Using the Magnetic Card Reader 5-1
U S I N G T H E M A G N E T I C C A R D
R E A D E R
Optional.
Your printer may have a magnetic card reader, which reads
up to three tracks of magnetically encoded data from cards conforming to
the ANSI/ISO 7810 and 7811 standards. After reading the data, the printer
returns the information to the handheld.
Before preparing the reader for a swipe, the handheld wakes the printer up
by sending a few characters to it. The printer responds with XON to indicate
the reader is ready.
Command Summary
Command
Description
ESC-'M'-#timer#-
<tracks>-CR
Prepares the reader for a magnetic card
swipe. The reader’s LED turns on when the
printer receives this command, indicating it is
waiting for the operator to swipe the card. On
a successful swipe, the LED goes out.
#timer#
Sets the reader’s timer. If the operator does
not swipe the card through the reader before
the timer runs out, an error occurs. Values
are
00-99
(seconds).
00
disables the timer.
<tracks>
The combination of tracks to read.
1
Track 1 only.
2
Track 2 only.
3
Track 3 only.
4
Tracks 1 and 2 together.
5
Tracks 2 and 3 together.
6
Tracks 1, 2, and 3 together.
5
