues.  Onstar referred to the Ipass sticker.

I thought the guts of the onstar system were in the back of the vehicle, near the driver's side wheel well. Perhaps that's just on older vehicles.

Starts at the mirror and goes through windshield across passenger side top to the back of the roof of the car.

Isnt the mirror just the control, with wiring running above the windshield to a box behind the glove box?

If you are looking at schematics then you know more than I.  I'm just regurging.

Zombie thread tiem!

After nearly two years of regularly receiving postcards pleading with me to replace my old Pikepasses, including one very serious looking (printed on red paper!) "FINAL NOTICE", they've finally sent me a postcard telling me that my passes "may" have been scheduled for deactivation within 10 days.

Looking online, they sent the notice out almost 20 days ago now. Given that I last used mine on the 4th, I would say they lied once again. Nonetheless, ignoring them will clearly only work so long. I had "heard" that they had come to their senses and were giving people the option of getting a battery-less portable transponder. Sadly, no such option appears on the website. It's got a nice drop down box, but the only option is the sticker.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Do I actually have to call to get them to send me a tag that I can use? Or are they going to give me the runaround if I do call? If so, I'll just ignore the fine postcard and keep using the existing ones until they start giving me the violation light. Somehow I doubt they'd be happy to send me 20 stickers to get me through the next year.

Is it really absolutely necessary to have such an anti-customer tolling agency? Why can't they take a lesson from FTE?

Call them on the phone.  Have your account number, vehicle identification etc.  Tell them you want a Portable Pass with the suction cups to stick on the windshield.  I wanted it so I could easily switch between 2 axle (no trailer) and 3 axle (single axle trailer).  It will cost $25 for the non-sticker pass but it is without battery and should be a one time expense and no regular exchanges for a new one.

Thanks. I'm going to have to have a little chat with them about the $25, though. They already charged me a $20(ish) deposit each for the old ones. (in excess of the prepaid toll amount, I mean)

Please do keep us abreast of the outcome.
The rumor is you arent the only obstinate member of this forum...                              ;)

There should never be a deposit for pike pass. You have to give money up front but it goes into your toll account.

This was a long, long time ago. I may misremember. Perhaps the Internet Archive will turn up old versions of the contract. ;)

I also remember a per-device deposit in addition to the account deposit.

I rented a car a few weeks ago that had the pikepass in a small plastic box carrier that velcroed to the windshield.  There was a lever that the instructions said would "block" the signal - or turn it off - so would not count when went through.  Might be handy if the number of axles you have changes from time to time.  Like pulling a trailer...

Old PikePasses to cease working in December; fines to be levied for those still using them

OKLAHOMA CITY - Some holiday travelers on Oklahoma toll roads might be in for an unwelcome surprise, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's chairman said Thursday.  Beginning in early December, old PikePasses will no longer function, and motorists who go through turnpike lanes with them will be charged $25 for the violation.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has been trying to contact thousands of customers who are using the older generation of PikePasses to encourage them to switch to the newer generation.  The new sticker devices do not require a battery. The old devices were affixed using Velcro straps. Tolls from motorists with PikePass tags are automatically deducted at a reduced rate from customer accounts when the device passes certain locations.

The comments by authority Chairman Albert C. Kelly Jr. were made Thursday during the authority's regular monthly meeting in Oklahoma City.
The authority has issued four notices to customers, he said. A fifth and final notice is expected to go out about Nov. 5, he said.
The old PikePass tags will cease to work 30 days after the final notices goes out, he said.

Turnpike Authority spokesman Jack Damrill said: "If your license plate is registered with us, you would be charged a cash rate. If your license plate wasn't registered with us, you would end up eventually getting a violation letter from us."

The fine for the violation starting Nov. 1 is $25, he said.  Previously, motorists were charged $25 for the first PikePass offense, $50 for a second and $75 for a third and subsequent offenses, Damrill said. The law was changed to make each violation $25, he said.


So that has me wondering, if they are just reading my tag and billing accordingly, why would I really even need a PikePass, new or old?

Cash rate vs discount?  There is a difference and if you use the Pikepass enough, it would make it worth it.

The Pike Pass account is probably the key.  They want your money in advance.  Since Oklahoma only has tags on the back of the car, a trailer could block the tag reader depending on the trailer.

FWIW, a frequent user discount shows up on my monthly statement of Pike Pass usage in addition to the slightly discounted rate.  For me it's usually about $1.50/month.

Makes sense.  I dont intend on abandoning my PikePass account, but it's interesting the system can and does work without the stickers.
About the only reason to have the RFID might be to prove to a LEO that at one time you had an account.   

