Technology solutions 1166 User manual

USER GUIDE:

1166

BLUETOOTH

UHF RFID READER

www.tsl.com

Design • Development • Manufacture

TERMS & CONDITIONS

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form, or by any electrical or mechanical means,

without permission in writing from Technology Solutions (UK) Ltd. This includes electronic or mechanical means,

such as photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems. The material in this manual is

subject to change without notice.

Technology Solutions (UK) Ltd (TSL®) reserves the right to make changes to any product to improve reliability,

function, or design. TSL®does not assume any product liability arising out of, or in connection with, the application

or use of any product, circuit, or application described herein. No license is granted, either expressly or by

implication, estoppel, or otherwise under any patent right or patent, covering or relating to any combination,

system, apparatus, machine, material, method, or process in which TSL®products might be used. An implied

license exists only for equipment, circuits, and subsystems contained in TSL®products. TSL®and the TSL®logo are

registered trademarks of TSL®. Other product names mentioned in this manual may be trademarks or registered

trademarks of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.

All software is provided strictly on an “as is” basis. All software, including ﬁrmware, furnished to the user is on

a licensed basis. TSL®grants to the user a non-transferable and non-exclusive license to use each software or

ﬁrmware program delivered hereunder (licensed program). Except as noted below, such license may not be

assigned, sublicensed, or otherwise transferred by the user without prior written consent of TSL®. No right to

copy a licensed program in whole or in part is granted, except as permitted under copyright law. The user shall

not modify, merge, or incorporate any form or portion of a licensed program with other program material, create

a derivative work from a licensed program, or use a licensed program in a network without written permission

from TSL®. The user agrees to maintain TSL’s copyright notice on the licensed programs delivered hereunder, and

to include the same on any authorized copies it makes, in whole or in part. The user agrees not to decompile,

disassemble, decode, or reverse engineer any licensed program delivered to the user or any portion thereof.

TSL®reserves the right to make changes to any software or product to improve reliability, function, or design.

TSL®does not assume any product liability arising out of, or in connection with, the application or use of any

product, circuit, or application described herein.

iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad Pro, iPhone, iPod, iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered

in the U.S. and other countries. IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries

and is used under license.

Use of the Made for Apple badge means that an accessory has been designed to connect speciﬁcally to the Apple

product(s) identiﬁed in the badge and has been certiﬁed by the developer to meet Apple performance standards.

Apple is not responsible for the operation of this device or its compliance with safety and regulatory standards.

The

Bluetooth

®word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of

such marks by Technology Solutions (UK) Ltd is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of

their respective owners.

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CONTENT

Introduction 4

Parts of the 1166 UHF Reader 4

Using the 1166 UHF Reader 5

Removing/Installing the Battery 5

Charging and USB Connection 8

Button Operation 9

Reading Transponders 10

Status LEDs 11

Connections 12

Bluetooth

®wireless technology connection 12

Comparison of

Bluetooth

®Operating Modes 13

Changing the

Bluetooth

®Operating Mode 14

Setting up a

Bluetooth®

Connection with an Apple Product 16

Embedded SD Card 21

Summary 21

Auto Run File (AUTO.TXT) 21

Log File (LOG.TXT) 21

Software Development 23

Troubleshooting and Maintenance 24

Maintenance 24

Troubleshooting 24

Regulatory information 25

Information to the user – FCC 25

RF Exposure Guidelines 25

Canadian Warning Statements 25

Laser Warning 27

Health and Safety Recommendations 28

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) 29

Warranty 29

About TSL®31

About 31

Contact 31

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Technology Solutions’ 1166 UHF Reader provides Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identiﬁcation

(RFID), with optional barcode scanning functionality. The unit can be used stand alone or paired with a

Bluetooth

wireless technology enabled host device. It can be used with UHF transponders including the EPC Global Class 1

Generation 2 transponders.

