Copyright This manual is copyrighted with all rights reserved. No portion of this manual may be copied or reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of Brady Corporation. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, Brady assumes no liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions or by statements resulting from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
Regulatory Statements Compliance Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following conditions: 1. This device may not cause harmful interference. 2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. 3. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.
THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ANY OTHER WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND OF ANY OTHER OBLIGATIONS OR LIABILITY ON BRADY’S PART. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL BRADY BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, EXPENSE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE BRADY’S PRODUCTS.
iv WavePoint™ Portable RFID Reader/Writer User’s Guide
Technical Support Brady Corporation provides several Brady WavePoint™ RFID system support options: • To speak with a Technical Support Representative, call (800) 643-8766; Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (CST), or • FAX your inquiry to (414) 358-6767, or • Contact Brady's Technical Support Team on-line at: tech_support@bradycorp.com.
Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED......................................................1 PRODUCT OVERVIEW ....................................................................................1 BRADY WAVEPOINT WAND .........................................................................1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ..............................................................................3 UNPACKING ..................................................................................................
Chapter 1. GETTING STARTED This chapter provides an overview of the WavePointTM Portable RFID Reader/Writer (herein referred to as the Brady WavePoint Wand or wand), including system requirements and specifications. In addition, this chapter provides instructions on setting up and connecting the wand to a host computer or data collection device. It also provides instructions for installing configuration utility software.
NOTE: If an un-powered data port is used, power must be provided to the wand by an external power source. The power supply must be Class 2 rated (U.S. and Canada) or limited power IEC-950 Clause 2.11 rated (Europe). Standards vary widely regarding available power on data ports. Consult your manufacturer for specific information. The Brady WavePoint Wand is specifically designed for use in industrial applications that require rugged and reliable equipment.
System Requirements The Brady WavePoint Wand requires the following hardware and software components: Pentium processor-based personal computer running Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT 4.0 (or later) as the operating system. 16 MB of RAM CD-ROM drive Free Serial Port 50 MB of (free) hard drive space Unpacking Upon receipt of your Brady WavePoint Wand shipment, check your package contents for the items listed below, then fill out and return the enclosed product registration card.
Technical Specifications Input Voltage +5 to +12 VDC regulated Nominal Input Current (max.) While Activated 250 mA Standby 10 mA Frequency of Operation 13.56 MHz Dimensions 11.00" L x 1.75" W x 0.875" H (27.94 cm L x 4.45 cm W x 2.22 cm H) Weight 0.5 lb. (0.
System Setup and Connection Setting up the Brady WavePoint Wand is easy. All you need to do is connect to the serial cable and power, and install the configuration software on your PC. After completing these steps, you are ready to begin reading and encoding labels. Step 1. Connect to Serial Cable • Plug one end of the RS-232 cable into the appropriate serial port on your host PC. • Plug the other end into the connector located at the back end of the wand. C Figure 1. Connect to Cable and Power A.
• Plug one end of the 12V DC power adapter into the power port on the side of the RS-232 connector that is plugged into the host PC port. (See Figure 1.) • Plug the other end of the adapter into an outlet. CAUTION: Make sure the outlet is grounded. Step 3. Install WavePoint Configuration Software WavePoint Configuration Software is a Windows® based configuration software that allows you to use a PC to customize the operation of the wand.
Chapter 2. OPERATION This chapter provides information on operating the wand, including operating hints. It also provides details on Brady RFID Tags/labels. Reading and Writing The Brady WavePoint Wand is portable and easy to operate. To read or write to an RFID tag/label: Step 1. Press the large activation button located above the handgrip. (See Figure 2.) When the button is pressed, the reader emits a 13.56 MHz radio frequency field that “searches” for a tag.
Figure 3. Read/Write A. RFID Tags/labels B. Read Distance C. Antenna Area D. Serial Port Connector E. Activation Button NOTE: Although the wand is designed to read/write from any angle, best results are achieved when the nose of the wand is pointing directly toward the face of the tags/labels. The read range will also vary with the type and size of the tags/labels to be read and the surrounding operating environment.