Ravine crash illustrates power, limitations of OnStar

After a 28-year-old Campbell woman crashed her Chevrolet Cruze about 500 feet down a mountain this week, she was in bad shape. But the car sprang into action.
Its onboard computer, General Motors’ OnStar system, sent detailed information to a company specialist: The sedan had not only wrecked, but had rolled over. The specialist called police in Campbell, letting them know they had an emergency on their hands.
But there was a big problem: The location of the crash, where the woman had been ejected and lay facedown in a ravine, was off by 15 miles.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Wrong-car-crash-location-spurs-OnStar-probe-5825410.php

Remember that "Good GM Feelin'"...?

I avoid using the turnpikes as much as I can and use the "free" roads instead... Anyhow there is some good news the state of Oklahoma & Kansas are hammering out a deal so that Oklahoma drivers can use the Pike Pass on Kansas Turnpikes and Kansas drivers can use their turnpike pass on Oklahoma freeways. I don't know if that deal is final yet or not.

If you lived here you would know that already.  Happens Nov. 1. 

What condition would our roads be in if our tax rate in Oklahoma was 0%?  Please answer.

Roads are paid for by our gasoline taxes not income tax. Texas has NO Income Tax- and Texas has  fine roads. Texas even has no sales tax on food items is it any wonder why Texas is growing so fast. Mary Fallin needs to cut taxes a lot more.

You obviously have not been to Texas lately.  I just drove to Dallas when Duncan arrived with Ebola....the first 4 miles inside their border on I-35 is great!  Then it becomes just another raggedy-a$$ road.  And the construction IN Dallas - that has been going on since 1968 - will make a nice set of roads...  if they ever get them done.

Overall, Texas roads are better than Oklahoma.  But not anything like you would want people to believe.

Think your fragile mental state can stand a little more road reality??  Let's see, shall we...??

We are taxed for roads to the tune of OVER $1.2 billion each year.  We have spent about $200 million per year of that money on actual roads!  We spent more in 1985 on roads than we did as recently as 2004.  During the administrations of Nigh, Bellmon, Walters, and Keating.  A stellar bunch of Governors if there ever was one!  THEN, when Brad Henry became Governor he made transportation a priority and put pressure on the legislature to spend more of the road tax money on roads!   We increased to $300 million...then 400, then as high as about $600 million in fiscal 2011.  Almost half the road taxes going to roads!!  Wow!!

During that 30 year time, traffic increased by more than 50%.

But then, you remember what happened in 2011, don't you?  We elected Mary Failin'.....and road funding promptly was cut to $490 million.  That is the reality of your good buddy, Failin'.  The reality that escapes you on so many levels is that Brad Henry actually was the administration that implemented another plan you try to credit Failin' with....good job, sauer...have another drink!!

So, to summarize - you are clueless....Failin' fails again!  She is right up there with Jim Inhofe for being bad for Oklahoma!!

We have improved the roads in the state - and we are ONLY 30+ years behind in doing it!!  Wouldn't it have been nice if Failin' had continued with improving situations rather than making them worse??



And just to put the cherry on top of the sundae, Oklahoma is apparently the only state - putting us #1 in another bad category - that does not match Federal road funds with state funds!  Yay, team...!!  (Sarcasm, in case anyone missed that.)

Inhofe & Mary Fallin are good for Oklahoma. I take issue with some of those numbers.

I'm sure you do.  Reality is tough for some people.

A 22-year-old Philadelphia woman, whose abduction off the street Sunday was captured on surveillance video, was back with her parents Thursday.
Her resistance started almost immediately as she kicked out two windows on her abductor's car after she was dragged off a brightly-lit street Sunday night three blocks from her home in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood.

A critical element of the case fell into place when police found that the suspect's car was equipped with a GPS device that had been attached by a car dealer who feared it might need to be repossessed because of the owner's bad credit report, the Inquirer said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/06/philadelphia-nurse-video-abduction-gps--rescue-maryland/18584483/

The streets around metro Detroit are really the pits, like driving on the moon. The I-275 Loop around Detroit is really bad. The big issue there is road salt and the colder winters they have been getting in Michigan are hard on the roads and streets.  Michigan has been getting record cold winters for the past few years.. Texas is growing so fast they can't build  new roads fast enough and still keep up repairs on the current roads. I-35W is pretty bad north of Fort Worth - or it was the last time I drove it about a year ago.

Whew!  Where to even start...well, let's go to Michigan, shall we?  As for their temperatures - they are among the states that have the highest increases in average temperature, so it is getting warmer there, too.  Another place you never visit, I'm guessing....

http://www.climatecentral.org/wgts/heat-is-on/HeatIsOnReport.pdf


But, but, but,....what happened to the "perfection" of Texas...??  They don't have a state income tax, so how can roads possibly be bad??   They can't if what you say is true.... so, obviously you are even admitting to yourself - at least privately, and now publicly with that comment - that you are wrong about Texas....the lack of an income tax is irrelevant to their growth.