INTRODUCTION

PARTS OF THE 1166 UHF READER

Pop-Loq Connector

Status LEDs

Trigger Button

UHF Antenna

Figure 1: Parts of the 1166 UHF Reader

Battery Cover

Connection Status LED

Power Button

Laser Warning

Label

On-screen Keyboard Toggle Button

(Apple HID Mode only)

Battery Cover

Screw

WARNING!

LASER LIGHT. DO NOT

STARE INTO BEAM. CLASS

2 LASER PRODUCT.

LASERSTRAHLUNG NICHT

IN DEN STRAHL BLICKEN.

LASER KLASSE 2.

LUMIÈRE LASER - NE

PAS REGARDER DANS LE

FAISCEAU. APPAREIL À

LASER DE CLASSE 2.

630-680nm, 1mW

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USING THE 1166 UHF READER

REMOVING/INSTALLING THE BATTERY

To remove the battery, locate the screw on the Battery Cover and rotate it anti-clockwise using a mid-sized coin.

The Battery Cover can then be removed. The battery and ‘Battery Pull Tab’ will now be visible. Use the ‘Battery Pull

Tab’ to slide the battery out.

Figure 2: Battery Removal

Rotate ‘Battery Cover Screw’ anti-clockwise

by about two thirds of a turn.

Locate ‘Battery Cover Screw’

3Remove the ‘Battery Cover’ using the ﬁnger

holes and then pull on the ‘Battery Pull Tab’ to

slide the battery out

‘Battery Pull Tab’

Battery Cover ‘Battery Cover

Screw’

REMOVING THE BATTERY

Battery Cover

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To install the battery, ﬁrst orientate the battery so that the electrical contacts on the battery line up with the contacts

inside the 1166 battery cavity. Slide the battery into the battery cavity, then replace the Battery Cover. Make sure

that the ‘Battery Pull Tab’ does not get stuck between the battery cover and the battery cavity - if this happens then

the environmental sealing will be compromised.

Figure 3: Battery Pull Tab - Correct and Incorrect posiitoning

‘Battery Pull Tab’ is trapped

between seal

Tuck Battery Pull Tab

out of the way

1 2 Replace Battery Cover

‘Battery Pull Tab’ is tucked behind

battery cover

USING THE 1166 UHF READER

INSTALLING THE BATTERY

CAUTION!

RISK OF EXPLOSION IF

BATTERY IS REPLACED BY

AN INCORRECT TYPE.

DISPOSE OF USED

BATTERIES ACCORDING

TO THE INSTRUCTIONS.

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LOCKING THE BATTERY COVER

To lock the battery cover, lightly tighten the ‘Battery Cover Screw’ in a clockwise direction using a mid-sized coin.

Do not over-tighten the screw as this will damage the seal.

Lightly rotate the ‘Battery Cover Screw’ clockwise until the padlock symbol meets the arrow. Do not over-

tighten or you will risk damaging the seal.

Locate ‘Battery Cover Screw’

USING THE 1166 UHF READER www.tsl.com

USING THE 1166 UHF READER

CHARGING AND USB CONNECTION

SETTING UP THE 1166 DOCKING STATION KIT

The 1166 UHF Reader kit uses a dedicated Docking Station for charging and synchronisation. The Docking Station

Kit includes the dock, a power supply unit and a Mini USB cable. A separately purchased IEC mains cable is also

required. The Mini USB cable and power cable are inserted into the 1166 Docking Station in the orientation shown

below. Note that both cables plug into the back of the docking station at a slight upwards angle.

Figure 5: Inserting the 1166 UHF Reader into the 1166 Docking Station

USING THE 1166 DOCKING STATION

To dock the 1166 UHF Reader, slide it into the docking station in the direction shown:

1166-CRD-01-KIT:

65W Power Supply

Mini USB Cable

1166 Docking Station

Figure 4: Components required for charging the 1166 UHF Reader

IEC Mains Cable

(region speciﬁc)

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USING THE 1166 UHF READER

BUTTON OPERATION

The 1166 UHF Reader has a Primary button action and a Secondary button action which can be initiated by

different button clicks: By default, the Primary action scans for UHF transponders, whilst the Secondary action

initiates the laser barcode scanner (Barcode scanning is only available with the 2D Imager Antenna variant). Which

operation is performed depends on the way in which the button is pressed. The Single and Double press button

options are also programmable.

