Avid Technology MiniTracker 3-B User manual

MiniTracker 3-B
User's Manual
Congratulations on the purchase of your new Avid MiniTracker 3-B with Bluetooth® low
energy technology. This reader is capable of reading Avid RFID microchips, as well as many
other brands of RFID microchips using the FECAVA, Trovan, and ISO (FD -B) protocols. It
can also send microchip ID numbers to your tablet, smart phone or computer with Bluetooth
low energy support.
Table of Contents
1 Getting to Know your MiniTracker 3-B...................................................................................2
1.1 Battery Compartment......................................................................................................2
1.2 Power Switch..................................................................................................................2
1.3 iOS® On-Screen Keyboard (OSK)..................................................................................2
1.4 Display............................................................................................................................3
1.5 Read Button....................................................................................................................4
2 Reading Microchips with your MiniTracker 3-B.....................................................................5
3 Bluetooth Low Energy Interface.............................................................................................7
3.1 Change Cards.................................................................................................................7
3.2 Mode Change Card........................................................................................................8
3.3 Format Change Card......................................................................................................8
3.4 Region Change Card (for International Readers)...........................................................9
3.5 Pairing with your Device.................................................................................................9
3.6 Using the Bluetooth Low Energy Interface...................................................................10
4 Display Messages................................................................................................................11
5 Specifications.......................................................................................................................12
6 Regulatory Information.........................................................................................................13
7 Warranty and Customer Service..........................................................................................14
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 1 of 14

1 Getting to Know your MiniTracker 3-B
Your MiniTracker 3-B is a hand-held, pocket-sized, self-contained RFID microchip reader. It
has very simple controls, a built-in display, and a Bluetooth low energy interface. The reader
is designed to be held comfortably in either hand, with your thumb near the read button.
Figure 1: MiniTracker 3-B Reader
1.1 Battery Compartment
The reader is powered by one 9-volt battery. An alkaline battery is recommended for longer
battery life. The battery is located in the battery compartment on the lower back side of the
reader housing. To replace the battery, slide the cover straight off to access the battery
compartment. After replacing the battery, slide the cover back to its original position, making
sure the wires are securely inside the compartment.
1.2 ower Switch
The power switch is located on the front of the reader housing. Slide it to ON to turn on the
reader. When the reader is turned on, it will beep and show its operating mode on the display.
If the reader does not beep and display some text, then check the battery.
To turn the reader off, slide the switch back to the OFF position. If left on, the reader will beep
several times after every three minutes of inactivity to remind you to turn it back off after use.
1.3 iOS® On-Screen Keyboard (OSK)
The power switch can also be used to bring up the on-screen keyboard (OSK) in iOS®
devices, e.g. iPad® and iPhone®. With the latest firmware (version B7A or newer), the
MiniTracker 3-B always attempts to bring up the on-screen keyboard in iOS® upon
connection. If your app is not showing the on-screen keyboard like the iOS® Notes app shown
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
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in Figure 2, then simply switch off the device and switch it back on shortly after. The
MiniTracker 3-B will bring up the on-screen keyboard like the screenshot shown in Figure 3.
1.4 Display
The reader displays microchip ID numbers and status messages with the display on the front
of its housing. When you turn on the reader, it will briefly display the compatible protocols for
about half a second. For a standard MiniTracker 3-B, the following message is displayed:
AVID/FEC/TR/ISO
The above message indicates that the MiniTracker 3-B can read Avid, FECAVA, Trovan, and
ISO (FD -B) microchips. Afterward half a second, the display switches to the Bluetooth
firmware version and keyboard mode message shown below:
AVID NNNNN VVVK
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 3 of 14
Figure 2: iOS® without On-Screen Keyboard Figure 3: iOS® On-Screen Keyboard with
MiniTracker 3-B onnected