Especially, since their overall tax burden is higher than Oklahoma in great part due to property taxes!

I-35 has been "under construction" since the 60's.  It is the EverlastingGobbStopper of road projects!  It is even worse than the Oklahoma Transportation Authority and their Turner Turnpike nonsense!

Glenda Recess’s license plate was stolen off an old car she used to own and now she is facing threats from the Turnpike Authority and the state to pay tolls for trips she’s never taken.   
She’s been asked to pay upwards of $175 in unpaid tolls. Recess told FOX23 that the state has threatened to take her license away.

http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/stolen-license-plate-leads-unpaid-tolls-tulsa-woma/nmGJC/

OnStar app hacked.

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/ownstar-onstar-hack/

Given what we know about the transponder decals, they shouldnt work unless they are attached to a windshield (thereby completing a capacitive circuit) but this story implies otherwise.  Maybe they were actually referring to the Pikepasses that attach with Velcro?

Some Pikepass customers charged by mistake

We take steps to try to prevent it. It’s in a hard plastic case. But every now and then, an anomaly happens. We don’t know why it happens. We can’t explain why it happens. But, every now and then, one will, for some reason, read in transit in the mail carrier.”

Some Pikepass customers who got their new sticker tags in the mail have been charged by mistake, The Oklahoman has learned.
“I was annoyed,” said one customer, Doug Potts, who was charged $9.95 for tolls in Oklahoma early Sept. 23 while he was in Wisconsin.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority credited his account for the error when he called to complain.

He said he was told his sticker tag probably was read by the system while en route to him in a postal truck.
He questioned why he was not mailed the sticker tag in a metalized bag and how many times this has happened to other customers.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority insists the instances are extremely low.
“We really don’t see this a whole heck of a lot. So, this is really rare,” said Jack Damrill, director of communications for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
“We take steps to try to prevent it,” he said. “It’s in a hard plastic case. But every now and then, an anomaly happens.

“We don’t know why it happens. We can’t explain why it happens. But, every now and then, one will, for some reason, read in transit in the mail carrier.”
He said the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority issues around 420,000 new Pikepasses every year, about half through the mail.
“We probably take care of ... less than 15 customers a year when something like this happens,” Damrill said. “So it’s an extremely low number considering the number of Pikepasses we issue in a year.”

Damrill, however, did acknowledge that the only instances the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority knows about are from customer calls.
Potts only found out by happenstance.
Potts is the owner of a Dallas-based business that services the music industry.
He has a Pikepass because he travels through Oklahoma on his way to and from Wisconsin, where he spends his summers.

He saw he had been charged in error when he went online to look for an alternate place to put the sticker tag on his new SUV so it wouldn’t be in the way of a safety feature involving a camera.
“I wouldn’t have known,” he said.
Potts said he was annoyed at the time he had to spend correcting the mistake.
“I also was annoyed that the person I talked to didn’t seem like this was a big problem,” he said.
He called the mistake another example of governmental incompetence.
“You know, if this was a private business, they would have been in real trouble by now,” he said.

Having had mine for about six years now (the ones that adhere directly to the glass), are they being made smaller now?  I noticed one yesterday while I was out that appeared to be barely a half inch tall.  Same width though.

I have a couple of "portable" passes that attach with suction cups.  I occasionally haul a trailer.  So far,  haven't had a billing problem.

When we got ours, they told us how to shield it to avoid the charge - basically put it in the glove compartment.  I would probably wrap a shield around it - aluminum foil or copper.   (Have only used the portable one a couple of times and it worked fine.)

I drag a trailer quite a bit and it is easiest for me to just drive slowly through the regular pay gate and they make note as you go through of the extra axles...have to slow down, but don't have to mess with any special passes.

I haven't looked into the specifics of the toll tags, but in general a passive RFID tag (that's what the new toll tags are) doesn't have to be affixed to anything to work. The new tags don't don't do anything besides modify and "bounce" the incoming signal back to the reader telling the reader the serial number (and therefore the car ID) of the tag.  They are readable at the point of manufacture.  I am surprised though, that these passive tags were read inside a metal delivery vehicle.   Generally, they need a direct shot to the reader.

And yes, the new tags are smaller.  Same width, but narrower top to bottom.  Just got a new one for my son, and it is the new smaller format.  I assume this is due to a redesign of the antenna in the card.  The antenna takes up most of the area of the card, and a smaller antenna makes for a smaller card.  The actual memory piece is only a very tiny "dot", usually in the middle of the card.

If thats the case then theres really no functional need to "permanently" apply it to your windshield. Just use a piece of tape or just leave it on the dash if you plan on moving it from vehicle to vehicle.
Anyone tried that?

