PSC Falcon 51X User Manual

™

Falcon

DOS Fixed Station Data Terminal

User’s Guide

TM

FALCON

DOS Fixed Station Terminals

USER’S GUIDE

Falcon DOS Fixed Station Data Terminal
User’s Guide
Second Edition © PSC 2001

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in
any form or by any means without prior written consent, except by a reviewer, who
may quote brief passages in a review, or as provided for in the Copyright Act of 1976.

Falcon™ is a trademark of PSC, Inc.

Datalight

®

is a registered trademark of Datalight, Inc., and ROM-DOS™ is a

trademark of Datalight, Inc.

PhoenixCARD Manager Plus ©1993, 1994 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

®

Microsoft Windows
and Windows

®

, Windows® NT, Windows® ME, Windows® 95, Windows® 98,

2000 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their
products are claimed as trademarks. Where these designations appear here and the
authors were aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with a
trademark (™) symbol.

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.

00-658-00 (Rev. B)
September 2001

CONTENTS

Preface: About this Guide ...................................................................................iii

Overview ......................................................................................... iv

Style Conventions............................................................................. v

Document Conventions............................................................ v

Keys and Keystroke Conventions .............................................. v

Chapter 1: Introduction to Falcon Fixed Station Terminals....................... 1

Overview .......................................................................................... 2

Product Labeling .............................................................................. 2

Power Requirements......................................................................... 3

Radio Frequency Interference........................................................... 4

Chapter 2: Falcon Basics .......................................................................................... 5

Overview .......................................................................................... 6

Turning the Unit On ....................................................................... 7

First-Time Use .......................................................................... 7

“Please Wait” Messages ............................................................. 8

The Falcon Applications................................................................... 8

User’s Guide i

Contents

Chapter 3: The Falcon Keypad .............................................................................. 9

Falcon 510 Keypad vs. a PC Keyboard ...........................................10

Input Modes...................................................................................12

Repeating Keystrokes......................................................................13

International Characters..................................................................14

Chapter 4: The Falcon Viewport.........................................................................15

Overview ........................................................................................16

Adjusting the Contrast....................................................................16

Status LEDs....................................................................................17

Navigation Buttons.........................................................................18

Moving the Viewport Display.........................................................19

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting, Care and Technical Support .......................21

Troubleshooting .............................................................................22

Bar Codes................................................................................22

Serial Communications ...........................................................23

Care and Cleaning ..........................................................................23

Technical Support ..........................................................................24

Index........................................................................................................vii

ii Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Preface:

About this Guide

PREFACE CONTENTS

Overview ................................................................... vi

Style Conventions..................................................... vii

Document Conventions........................................ vii

Keys and Keystroke Conventions........................... vii

About this Guide

Overview

This book provides information about Falcon DOS fixed station data
terminals for first-time users. The focus of this manual is:

! Basic use of the Falcon
! Entering data from the Falcon keypad
! Viewport panning and contrast

For additional information about Falcon DOS fixed station data
terminals, including instructions on transferring files from a Falcon to a
PC, refer to the Falcon DOS Fixed Station Data Terminals Advanced

User’s Guide.

iv Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Style Conventions

Style Conventions

Document Conventions

Formatting conventions are used throughout this guide as a method of
providing consistency for notes, cautions, and warnings.

Notes Notes appear throughout the manual to provide additional information

on a topic, including technical details, exceptions to instructions and
other pertinent information. These notes are identified by the notepad
symbol to the right and bold italics text.

Cautions Cautions indicate recommendations or important information for the

user to know before proceeding. They can also indicate where certain
actions could cause damage to the unit. They are identified by the
exclamation mark in a triangle and bold italics text. This text appears in

gold bold italics text if the user is viewing the manual in electronic PDF

form on their computer.

Warnings War ni ng s indicate a danger of injury to the user. They are identified by

the exclamation mark in a triangle and bold italics text. This text
appears in red bold italics text if the user is viewing the manual in
electronic PDF form on their computer.

Keys and Keystroke Conventions

Portable keys and keystroke conventions are used throughout this
manual to identify the difference between a key on the portable and
keystrokes input by the user. Brackets such as: “
on the Falcon Portable. Data or keystrokes entered by the user are
printed in a monospaced typeface.

