MagTek MT-211232 RS-232 3-TRACK - Manual (Page 21)

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SECTION 3. OPERATION
Included in this section are Indicators, Card Read, Reader to Host Message Format, Host to
Reader Commands, a timing diagram of transmission, and the top assembly drawing of the
Reader.
INDICATORS
A two-color LED indicator on the panel gives the operator the status of the Reader. An audio
alarm inside the Reader provides a beep for the operator.
Green LED
The green LED is the ready indicator which lights when the Reader is ready to read a magnetic
stripe or after a card was read without error.
Red LED
The red LED (or orange LED) lights when an error occurs after the card is swiped. This
indicates that the card did not read a track(s) correctly. An “E” will be displayed in place of the
card data for each track that had an error. If the card is swiped with the stripe facing away from
LED side, or was not encoded, nothing will occur, no LED or alarm. The LED is out when the
Reader is processing date or when no power is applied.
Audio Alarm
The Alarm will beep once if the installation is correct or when a magnetic card is read
successfully and will beep three times if the installation is incorrect or when a read error is
detected.
CARD READ
A card may be swiped through the Reader slot when the green LED is lit. The magstripe must
face toward the front (the side with the LED and arrows) and may be swiped from either
direction.
The green LED will go out momentarily when a properly encoded card is swiped through the
Reader. The alarm will beep once and the green LED will reappear when all valid information is
transmitted to the computer and the Reader is ready to accept another card.
The red LED lights momentarily and the alarm beeps three times when an error occurs during a
card read. If the unit was installed correctly, the error will probably be caused by not swiping
the card correctly or the problem may be with the encoding on the card.