Unitech MS146 User Manual

MS146 Bar Code

Rev.A

Slot Reader

AdventureJan

General Advisory

Improper handling, storage, environmental influences and /or
product modification can lead to problems during use.
This is particularly true if repairs and maintenance work are
not performed by trained personnel.
We reserve the right to make technical modifications in accor­dance with technological advancements as they occur.

FCC Information

This device 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 when the device is
operated in a commercial environment. This device gener­ates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual,
may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to
cause harmful interference, in which case the user will be
required to correct the interference at his or her own expense.

MS146 Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SCANNER CONFIGURATION MANAGER 3. . . . . . . .

Device 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Beeps and Delays 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keyboard Wedge 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RS232 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Scanner Port 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bar Code Symbologies 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Data Editing 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SPECIFICATIONS 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TROUBLESHOOTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

WARRANTY 35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BAR CODE TEST CHART 36. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MS146 Manual

INTRODUCTION

The MS146 is a family of bar code slot readers specifically designed for
reading ID, membershop, or other types of cards that contain bar codes.
The MS146 comes in four interfaces: PS/2, RS232, USB, and TTL Wand.
The MS146 also comes in two different optical types: Visible Light
(660nm) for reading normal bar codes, and Infrared Light (930nm) for
reading bar codes hidden behind an opaque security film.

MS146

Normal Operation

MS146A and MS146IA

The Undecoded (or TTL, or Wand) MS146A requires an external decoder
in order to communicate with your computer. Decoders are built into
Wedge devices and many POS (Point of Sale) keyboards, such as the
Unitech KP3700.
The MS146A cannot be configured via Scanner Configuration Manager.
Any modification of the output data must be done in the external decoder.

MS146-2 and MS146I-2

The RS232 (Com Port) interface should only be used when your software
is designed to accept com port input. The MS146-2 has a built-in decoder
and outputs the scanned data in ASCII Code. MS146-2 input requires
special software such as HyperTerminal (Bits per second: 9600, Data bits:
8, Parity: None, Stop bits: 1, Flow control: None) in order to view the
output.
The MS146-2 will require an optional power supply unless your computer’s
com port supplies power (unlikely).

MS146 Manual 1

MS146-3 and MS146I-3

The MS146-3 AT keyboard wedge interface has a “Y” interface cable with
an AT male plug on one end and an AT female plug on the other. The
cable end with the male plug is inserted into your computer’s keyboard
port and your keyboard is plugged into the female plug.
The MS146-3 operation should be “plug and play”. The MS146-3 has a
built-in decoder that outputs the scanned data in Scancode keyboard
format. Your computer will treat your MS146-3’s input as it would normal
keyboard input.
Note: If you are using a laptop computer or a USB keyboard (ie. you are
not using an AT keyboard), then your MS146-3 will need to be configured
as a “Keyboardless Wedge” (see “Device” in the “Scanner Configuration
Manager” section.

MS146-3PS2 and MS146I-3PS2

The PS/2 Keyboard Wedge interface is the most popular and straightfor­ward. The MS146-3PS2 has a “Y” interface cable with a PS/2 male plug
on one end and a PS/2 female plug on the other. The cable end with the
male plug is inserted into your computer’s keyboard port (not the mouse
port!) and your keyboard is plugged into the female plug.
The MS146-3PS2 operation should be “plug and play”. The MS146-3PS2
has a built-in decoder that outputs the scanned data in Scancode key­board format. Your computer will treat your MS146-3PS2’s input as it
would normal keyboard input.
Note: If you are using a laptop computer or a USB keyboard (ie. you are
not using a PS/2 keyboard), then your MS146-3PS2 will need to be
configured as a “Keyboardless Wedge” (see “Device” in the “Scanner
Configuration Manager” section.

MS146-4 and MS146I-4

The USB interface is becoming popular and relatively foolproof. Your
MS146-4 uses the standard USB driver that has been included in the
Windows Operating System since Windows 98 SE.
The MS146-4 operation should be “plug and play”. The MS146-4 has a
built-in decoder that outputs the scanned data in HID keyboard format.
Your computer will treat your MS146-4’s input as it would normal keyboard
input.
Note: Mac OS10 users might need to update their USB driver.