<Scan>” indicate a key

User’s Guide v

1

Introduction to Falcon

Fixed Station Terminals

CHAPTER CONTENTS

Overview.....................................................................2

Product Labeling ........................................................2

Power Requirements ................................................... 3

Radio Frequency Interference ..................................... 4

Introduction to Falcon Fixed Station Terminals

Overview

This chapter provides an introduction to the Falcon 510 DOS fixed
station data terminals. It provides the following information:

! Product labels and safety information
! Power supply specifics
! FCC information on radio frequency interference

For information on Falcon portables, refer to the Falcon DOS Portable
Data Terminals User’s Guide.

Product Labeling

Figure 1-1: Bottom View of the Falcon 510 and Label

2 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Power Requirements

Power Requirements

The Falcon requires a listed LPS power source which provides power
directly to the unit. This unit is an accessory that can be ordered from
PSC.

AC Adaptor Specifications

Note: Use only PSC power supplies approved for the Falcon Fixed

Station Terminal.

Electrical

Input: 100-250 VAC at 47-63 Hz, 0.4 AMP

Output: 7.5 VAC, 2 AMP

Battery: NiCD 3.6v, 600mA-L

Output Connector

Coaxial-type, center conductor positive/out conductor negative.

Note: The power supply is available with a country-specific IEC

cord.

User’s Guide 3

Introduction to Falcon Fixed Station Terminals

Radio Frequency Interference

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is
subject to the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2. This device must accept any interference received, including

interference that may cause undesired operation.

This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

Cet appareil numérique de la Classe A est confirme à la norme
NMB-003 du Canada.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for
a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses
and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in
accordance with these instructions, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference
will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by
turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

! Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
! Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
! Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from

which the receiver is connected.

! Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for

help.

4 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

2

Falcon Basics

CHAPTER CONTENTS

Overview .................................................................... 6

Turning the Unit On .................................................. 7

First-Time Use......................................................... 7

“Please Wait” Messages............................................ 8

The Falcon Applications............................................. 8

Falcon Basics

Overview

Figure 2-1: Top View of the Falcon 510

Falcon DOS fixed station terminal (Falcon 510) is designed to collect
data using several different methods:

! Badge readers

! Magnetic stripe readers

! Wands and pens

! Lasers and CCDs

! RF (radio frequency) and Wired Networks

! Serial port communications from a PC

! Modem connection

Status LEDs

Function Keys

6 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Arrow Keys

Speaker

Power Key

Viewport

Turning the Unit On

! Turn the Falcon 510 on by pressing the Power key (On button),

located above the Alpha-numeric keypad, and to the left of the
viewport.

! The On button does not turn the unit off. If the Power key is

pressed while the unit is turned on, there is no effect.

! The only way the unit can be turned off is by removing the main

power supply or activation of the Auto-Off Timeout.

! The default setting is to never time-out. Time-outs can be

established by using the PM.COM utility or installing an
application which establishes a timeout.

First-Time Use

The first time the Falcon 510 is turned on, the following message may
be displayed:

Turning the Unit On

Figure 2-1 shows the location of the Power key.

Initial power-up or
critical data loss.
Drive D formatted.
Press any key...

This message appears with normal operation and does not indicate a
problem. Press the

Enter key, and the Falcon 510 continues to boot up.

Note: Connect the backup battery prior to initial use of the Falcon.

Refer to page 4 of the Falcon Fixed Station Terminal
Installation Guide for more information on the backup
battery.

User’s Guide 7

Falcon Basics

“Please Wait” Messages

The Falcon 510 performs operations on the PC card installed in the unit
whenever it is turned off or on.

! The Falcon 510 displays a message in reverse video to indicate

that it is turning off or on.

! Wait until the message disappears before using the unit.

The Falcon Applications

When shipped from the factory, every Batch (non-networked) Falcon
unit is programmed with several applications collectively known as
PAL2. If the Falcon has been customized, it may be programmed with
other (or additional) applications.

For information on using PAL2, see the Falcon Portable Applications
Library User’s Guide. When using another application, contact the
system administrator for instructions.

8 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

3

The Falcon Keypad

CHAPTER CONTENTS

Overview .................................................................. 16

Adjusting the Contrast ............................................. 16

Status LEDs.............................................................. 17

Navigation Buttons .................................................. 18

Moving the Viewport Display .................................. 19

The Falcon Keypad

Falcon 510 Keypad vs. a PC Keyboard

The Falcon 510 has a 69-key keyboard, similar to the keyboard of a
standard PC. The keys of the Falcon 510 keypad provide equivalents to
almost all the keys found on a PC keyboard when used individually or in
combination.

