Troubleshooting Guide

ManualsBrandsVisionary Products ManualsElectronicsRFID Reader

SkyeTek M1 Troubleshooting Guide

Problem:

I can’t communicate with the reader using SkyWare (SkyWare

responds with “No SkyeRead Device Detected”) via RS-232 or USB.

Solution:

1. The reader is improperly connected either (See connection

tutorial at the end of this document).

2. A com port is in use by some other application or improperly

closed. Do an alt-ctrl-del and see if a previous version of

SkyWare is still running. If not, restart the computer to make

sure all com ports are closed and ready to use.

3. If a firmware upgrade was recently performed from any version

prior to 001C to 001C or above, the reader ID of the reader may

have been set to something other than 0xFF. In firmware

version 001C or above, the reader will function exactly as before

if the reader ID value is 0xFF. If the reader value is anything

other than 0xFF, the reader will only respond to commands

having the specific reader ID value programmed into its

memory.

In order to change the reader ID to 0xFF:

1. Connect the reader and open a terminal program.

2. Select the correct terminal settings, default baud rate is

9600. Settings are no parity bit, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit.

3. Send the following command with the reader

connected.

4. The reader should respond with the following string:

5. Power cycle the reader.

After a power cycle, SkyWare should detect the SkyeTek reader.

Summary of content (12 pages)

PAGE 1
SkyeTek M1 Troubleshooting Guide Problem: I can’t communicate with the reader using SkyWare (SkyWare responds with “No SkyeRead Device Detected”) via RS-232 or USB. Solution: 1. The reader is improperly connected either (See connection tutorial at the end of this document). 2. A com port is in use by some other application or improperly closed. Do an alt-ctrl-del and see if a previous version of SkyWare is still running. If not, restart the computer to make sure all com ports are closed and ready to use. 3.
PAGE 2
Problem: I am unable to communicate with the reader via a terminal program or via code I am writing but the reader is detected by SkyWare. Solution: 1. The com port is in use by some other application or was not closed completely because of an irregular exit condition in SkyWare. Do an alt-ctrl-del and see if a previous version of SkyWare is still running. If not, restart the computer to make sure all com ports are closed and ready to use. 2. Com port was not initialized correctly.
PAGE 3
Problem: I’m unable to read from or write to a tag when sending a command manually in SkyeTek protocol command builder or through a terminal program. Solution: 1. Check the command format and make sure that if writing in binary mode the message length field is included. 2. The starting block specified is incorrect for the specific tag you are trying to write. Please check SkyeTek protocol v2.0 available on the “downloads” page of the SkyeTek website for more information. 3.
PAGE 4
Problem: The user port is not functioning correctly or I am unable to control the values on the port pins. Solution: 1. If you are unable to set the values of the GP/IO pins, configure first make sure the user port direction is configured as an output. For more information about this please check SkyeTek protocol v2.0 and also the M1 Reference Guide available on the “downloads” page of the SkyeTek website. 2. The port is enabled for LCD operation.
PAGE 5
Connection Tutorial for Typical RS-232 Connection: 1. Connecting power: The M1 can be powered from a battery or from a constant 5V DC supply. The reader is powered by 2 connections, one to either V5 (5V DC operation) or Vin (1.8 to 5.0V) operation, and another to ground. These are connected through connector J1.
PAGE 6
Top view of M1:
PAGE 7
2. Connecting RS-232 Lines: The RS-232 standard uses three signals for communication. The three signals that have to be connected are Rx, Tx, and GND. RX should be connected to pin 2 of the female DB9 connector, TX should be connected to pin 3 of the female DB9 connector, and GND should be connected to pin 5 of the female DB9 connector. Pin 8 of the M1 should be GND, pin 9 should be Tx, and Pin 10 should be Rx as shown in the pictures below.
PAGE 8
Top view of the M1:
PAGE 9
Bottom view of the M1:
PAGE 10
Backside of RS-232 Female Connector:
PAGE 11
Top view of completely connected M1:
PAGE 12
Close up top view of completely connected M1: For help connecting the external antenna (EA1), please refer to the EA1 reference guide or application note AN001, SkyeTek Antenna Design Guide.