MagTek USB INSERTION READER - Manual (Page 9)

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SECTION 1. FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS
The USB (Universal Serial Bus) HID (Human Interface Device) Insertion Reader is a compact
magnetic stripe card reader, which conforms to ISO standards. The Reader is compatible with
any device with a host USB interface. The reader can have single or dual head configurations.
The dual head configuration can read a card with the magnetic stripe orientated in two directions.
The single head configuration can read a card with the magnetic stripe orientated in one
direction. A card is read by inserting it into and/or removing it out of the card slot when the card
is oriented such that the card’s magnetic stripe contacts a read head.
The reader conforms to the USB HID Class specification Version 1.1. This allows host
applications designed for most versions of Windows to easily communicate to the device using
standard Windows API calls that communicate to the device through the HID driver that comes
with Windows.
The Reader can be operated in two different modes:
• HID (herein referred to as “HID mode”) and
• HID with Keyboard Emulation (herein referred to as “KB mode”)
Note that only readers 21065140, 21065145 and 21065150 with firmware version 21042817C01
or newer support both modes. The other readers only support HID mode.
When operating in the HID mode, this device will not use keyboard emulation. It behaves like a
vendor defined HID device so that a direct communication path can be established between the
host application and the device, without interference from other HID devices.
When configured for the Keyboard Emulation (KB) mode, the Reader emulates a USB HID
United States keyboard or, optionally, any international keyboard using ALT ASCII code keypad
key combinations or customizable key maps. This allows host applications designed to acquire
card data from keyboard input to seamlessly acquire the card data from the USB insert reader.
Caution
When in Keyboard Emulation mode, if another keyboard is connected to
the same host as this device and a key is pressed on the other keyboard
while this device is transmitting, then the data transmitted by this device
may get corrupted.