How Many Pedestals Does Your Entrance Need?

Pedestal count is not a guess, it comes straight from your door width. Each pedestal detects tags for about 3 feet on each side, so a wider opening needs more pedestals to leave no gap a shoplifter can walk through. Measure the open width of each customer entrance in feet and read the count below.

Pedestals by Door Width

Up to 6 ft: 2 pedestals, the standard storefront pair
7 to 12 ft: 3 pedestals
13 to 18 ft: 4 pedestals
19 to 24 ft: 5 pedestals
25 to 30 ft: 6 pedestals
Wider than 30 ft: a specialist designs the configuration with you, call 1-888-909-8247

AM Systems: Primaries and Secondaries

Century AM (58 kHz) systems are built from primary transceivers and lower cost secondary receivers. Plan on one primary for every three pedestals, with secondaries filling the remaining positions. A standard 6 ft door is one primary plus one secondary. Wider doors add secondaries before they add another primary, which keeps the cost of wide entrances down.

RF Systems: Every Pedestal Is a Transceiver

The Century G1000 RF (8.2 MHz) system is simpler to count: each pedestal is a self contained transceiver, so your pedestal count is your unit count.

More Than One Entrance? Add Them Up

Count each public facing customer entrance separately using the widths above, then add the totals. Back of house doors and emergency exits do not need pedestals. Stores with five or more entrances, or any single opening wider than 30 ft, get specced by a specialist rather than a formula.

Skip the Math: Use the Builder

Our Security Tag System Builder does this exact calculation. Enter your entrances, door widths, and register count, and it returns an itemized package with the right primary and secondary mix, tags matched to your merchandise, and professional installation included in the total.

Systems professionally installed by RSG carry RSG’s own 1 year warranty, and our certified technicians install in all 50 states. Questions about a tricky entrance? Call 1-888-909-8247 or request a quote.