NNNNN is the unique Bluetooth name for your reader, VVV is the Bluetooth firmware version,
and K is the keyboard mode. Details on MiniTracker 3-B keyboard modes are described in
Section 3.4.
After 3 seconds, the display will then show the current Bluetooth interface mode and will
continue showing the current mode until you try to read a microchip. The Bluetooth mode
display looks like the following:
AVID NNNNN mode
NNNNN is the unique Bluetooth name for your reader and mode is the current Bluetooth
interface mode. Bluetooth modes will be covered in detail in Section 3.2.
1.5 Read Button
The MiniTracker 3-B's main control is the small black button marked READ on the front of its
housing. Pressing and holding the read button tells the reader to begin looking for a
microchip. The display will show:
Looking
until a microchip is found or you release the read button.
When a microchip is found, the reader will beep twice with a high tone and show the number
on the display. If you release the read button before the reader finds a microchip, the reader
will beep once with a low tone the display will show:
No ID Found
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 4 of 14

2 Reading Microchips with your MiniTracker 3-B
The reader's antenna is located in the narrow end of its housing. It provides communications
between the microchip and the reader. While pressing down the read button with your thumb,
move the reader in a circular pattern while moving it toward the animals head, starting from
the middle of the animal's back:
Figure 4: Search Pattern
The reason for this scanning pattern is that microchip orientation plays a major role in reading
distances. In Figure 5, the curved lines represent the invisible magnetic field emitted by the
reader's antenna. CHIP(s) A, in a parallel orientation to the antenna, will achieve their
maximum reading distances towards the center of the reader. CHIP(s) B, in a perpendicular
orientation to the antenna, will achieve their maximum read distance towards the outside
edges of the reader. It is therefore recommended to move the reader in a circular motion so
that the antenna and the microchip will be optimally oriented at some point in the scanning
pattern.
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 5 of 14
Figure 5: Microchip Orientation

The reader will continue scanning for a microchip until either it finds one, or you release the
read button. Once the reader finds a microchip, it will beep twice with a high tone and show
the microchip ID number on its display. The display format will vary, depending on what type
of tag was read. Here are some examples of what different tag types will look like on the
display:
Microchip Type ID umber Sample
Avid Protocol AVID*123*456*78
ISO Protocol 77200000 7 56
FECAVA Protocol 22A2426F10
Trovan Protocol 00-0132-824F
If you release the read button before the reader finds a microchip, then it will beep once with a
low tone and show:
No ID Found
Metal objects (especially ferrous metals) absorb electromagnetic fields. Operating the reader
antenna or placing the microchip too close to metal objects can severely limit the reading
range of the reader. If you are experiencing reduced operating range, check for metal
tabletops, doors, cage walls, etc. in close proximity (a few inches) to any part of the microchip
and/or reader. Also, make sure that you are using a fresh battery, because using a weak
battery will reduce microchip read range.
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 6 of 14

3 Bluetooth Low Energy Interface
Your reader can send each microchip ID number that it reads directly to a device with
Bluetooth low energy support, such as a tablet, smart phone or computer. The reader will
appear as a wireless keyboard to the device. No special software or driver is required on the
paired device, as long as it has hardware and operating system support for a Bluetooth low
energy wireless keyboard. The MiniTracker 3-B can be used with any software which can
accept keyboard input, such as a spreadsheet, text editor, web browser, etc. Before the
reader can talk to your device, you need to pair them as described in Section 3.5.
3.1 Change Cards
Your MiniTracker 3-B comes with ‘Change Cards’ to configure its Bluetooth low energy
interface. You read them with your reader just like any RFID microchip to change
configuration settings. All standard readers come with a Mode Change Card and a Format
Change Card. International readers also come with a Region Change Card.
Figure 6: Mode hange ard Figure 7: Format hange ard
Keep the change cards away from the reader's antenna during normal use so that they will
not interfere with reading other microchips.
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
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MiniTracker Interface
Region Change Card
TM
Figure 8: Region hange ard

