MagTek USB KB SURESWIPE & USB KB SWIPE READER - Manual (Page 9)

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SECTION 1. FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS
USB KB SWIPE READER
The USB (Universal Serial Bus) Keyboard Emulation Swipe Reader is a compact magnetic stripe
card reader with a single read head that conforms to ISO standards. The Reader is compatible
with any device with a USB interface. A card is read by sliding it, stripe down and facing the
LED side, through the slot either forward or backward.
A LED (Light Emitting Diode) indicator on the Reader panel provides the operator with
continuous status of the Reader operations.
The Reader emulates a USB Human Interface Device (HID) United States keyboard or optionally
all international keyboards 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 swipe reader.
Caution
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.
Because of potential “data interleave” issues associated with the USB Keyboard interface,
MagTek recommends that the USB Keyboard Emulation MSR product should only be used if the
application requires magnetic stripe data to be provided via the keyboard input. If previous
applications were based upon RS-232 serial interface magnetic stripe readers, or if this is a brand
new development effort, it is recommended that you use the MagTek’s “standard version” of the
USB HID MSR. (Refer to Technical Manual 99875191 for further information regarding the
USB HID MSR.)
USB KB SURESWIPE
The USB KB SureSwipe is a card reader with two magnetic heads. The SureSwipe reader was
designed specifically to read any magnetic stripe card regardless of which way the magnetic stripe
is facing when swiped. The SureSwipe’s dual heads provide convenience for the user by
eliminating the confusion when swiping a card.
In all other regards, the SureSwipe reader is technically equivalent to the single-head USB KB
Swipe reader described above. All technical specifications described in this manual are applicable
to both types of readers.
The SureSwipe readers have specific part numbers and they are described in a table in the
“Hardware Configurations” section below.