Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader User Manual Document Revision 1.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Contents 1. Introduction.........................................................................................................4 2. Hardware .............................................................................................................5 Front View – LED Indicators .................................................................................5 Rear View – Data Connections........................................................................
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader © Copyright 2004-2006 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. UM-P2900-R101-20060404. No copying of this material is allowed without prior written permission. Page 3 of 24.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader 1. Introduction The Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz System by RF Code™ is an RFID monitoring system designed to report Tags within defined Reader operating ranges. The system utilizes “beacon” Tags that periodically report their presence with an encoded radio transmission. The Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader is a dual-channel radio receiver tuned to the Mantis™ Tag transmission frequency of 433.92 MHz. This manual provides the instructions for the Mantis™ II 433.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader 2. Hardware The Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader is housed in a 5 x 5 x 1.5 inch (12.7 x 12.7 x 3.81 cm) metal chassis and contains the internal components of a RFID Reader combined with connections to allow for both Ethernet and serial port connectivity. Front View – LED Indicators Figure 2.1 – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader (front view) shown with standard ¼-wave helical antennae. Three LEDs are mounted on the front of the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Tag Activity LED • While Operating – The Tag Activity LED flashes intermittently, indicating the Reader has read one or more Tags each time it flashes. Because the Reader can decode Tags faster than the light can be turned on and off, a single flash may indicate more than one Tag being decoded. • While in Standby Mode – The Tag Activity LED turns on and off at a distinctive rate that indicates the Reader is in standby mode.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Antennas – Positioning Figure 2.3 – Standard ¼-wave helical antennae shown in various positions. Each antenna post supplies an RF signal to the two parallel radio receivers in the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader. Antenna input impedance is 50 ohms nominal. Both the type of antennas used and the Reader range setting determine the effective read range. The normal Reader-range features are defined using ¼-wave helical antennas.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader To achieve the best receiver diversity: • Antenna Angle from Reader – It is desirable to have the antennas positioned at different angles from the Reader. • Antenna Angle from Each Other – Antennas should be at 90degree angles relative to each other. It may be necessary to experiment with antenna positions to achieve optimum coverage. • Height – As a rule, the higher a Reader is positioned above the ground or floor, the better the Reader’s detection range.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader 3. Firmware L NOTE – The Mantis™ II Reader can only be configured through an Ethernet connection via the RJ-45 jack on the rear of the Reader. U WARNING – When an Ethernet connection is made directly between the Reader and a PC, a cross-over network cable is necessary. File System All embedded operating systems, signal processing software, and configuration options of the Mantis™ II 433.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Reader Setup Figure 3.1 – Network-enabled Reader Programmer Utility. To perform a Reader setup or update: Step 1 – Launch the Configure Mantis II Reader utility, found in the RF Code Mantis II Reader program group on the Start Menu. (The location will be different if the defaults were not used during the install process.) Step 2 – The Network-enabled Reader Programmer utility appears in a DOS screen (see Figure 3.1 above).
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Reader Settings (R)eader # R R - Select a new Reader to program. • Reads and displays a Reader’s saved calibration and settings from its configuration file (SSI_info\AXnnnnnn.txt where AXnnnnnn is the serial number). Any undefined settings will remain blank. • Errors are displayed if the info file is missing or contains bad calibration data. • The Reader # is the s/n (serial number) on the silver label on the underside of the Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Network Settings MAC Addr Reader MAC address. • Displays the MAC address of the Reader. This field is informational only and cannot be modified. (I)P Addr I – Change network IP address. • Enter in normal dotted decimal format, e.g.: 192.168.1.129 I • An error message is displayed if the format is unintelligible or the numbers are out of range. • This entry represents the new IP address that will be assigned to the Reader during an upload.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader (A)RP Table display A A – Displays the ARP Table. • When two or more Readers initially share the same IP address, it is likely that the ARP will need to be either modified or flushed before sequential accesses to the same IP address can be performed (due to physical addressing). This feature provides a method of querying the ARP table to assess IP resolution issues.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Programming Options (L)oad Defaults L – Load default firmware and network settings. • These are settings as defined in the SSI_info\defaults.txt file. L • This command is useful after a (R)eader # command to update to a standard network configuration before programming. • Errors are displayed if any settings are invalid. (F)ilesystem Upload to Reader F F – Create file system and upload to the Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Configuration Files & Default Settings Each Reader has a configuration file under SSI_info\AXnnnnnn.txt (where AXnnnnnn is the serial number) reflecting its last programmed state. After a successful program upload to a Reader, the configuration file for that Reader is updated with the current settings. The next time the Reader is selected for configuration, these saved settings are imported and displayed as a baseline configuration.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Serial Settings The Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader supports operation via a standard RS-232 serial port, which may be used instead of, or in conjunction with the Ethernet jack. The Reader will accept commands from either source, or output results to both. In addition, the serial port doubles as a diagnostic port, providing valuable feedback about Reader functionality and configuration during power-up and programming.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader Ethernet Settings As shipped, the default network settings for the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader are: IP address: Subnet mask: Gateway: U 192.168.1.129 255.255.255.0 0.0.0.0 WARNING – These settings must be changed to match the subnet of the network on which the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader is to be used. These Ethernet settings are stored in the network.txt file, which is read by the Reader at boot time.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader 4. Troubleshooting This is a brief list of potential problems, with possible solutions, that may be encountered while using the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader or the network-enabled Reader programming utility. If the problem cannot be resolved using this list, please call the distributor from which you obtained the Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz System for help in resolving the problem. SYMPTOM – There are no Tags being read at the Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader SYMPTOM – Tag IDs do not drop off the computer display when the Tags are moved away from the Reader. • CONDITION – The antenna(s) are installed on the Reader. • REMEDY – Verify that the data communication path from the Reader to the computer is functional. • REMEDY – Change the Reader’s range setting to a shorter range. SYMPTOM – All the indicator lights on the Reader turn off and back on again.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader A.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader B.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader C. FCC Compliance Changes or modifications to this equipment, not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a residential installation.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader D. Copyright Statement Copyright © 2003-2006 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. Mantis™ II 433.92 MHz Reader User Manual Document Revision 1.02 This document, as well as the software described therein, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license.