MS146 Manual2

SCANNER CONFIGURATION MANAGER

Scanner Configuration Manager software is the simplest and most
foolproof way to configure your scanner settings.

Start it Up

After loading and starting SCMSetup.exe the icon to the left
will appear on your desktop:

Click on the SCM icon
and the following screen
will appear:

As you can see, you are
presented with a blank
work area and a row of
icons across the top.
Following is an explana­tion of each of the icons:

Above, from left to right, are the standard Windows icons for “New
Document”, Open File”, and “Save File”.
Scanner Configuration Manager saves scanner settings in .cfg files,
so you can have access to a variety of different scanner configura­tions that you’ve set up.
To reset the scanner back to factory default, click on the “New
Document” icon and download the unmanipulated setting to the
scanner (see below).

The above icons, from left to right, represent download settings
(from computer to scanner), and upload settings (from scanner to
computer). The third icon opens a Test Pad where you can view the
actual scanner output.

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3

The above four icons are used in the “Data Editing” feature of SCM.
From left to right they are the “Add a Formula” icon, the “Remove a
Formula” icon, and the right-hand two are the “Move Formula” icons
that move selected formulas up or down in relation to each other.
For information on data editing, see page 22.

Click this icon to print a series of bar codes that you can scan in
order to configure your scanner to the current SCM settings.
This option is especially useful if downloading to the scanner is not
an option, like when using an interface adaptor or if Windows NT is
your operating system.
If you can produce PDF files via Acrobat, your SCM configuration
can be sent via e-mail to remote locations where they can be
scanned from a printed PDF file (without having to run SCM).

Help is just a click away.

Download to your Scanner

Once you have SCM configured just the way
you want it, click the Download icon (see page

3). The pop-up box to the right should appear:
Select your appropriate interface: USB, RS232,
or PS/2, and then click “OK”.
The green LED on your scanner should blink and you should see the
message “Download completed successfully”. Now your scanner is
ready to use with its new configuration.
If you should get the message “Download to scanner failed”, don’t
dispair. You can still click the “Print” icon (see above) and scan in
the resulting bar codes to configure your scanner.

MS146 Manual4

First Look

Click the upload icon (see page 3) and the following pop-up screen
will appear: (alternatively, you can click on the “New Document”
icon, page 3, in which case the second screen will appear)

Enter the scanner product
number (MS146, for
example).
Make sure the “By Key­board Interface” radio
button is selected, and
click “OK”.
The LED on the top of the
scanner will flash during
the upload process.

The screen to the left
appears. Click on any of
the selections under
“Current Settings” to view
its “Attributes”.

Double-click on any of
the “Attributes” to edit
that attribute. This is
done via a drop-down
menu.
After selecting your config­uration settings, click on
the Download icon (see
page 3). The LED on the
top of the scanner will
flash during the download
process. Afterwards, you
will be prompted to do an optional “Quick Test”.

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5

Settings

Following is a detailed discussion of each of the settings, their
attributes, and the effects each of these will have on data output
from your Unitech scanner.

Device

The only attribute for the “Device” setting is “Device ID”, which
defines the device to which the scanner is connected (usually a
computer or terminal). Select the setting that most closely de­scribes your device.
The default selection is “01 - IBM PC/AT, PS/2 MOD 40, 60, 80,
USB”, which is appropriate for most PCs.

Beeps and Delays

The three attributes for “Beeps and Delays” are: “Beep Tone”,
“Intercharacter Delay”, and “Interblock Delay”.

Beep Tone

Select a value from “None” to “High” to set the loudness of the tone,
or select “Low to High” or “High to Low” to set the characteristic of
the tone.
Default is “Medium”.