3.2 Mode Change Card
Each time you read the Mode Change Card with your MiniTracker 3-B, the reader will change
its current Bluetooth interface mode and then show which mode it has just changed to on the
display. The display will look like:
AVID NNNNN mode
where NNNNN is a unique identifier for your reader, and mode is the new Bluetooth interface
mode. The possible modes are:
Mode Pairing
Required?
Description
OFF No Bluetooth low energy interface is disabled.
PAIR No Allow the reader to pair with a new device. This mode times out in
two minutes. When a new pairing is created, the reader
automatically switches to the NONE mode after the timeout. If no
new pairing is created, then the reader forgets its existing pairing
and switches to the OFF mode.
NONE Yes Bluetooth low energy keyboard emulation mode with no trailing
key after the microchip ID number.
ENTR Yes Bluetooth low energy keyboard emulation mode with ENTER key
after the microchip ID number.
TAB Yes Bluetooth low energy keyboard emulation mode with TAB key
after the microchip ID number.
The "pairing required" modes are only available if the reader has been paired with another
device, as described in Section 3.5.
3.3 Format Change Card
Each time you read the Format Change Card with your MiniTracker 3-B, the reader will
change how it formats Avid protocol microchip ID numbers when they are sent over the
Bluetooth low energy interface. Four formats are available:
Avid Microchip ID umber Format
AVID*123*456*78
123*456*78
A12345678
12345678
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 8 of 14

The default format is A12345678 , but you can choose whichever format is convenient for
use with your software. No matter which format you choose, Avid protocol microchip ID
numbers will always be displayed in AVID*123*456*78 format on the reader's display, and
the formatting of other types of microchip ID numbers will not be affected.
3.4 Region Change Card (for International Readers)
The Region Change Card is provided for international readers to change the MiniTracker 3-B
Bluetooth HID region. At power-on, the MiniTracker 3-B displays the firmware version and
keyboard mode message for 3 seconds before switching to displaying the operation mode
shown in Section 3.2. The following is the format of the firmware version and keyboard
message:
AVID NNNNN VVVK
NNNNN is the Bluetooth name of your MiniTracker, VVV is the Bluetooth firmware version
number, and K is the keyboard mode.
Each time the MiniTracker 3-B reads the Region Change Card, the reader will rotate its
keyboard layout mode in the sequence listed in the country-compatibility table below:
KKeyboard Mode Compatible Countries (Language)*
Q QWERTY Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States
+ QWERT+ Colombia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain
3 QWERT3 Switzerland (German)
’ QWERT’ Denmark, Finland, Norway (Bokmål), Sweden
Y AZERTY France
$ AZERT$ Belgium (French)
*Note: Not all compatible countries are listed. Please consult your sales representatives to
confirm compatibility with your country and/or language.
3.5 airing with your Device
Before you can use your MiniTracker 3-B with your tablet, smart phone, computer, or other
device with Bluetooth low energy support, you need to pair them together. Start by reading
the Mode Change Card until the reader is in PAIR mode. The display will look like:
AVID NNNNN PAIR
where NNNNN is a set of six characters that is unique to your reader.
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
Page 9 of 14

Now, while the reader is in PAIR mode, set it up as a wireless keyboard on your device,
following your device manufacturer's instructions. Your MiniTracker 3-B should appear as
"AVID NNNNN" on your device, where NNNNN is the same unique sequence of numbers
and/or letters that is displayed on the reader's display. Set up your device to treat the reader
as an HID keyboard.
3.6 Using the Bluetooth Low Energy Interface
Once the reader is paired with your device and connected to it, put the device's cursor on its
device screen where you want a microchip number typed in. Read a microchip with your
reader and then the microchip number will appear on the paired device as though the number
had been typed in from an HID keyboard.
Many devices will hide their on-screen keyboard when any wireless keyboard is connected.
Just turn off your reader when you need to access the on-screen keyboard on one of these
devices.
Avid MiniTracker 3-B User's Manual: 2019-11-11 Release
Copyright © 2019 Avid Identification Systems, Inc.
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