If a tag is present in the field of the reader antenna, the microchip inside the tag is activated and transmits data to the reader. (See Figure 4.) Figure 4. Transmitting Data A. Remote Terminal or Host Computer B. Tags/labels Sends Data to Reader C. Reader Sends Data to Host Terminal D. Field From Reader Energizes Tags/labels E. RFID Tags/labels • The reader receives the data transmission from the tags/labels and converts it to RS- 232 format.
Serial Port Output Tag Read Data Format xTdata{CR}{LF} Item Description x Number defining the Tag Type if Header is turned on. See Tag Types below. T Character ‘T’ used as a delimiter between tag type and data if Header is turned on. Data S/N Data: Two hex characters per byte. Therefore, a 40-bit S/N will be sent as 10 hex characters.R/W Data: One byte of data equal to the exact 8-bit character stored. If ASCII data is stored, this will be ASCII. {CR} ASCII Carriage Return Character.
Write Read Data Format xTOK{CR}{LF} Item Description x Number defining the Tag Type if Header is turned on. See Tag Types below. T Character ‘T’ used as a delimiter between tag type and data if Header is turned on. OK Characters ‘OK’ signifying a successful write. {CR} ASCII Carriage Return Character. {LF} ASCII Line Feed Character.
Customizing Operations The Brady WavePoint Wand can be customized using the WavePointTM Configuration Utility. See Chapter 3, WavePointTM Configuration Utility for details. Some of the operations that can be customized include: Continuous Mode You may configure the wand to operate in a continuous mode. Continuous mode is useful for reading or writing to numerous tags/labels in one session. Continuous mode can be set with or without a button press requirement.
OPERATING HINTS Because the Brady RFID System uses radio frequency (RF) energy to communicate between a tags/labels and the wand, there are several important points to keep in mind while setting up and operating the system. • Metal adversely effects both the wand and tags/labels antennas by reducing the read range of the overall system. To the extent possible, keep tags/labels and the wand reader/writer antenna away from metal components.
Brady RFID Tags/labels Brady RFID tags are composed of a microchip, coil antenna and packaging. Microchip and packaging options can be combined to fit a wide range of RFID tag applications. Microchip options include Read Only (RO) and Read/Write (R/W). Several different memory capacities for R/W applications are also available. RO Tags RO tags are preprogrammed with a unique 40-bit number (10 HEX characters).
Chapter 3. Utility WavePointTM Configuration This chapter provides information on using the WavePointTM Configuration Utility. The WavePointTM Configuration Utility is a Windows® based application that allows you to use a PC to customize the operation of the wand. The following functions are available: NOTE: A power source is required to provide +5 to +12 VDC to the wand when a PC is used during configuration.
Figure 5. Specify Port 2. Enter an integer equivalent of your COM Port. Use 1 for COM1, 2 for COM2 and so forth. 3. Make sure that your communication port’s settings set to the following: Setting Value Bits per second 9600 Data bits 8 Parity None Stop bits 1 Flow control Hardware 4. Specify a port and click Set Port. Set Button Press Option After you configure the communication port, this application will determine if you are using the WavePoint Wand.
prompted to specify if button press is required in order to carry out the reader’s operations. By checking Button press required, the wand will wait for the button press before it carries out operations. 5. Click OK.
Figure 6. Configuration Utility Main Screen Using the Menu and Toolbar You can select a particular operation to be performed from the main menu or use the toolbar buttons. Figure 7.
General Operations This screen allows you to configure the communication port that your reader is attached to and set the Button press required option if you are using a WavePoint Wand. See Accessing the Configuration Utility at the beginning of this chapter for details. Preferred Tag Type By default, the WavePoint reader performs autodiscrimination to distinguish between multiple types of supported tags.
Tag/Card Type This screen allows you to test the tag/card types: • To read the type of the tag or the card, click Read Type. • To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Read Type. Status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window. NOTE: If you enabled the Button press required option, remember to press the button on your WavePoint Wand reader in order to carry out the operation.
R/W Password and Boundary This screen allows you to change the tag’s password and/or change the location of the tag’s private boundary. NOTE: Not all tags allow you to change the password and private boundary. The Bad Tag Type message will be displayed on a status bar if the tag type does not allow this. NOTE: If you enabled the Button press required option, remember to press the button on your WavePoint Wand reader in order to carry out the operation.