Figure 3-1: The Keypad for the Falcon 510

The keys shown in Table 3-1: appear on a PC keyboard but are not used
on the Falcon 510:

Table 3-1: Keys on a PC with no equivalents on the Falcon 510

F11 Caps Lock*

F12 Scroll Lock

Left Shift* Pause/Break

Right Shift* Print Screen/SysReq

Right Alt Num Lock

Right Ctrl

*The Falcon’s Caps key provides the functions of these keys.

10 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Table 3-2:

Falcon 510 Keypad vs. a PC Keyboard

The Falcon 510 has some keys that are not found on a PC keyboard.
These keys are shown in

Table 3-2:. Page numbers indicate where to find

more information about specific keys.

Falcon Keys not found on a PC keyboard

Key Default Use

Caps When pressed and released: To ggl es Caps mode on

and off.
When held down: Acts equivalently to the Shift key on a
standard computer keyboard (page 12

).

FN

Intl

Power Turns the Falcon 510 on (page 7).

Contrast <-> Decreases the contrast on the viewport (page 16).

Contrast <+> Increases the contrast on the viewport (page 16).

Outputs the symbol or activates the function Home, End,
etc

. above the next key pressed (page 12).

Outputs an international character generated by the
combination of the next two keypresses (page 14

).

User’s Guide 11

The Falcon Keypad

Input Modes

The current input mode determines key functions on the Falcon. Input
modes are described in

Table 3-3: Keypad Input Modes

Typ e 1: Remains in effect after each keypress until discontinued by user.

Input Mode Result of Keypress

Normal Outputs the letter (lowercase), number, or function on

Caps Outputs the uppercase letter on the key.

Typ e 2: Affects only a single keypress or combination of keypresses.

Input Mode Result of Keypress

Table 3-3:.

the key.

Function (Fn)

Control (Ctrl)

Alternate (Alt)

International
(

Intl)

Outputs the symbol or function above the key.

Outputs the control meaning for alphanumeric or
function keys.

Outputs the alternate meaning for alphanumeric or
function keys.

Outputs a character from the international character
set (page 14

12 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

).

Repeating Keystrokes

The keypad for the Falcon 510 supports repeating keystrokes:

! Press and hold the key to repeat a keystroke.

! After a brief pause, the keystroke is automatically repeated until

the key is released.

This feature can be particularly useful with such keys as BkSp and the
cursor keys.

Repeating Keystrokes

User’s Guide 13

The Falcon Keypad

International Characters

The international character set contains letters and symbols commonly
used in Western European languages. Enter international characters by
using the following key sequence:

<Intl> <accent> <letter>

! The accent is a character from the Accent or Letter column of

Table 3-3: on page 3-12

! The letter is a character from the Letter column in the same row.

International Character Key Combinations

Table 3-4:

International

Characters

á, é, í, ó, ú, É‘ (apostrophe) a, e, i, o, u, E

ç or Ç‘ (apostrophe) c or C
à, è, ì, ò, ù ` a, e, i, o, u
â, ê, î, ô, û ^ a, e, i, o, u

ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ö, Ü : a, e, i, o, u, y, A, O, U

å, Å @ None
ñ or Ñ None n or N
ñ or Ñ ~n or N

ß ss
¿ ? None

¡ !!

¢, £, ¥ $ c, l, y

æ or Æ !a or A

Accent or Letter Letter

14 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

4

The Falcon Viewport

CHAPTER CONTENTS

Overview .................................................................. 16

Adjusting the Contrast ............................................. 16

Status LEDs.............................................................. 17

Navigation Buttons .................................................. 18

Moving the Viewport Display .................................. 19

The Falcon Viewport

Overview

The Falcon 510’s viewport is a backlit liquid crystal display capable of
viewing 40 characters in 15 rows.

Adjusting the Contrast

The backlight of the Falcon 510 remains on while the unit is turned on.

The contrast between the text and the background in the viewport can
be adjusted by using the

Power key.

! Press <-> to darken the contrast.

! Press <+> to lighten the contrast.

Figure 4-2: Location of contrast buttons and status LEDs on the 510

<-> and <+> keys located on either side of the

Status LEDs

Programmable

Indicator

Contrast buttons

16 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Panning
Indicator

Disk
Indicator

Caps Lock
Indicator

Viewport

Status LEDs

Table 4-1:

Status LEDs

The Falcon 510 has four status LEDs located to the left of the viewport
to indicate the state of the system. Their location is shown in Figure 4-2

on page 16.