That's true, and I thought about doing that.  I was going to use a piece of hard plastic, affix the tag to it, and then use velcro to attach the plastic piece to the car.  (The tags are a bit fragile and do need to be affixed to hard surface or the antenna will eventually break.) That way I could move the tag from car to car, and also take it down if I didn't want to use it.  But now they take a picture of your plate every pass and compare it to your tag, and the tag is supposed to be car-specific so I decided not too.   

I don't think the earliest tags (the big plastic boxes) were car-specific.  When I lived in Dallas years ago, we swapped out toll tags all the time.   And if simply collecting a toll was all that mattered, they wouldn't care now, either.  But as has been noted, they now use these tags to track the car as well, and so have put the kibosh on all of that...

...which makes the RFID PikePass redundant. 

After DPS made everyone replace their "dirty" tags the Turnpike Authority was kind enough to send a picture they took of my new one, so I had to phone them and make everything Double-Plus Good by updating their records.

You can set it up on your account as portable - do have to put the 'main' vehicle tag, but moving to another is fine.

Did not know that.  Will check it out.

I have 5 passes and 1 of them is 'portable' with a main vehicle.  Seems like I remember they charged me a little bit extra for that, but don't hold me to that.   Got those over a year ago and don't remember the details - I just "set it and forget it..."

Wow, that's clever, using the windshield glass as part of the circuit! So, I'd like to make my sticker non-permanent (a vintage car where I wouldn't need the sticker hardly ever, maybe never, and don't want to stick the gooey thing onto the original glass). I'd like to keep it in the glovebox to put out temporarily in that rare case I might sometime need it, then put it away.

And thus my question:

Has anyone tried sticking the sticker to a small piece of glass?

Then you could pull it out if needed, rest it on the dash, and put it back away afterwards. I gather the glass would need to be the same thickness as windshield glass, so the dielectric constant is the same as the sticker needs, but I gather the width/height of the glass isn't a factor. Anyone tried anything like this?

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=16436.msg179796#msg179796

I have a pair of "portable" pike passes that suction cup to the windows.  One for 2 axle, one for 3 axle (trailer towing).

Right, but in this case it's not only the insulating property of glass that they're using (which I'm guessing is the key to not shorting out the circuitry touching the glass), it's the dielectric property they take advantage of (aka relative permittivity). As noted in the patent referenced earlier in the thread, "The antenna has a characteristic impedance defined in part by a dielectric constant of the flexible circuit substrate in combination with a dielectric constant of the glass surface. As a result, a proper impedance match between the antenna and the transponder circuit is achieved only when the sticker is affixed to the glass surface." The sticker also has a layer with a similar dielectric constant, "The flexible circuit substrate 16 is comprised of an electrically insulating material having a suitable dielectric constant, such as fiberglass or plastic, or other commercially available materials sold under the names of Kapton® or Pyralux®."

Glass has a dielectric constant in the 4-15 range. (Air is about 1.0, paper looks to be in the ~2-4 range.)  Hmm, I googled on this Kapton material that's specifically mentioned, found the DuPont data sheet for it, and it has a dielectric constant of 3.4-3.5 depending on thickness. The Pyralux data sheet says it's 3.4 for that material also. I found a paper about auto glass that gave a dielectric constant of 6.5 for window panels. ( https://interferencetechnology.com/significance-dielectric-materials-vehicle-electromagnetic-field-computation/ ) If I'm reading the spec sheet for tempered glass correctly, the dielectric constant doesn't change much unless it's very thin (around 0.1mm), so I'm guessing any ordinary household thickness will do fine to attach the sticker to. If it's 3.4 inside the sticker, I suppose any material that's 3.4 to that 6.5 number for glass might also work. Porcelain is in the 5-6.5 range. Pyrex glass is 4.3-5, so that might work. Plexiglass is in the 2.6-3.5 range, which sounds dodgy. I see different numbers for Neoprene, one source says 4-6.7, another says 6-9, so that might be an option. (There's a short list I found at http://www.csgnetwork.com/dieconstantstable.html and a long list at http://www.clippercontrols.com/pages/Dielectric-Constant-Values.html ) Plastics look tricky, depends on the exact material.

All of which makes me suspect that if someone were to put the sticker on a small piece of glass of some sort, it might work just fine. (Or porcelain, pyrex, neoprene...) :)

Still wondering if anyone's tried this yet? Might be worth an experiment for those of us infrequent users who don't want to get the windshield all gunky.

The portable ones have suction cups that stick to the window while you use it, then easily come off for storage elsewhere.  When not using, put in glove compartment is what the OTA says.

And they do work outside the context of being next to the glass.  Don't read a patent and make the mistake of thinking that is really how it works.  That may be what's patented, but not what actually went into production.