Interblock Delay

Interblock delay is the time duration that can be inserted between
one block of data and another. This function is analogous to the
time duration required between dialing a phone number’s country
code and the phone number itself. The interblock delay can be
inserted via SCM’s Data Editing function (see page 22).
Default is “10 ms”.

Intercharacter Delay

Intercharacter Delay is the time duration between data characters
sent from the scanner to the computer. Intercharacter delay is
usually inserted when the data flow must be slowed down for the
benefit of a slower computer.
Default is “1 ms”.

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MS146 Manual

Keyboard Wedge

Your Unitech keyboard contains a built in data decoder or “wedge”
that translates raw bar code input into Keyboard Scan Code, with
the result that bar code data exits the scanner as if you had typed
the text.
Seven keyboard wedge parameters are listed below:

Function Code

Function Code determines how function code characters from the
scanner is output.

If Yes is selected, then scanned function codes will output the

•

same as if their corresponding function keys were pressed.
Scanning an F1 label will pop-up a “Help” box, F3 a “Find” pop-up
box, etc.
If No is selected, the scanned function codes will output special

•

character strings defined by Unitech for non-print character
output.
Default is “Yes”.

Caps-Lock

The Caps Lock function determines how the Caps Lock key controls
the case of alphabetical characters. The three options below are
available:

Auto Trace automatically determines the Caps Lock key status

•

and informs the decoder accordingly.
Lower Case manually coordinates the physical state of the Caps

•

Lock key with the Caps Lock state of the decoder. For example,
if the Caps Lock light is not on, then “Lower Case” should be
selected.
Upper Case is the same as Lower Case (above) except that it

•

applies to the upper case state. If the Caps Lock is on, then
Upper Case should be selected.
Default is “Auto Trace”.

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7

Keyboard Wedge, continued

Language

Your Unitech scanner can output characters using eleven different
language sets, including:

Danish
U.S. English
U.K. English

Default is “U.S.”

French
German
Italian

Wand Emulation Output

Wand emulation refers to raw, undecoded bar code data - 0s and
1s. The choice here is whether to assign a 1 (high) to the dark bar
and a 0 (low) to the white space - or vice-versa.

Bar with High / Space with Low
Bar with Low / Space with High

Default is “Bar with High / Space with Low”.

Level Duration of Minimal Width

This adjustment refers to the amount of time the wand scanner
requires to recognize an individual bar in a bar code. The choices
are 200 µs (microseconds) or 600 µs.
Default is “200 µs”.

Norwegian
Swedish
Spanish

Swiss
Alt Key Mode

Polarity of Idle Condition

The polarity of the idle condition (while it has no input) of the wand
scanner can be either high or low.
Default is “Low”.

Use Numeric Keypad

The ASCII code for numeric input from the keypad part of the
keyboard is different from that of the upper row of the keyboard
proper. Some accounting programs require keypad input, and for
that reason, the keyboard decoder can output scanned or read
numbers as either keypad or keyboard (upper row) output.
Default is “No”.

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MS146 Manual

RS232

Baud Rate

Baud Rate (bits per second) refers to the speed of the data through
the RS232 port. If the data error rate is unacceptably high, setting
the baud rate lower should help.
Default is “9600 Baud”.

Parity

A technique used to detect data transmission errors by adding an
extra bit to each character. This scheme has been supplanted in
modern communication devices by “error correction”.
Default (and the current universal standard) is “No Parity”.

Data Bit

Number of bits per byte that are dedicated to data (minus start/stop
bits).
Default (and the current universal standard) is “8 Data Bits”.

Handshaking

Handshaking is the mechanism that controls the speed of data flow
so that a slower receiver of data is not overwhelmed by a faster
sender of data. Selections are: “Ignore”, “RTS (request to send)
Enabled at Power Up”, and “RTS Enabled in Communication”.
Default is “Ignore”

ACK/NAK

Data characters that are sent from the receiver to the sender in
order to “acknowlege” or “not acknowlege” the receipt of the data
without error. Rarely used these days.
Default is “No”.

BCC Character

Block Check Character. An error checking character added for data
integrity.
Default is “No”.

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