.

Falcon 510 Status LEDs

LED Location Description

Pan To p

Prog Left

Disk Right

Caps Bottom

The Panning mode LED indicates that the
keyboard is being used to pan the system when
the indicator is red. Select

FN to activate

Panning mode.

The Program LED is directly controlled by
installed software. The currently defined program
defines its meaning.

The Disk LED lights up while the unit is busy
performing disk drive operations. Wait until the

Disk LED is no longer lit before continuing to use

the Falcon 510.

The Caps LED indicates the state of the CAPS
key. When lit, the keyboard produces uppercase
letters. Select the

Caps key to activate the Caps

lock mode.

User’s Guide 17

The Falcon Viewport

Navigation Buttons

To the left of the viewport and below the speaker are four navigation
buttons, or arrow keys. These navigation buttons can be used as cursor
movement keys.

.

Figure 4-3: Falcon 510 Navigation Buttons

Viewport

Speaker

Navigation Buttons
(Arrow keys)

18 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Moving the Viewport Display

When entering more than the maximum number of characters, the text
in the viewport scrolls to the left to display the additional characters in
the line.

The viewport display can be moved to the left or right by half screens to
view longer lines of text.

! Press and hold the FN key while using the Arrow keys (shown in

Figure 4-3) to move the display up, down, left, or right.

! The Panning LED (described in Ta b le 4 -1 ) turns red.

! Release the FN key to make the current cursor position visible.

It is also possible to press and release the FN key and then move the
viewport several times in one or more directions. When finished, press
and release the

FN key again to return to the current cursor position.

Moving the Viewport Display

User’s Guide 19

5

Troubleshooting, Care and

Technical Support

CHAPTER CONTENTS

Troubleshooting ....................................................... 22

Bar Codes.............................................................. 22

Serial Communications......................................... 23

Care and Cleaning .................................................... 23

Technical Support .................................................... 24

Troubleshooting, Care and Technical Support

Troubleshooting

Bar Codes

Bar code won't scan

! Check the quality of the bar code. Labels which are faded or

scratched are less likely to scan.

! Verify that the unit is configured to read the type of bar code

being scanned. Scan the D1 parameter and try again. (Refer to

“Predefined Defaults” in Appendix C of the Falcon DOS
Portable Data Terminals Advanced User’s Guide for the D1

parameter.)

! When an attached scanning device isn’t functioning correctly,

verify it is not broken by using another device.

Bar code won't scan with laser

! Vary the scanning angle and distance. Avoid aiming the laser

beam perpendicular to the bar code label or at extreme angles.

! Verify that the laser beam is intersecting the entire bar code label.

Bar code won't scan with wand

! Ensure that the wand is passing over the entire bar code label.

Holding the wand like a pencil in front of the left side of the label,
use a swift sweeping motion to move the wand towards the other
end of the label.

22 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

Serial Communications

Data transfer doesn't succeed

! Do communications parameters agree (COM port, baud rate,

transfer protocol)?

! Is the cable designed for use with the Falcon (PSC-specific RJ

cable) or the dock (25-pin null modem cable)?

! Is there disk drive space available on the receiver for the file being

sent? If not, delete unnecessary files.

Care and Cleaning

With normal use, the Falcon DOS fixed station terminal requires no
maintenance. If the unit gets dirty, wipe it with a damp cloth.

Care and Cleaning

Caution: Do not immerse the Falcon in liquid.

Caution: Do not use abrasive cleaners on the display screen.

User’s Guide 23

Troubleshooting, Care and Technical Support

Technical Support

PSC Website Technical Support

The most comprehensive source for technical support and information
for PSC products is the PSC website:
Select

Support from the sidebar for technical support. The site offers

product registration, warranty information, answers to frequently asked
questions (product FAQs), product manuals, product tech notes,
software updates, patches, demos, and instructions for returning
products for repair.

Reseller Technical support

Another excellent source for technical assistance and information is an
authorized PSC reseller. A reseller is directly acquainted with specific
types of businesses, application software, and computer systems and,
therefore, is in the best position to provide individualized assistance.

E-Mail Technical Support

www.pscnet.com/html/support.htm.

If the solution to a technical support question is not available through
the PSC website or a local reseller, contact PSC technical support
directly via E-mail at

[e-mail].

Telephone Technical Support

For those without E-mail access, please call [phone].