Option Description data or write into the private data, a password is required. In order to make all of the tag's data publicly accessible, i.e. without a password, it is recommended that you reset the private boundary to the value of 117 and use 'Default' as the value for the password. The status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window. To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Authenticate.
Example 2 • The following example moves the private boundary to the position 9 as indicated by the bold lettering. • Everything starting at position 9 becomes tag’s private data and is not accessible without a password. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 H E L L O , W O R L D ! 13 14 15 Attempt to read the tag’s public data will result in HELLO, WO being returned. However, if the tag’s password is specified, the complete HELLO, WORLD! sentence will be returned.
Read Serial Number This screen allows you to read the Serial Number of the tag: • To perform an operation click Read S/N. • To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Read S/N. Status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window. NOTE: If you enabled the Button press required option, remember to press the button on your WavePoint Wand reader in order to carry out the operation.
Read Public Data This screen allows you to read a tag’s public data: • To perform an operation click Read Public. • To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Read Public. Status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window. NOTE: If you enabled the Button press required option, remember to press the button on your WavePoint Wand reader in order to carry out the operation.
26 • 1Kb Read/Write tags have their private boundary set to position 1 by default, thus making the tag password-protected with the factory default password value. You will need to reset the tag's private boundary in order to be able to access its public data. • Only public data is read from the tag. It means that if you have changed the tag’s private boundary in a ‘R/W Password and Boundary ’ screen, not all of your data may be read. Use ‘Read Tag Data ’ screen to read your protected data.
Read Tag Data This screen allows you to read a tag’s data: • To perform an operation click Read Tag. • To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Read Tag. Status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window. NOTE: If you enabled the Button press required option, remember to press the button on your WavePoint Wand reader in order to carry out the operation.
Write Tag Data This screen allows you to write data onto the tag: • To perform an operation you must enter the valid data and then click Write Data. This utility allows you to enter up to 100 characters to be saved onto the tag. • To place the reader in a mode of continuously performing this operation, check Continuous and click Write Data. Status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window.
• Don’t remove the tag away from the reader until this operation succeeds as indicated by the reader’s indications and/or message on a status bar. If you move the tag away before this operation completes, ‘Incomplete write’ message will be displayed on a status bar. • If you have moved the tag’s private boundary using the ‘R/W Password and Boundary ’ screen, you must specify the valid password in order to access all of the tag’s memory. This only applies to the 1K Read/Write tag.
Production Demo This screen shows you how the WavePoint Development Kit can be used in order to save the custom data onto the tag: In order to run this demo, • Select data from the drop-down lists in the five categories below. • Click WRITE to write the data onto a tag/label. • Click READ to read the data. The status of each operation will be displayed on the status bar located at the bottom of the window.
Stand-Alone Mode • Stand-alone mode allows the WavePoint reader to send data by RS232. • The RS232 data will be in ASCII format . • The host must disconnect after this operation succeeds.
This screen allows you to choose which operation the reader will perform in stand-alone mode. The supported operations are: Operation Description Header On The reader inserts a header to the raw data output indicating the type of the tag/card been read or written to. See Error! Reference source not found. on page Error! Bookmark not defined.. You can toggle the header output by deselecting the Header On box. Read Serial Number Reads the serial number on the tag/label.
Chapter 4. SYSTEM MAINTENANCE Under normal operating conditions no maintenance is required. Since radio waves pass through most non-metallic surfaces, normal buildup of dirt, oil, paint, etc. will not hamper operation. Reasonable care should be exercised to remove oil or other slippery materials to avoid dropping the wand. Use caution to avoid excessive stressing of cable connection.
Chapter 5. TROUBLESHOOTING PROCEDURE If you should experience problems in the normal usage of your Brady WavePoint Wand the following troubleshooting procedure may help in determining the cause of, and possible solution to, the problem.
WavePoint™ Portable RFID Reader/Writer User’s Guide 35
Chapter 6. APPENDIX A: CABLE PINOUT DIAGRAM Connector on Cable Pin Number Lead Color RS-232 1 Red 5-12 VDC 2a Green RX Data 3b White TX Data 4 Violet Pwr GND 5 Black Data GND 6a Brown N/C 7b Yellow N/C 8b Orange N/C a. RX Data from wand needs to be connected to TX Data from host. b. TX Data from wand needs to be connected to RX Data from host.