PSC Solutions Group

For advanced, cost-effective services, contact the PSC Solutions Group
(PSG) at [phone] or
webpage at

24 Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

www.pscnet.com/html/psc_solutions_group__psg_.htm.

[e-mail]. Or go to the PSG

INDEX

A

applications 2-8

B

bar code

troubleshooting

5-22

C

cable

troubleshooting

caps key

state of

caps lock indicator

location

caps lock mode

activation of
LED 4-17

care 2-8
care and cleaning 5-23

4-17

4-16

5-23

4-17

character set

international

cleaning 2-8
communications parameters

troubleshooting

contrast

adjusting

contrast buttons

location

3-14

5-23

4-16

4-16

D

data transfer

troubleshooting

disk indicator

location

disk mode 4-17

description 4-17
LED 4-17

dock

troubleshooting

4-16

5-23

5-23

User’s Guide vii

Index

E

error message

first time use

2-7

F

Falcon

applications
care and cleaning of 5-23
PAL 2-8

Falcon 510

keypad

diagram 3-10
vs. PC keyboard 3-10

FCC

label

FCC information 1-4
FN key

panning mode activation

2-8

2-8

4-17

I

input modes 3-12
international character set 3-14

type2 3-12

international characters 3-14

table of key combinations 3-14
table comparing to PC keyboard 3-11
unique to Falcon 3-11
vs. PC keyboard 3-10

table comparing 3-10

L

label

FCC
product 2-8

letters

uppercase

2-8

4-17

M

maintenance 2-8
message

“please wait”
error 2-7

modes, input 3-12
moving the viewport display 4-19

2-8

K

keyboard

uppercase letters

keypad

diagrams
input modes 3-12

type 1 3-12

viii Falcon Fixed Station Terminal

4-17

3-10

O

off, turning unit 2-7
On button 2-7, 3-10, 4-16, 4-17, 4-18
On, turning unit 2-7

Index

P

PAL 2-8
panning indicator

location

panning mode 4-17

LED 4-17

power key 2-7, 3-10, 4-16, 4-17, 4-18
powering unit on 2-7
product label 2-8
program mode 4-17

activation of 4-17
description 4-17
LED 4-17

programming indicator

location

4-16

4-16

S

serial communication

incomplete
troubleshooting 5-23

status LEDs

location

5-23

4-16

T

troubleshooting guide 5-22 to 5-23

bar codes 5-22
cable 5-23
communications parameters 5-23
data transfer 5-23
dock 5-23
unsuccessful data transfer 5-23

turning unit

off

2-7

on 2-7

U

uppercase letters 4-17

V

viewport contrast

adjusting

4-16

User’s Guide ix

DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY

PSC hereby declares that the Equipment specified below has been tested
and found compliant to the following Directives and Standards:

EMC 89/336/EEC

Directives:

Standards:

Equipment Type: Portable Data Terminal Equipment

Low Voltage 73/23/EEC
R&TTE 1999/5/EC

EN55022:1998
EN50082-1:1998
ETS 300 328

Product:

Brad West
Vice President
Quality and Process Management
PSC, Inc.
959 Terry Street
Eugene, OR 97402
U.S.A.

Falcon

®

Family Models 51X

Peter Lomax
Vice President
Europe, Middle East & Africa
PSC Bar Code Ltd.
Axis 3, Rhodes Way
Wat fo rd
Hertfordshire WD24 4TR
UK

Asia Pacific

PSC Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Telephone: [852]-2-584-6210
Fax: [852]-2-521-0291

Italy

PSC S.p.A.
Vimercate (MI), Italy
Telephone: [39] (0) 39/62903.1
Fax: [39] (0) 39/6859496

Australia

PSC Asia Pacific Pty Ltd.
North Ryde, Australia
Telephone: [61] 0 (2) 9878 8999
Fax: [61] 0 (2) 9878 8688

France

PSC S.A.R.L.
LES ULIS Cedex, France
Telephone: [33].01.64.86.71.00
Fax: [33].01.64 46.72.44

Germany

PSC GmbH
Darmstadt, Germany
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

www.pscnet.com

Japan

PSC Japan K.K.
Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Latin America

PSC S.A., INC.
Miami, Florida, USA
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

United Kingdom

PSC Bar Code Ltd.
Watford, England
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

PSC Inc.

959 Terry Street
Eugene, OR
Telephone: (541) 683­5700
Fax: [phone]

©2004 PSC 00-658-00 (Rev. C) 1/04