PRIMARY BUTTON CLICK AND HOLD

- UHF Transponder Read

The primary button click is a standard button action:

●To initiate a primary button click press and hold the trigger button.

●To terminate a primary button click release the trigger button.

In the default conﬁguration the 1166 UHF Reader scans for UHF transponders as the primary function. The 1166

UHF Reader will continue to scan for UHF transponders while the button is pressed. It will stop scanning once the

button is released (and the current operation completes).

SECONDARY BUTTON DOUBLE CLICK AND HOLD

– Barcode Scan (2D Imager Variant only)

The secondary button click is a single click quickly followed by a second press (press-release-press).

●To initiate a secondary button click press then release then press and hold the trigger button.

●To terminate a secondary button click release the trigger button.

In the default conﬁguration the 1166 UHF Reader scans for barcodes as the secondary function. The 1166 UHF

Reader will continue to scan for a barcode while the button is pressed. It will stop scanning when any of the

following conditions are met:

●A barcode is scanned.

●The button is released.

●The barcode engine times out.

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USING THE 1166 UHF READER

READING TRANSPONDERS

RFID transponders can be read when they are in range of the antenna. The antenna is located on the front of the

1166 UHF Reader. The range at which a transponder can be read depends on the transponder type and size, and

the number of transponders in the ﬁeld.

The UHF reader reads

transponders in front

of the antenna

Figure 6: Antenna location and read direction

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LED INDICATING CONNECTION STATUS

STATUS LEDS

USING THE 1166 UHF READER

Figure 7: Location of Status LEDs

LEDS INDICATING

CHARGING STATUS

LEDS INDICATING TAG/

BARCODE READ

Battery Charging, battery level

less than 25%

Battery Charging, battery level

between 75 and 99%

Battery Charging, battery level

between 25 and 50%

Battery Charging, battery level

between 50 and 75%

Battery Fully Charged

All off - Not Charging

Off - The reader is not awake

Flashing - Reader is awake but there is no connection

On - Reader is awake and connected to a host

Tag/barcode

successfully read

All off - nothing read

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COMPATIBLE APPLE PRODUCT MODELS

OTHER COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS

The 1166 Rugged

Bluetooth

®Handheld UHF RFID Reader is compatible with many other

Bluetooth

®wireless

technology enabled host devices running Android, Windows CE, Windows Mobile 5/6.1/6.5 or Windows 10/8/7/

Vista/XP.

CONNECTIONS

The connection to the 1166 is either via Bluetooth or USB. Bluetooth connections use either a Virtual Com Port

(VCP) or via the iAP protocol for Apple devices. Over USB only VCP is available.

For VCP the connection is established at 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and RTS/CTS (hardware)

ﬂow control.

BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

Figure 8: Compatible Apple Products

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CONNECTIONS

COMPARISON OF

BLUETOOTH

®OPERATING MODES

Our UHF RFID

Bluetooth

®readers support two modes of operation over

Bluetooth

®. When connected via USB the

reader always supports the TSL ASCII 2 protocol, but when connected over

Bluetooth

®the reader can either be set

to use the TSL ASCII 2 protocol (

Bluetooth

®SPP Mode) or it can appear as a

Bluetooth

®keyboard (

Bluetooth

®HID

Mode).

The comparison chart below is designed to help you understand the differences between the two operating modes:

Bluetooth

®SPP Mode

Bluetooth

®HID Mode

Apps need to be written with speciﬁc support for the

Reader

Apps can use the Reader without modiﬁcation

The Reader can be discovered and paired in the

Bluetooth Settings or from within the App but the App

controls the connection

●Connects when instructed by the App

●Disconnects when instructed by the App

●The reader powers off when no longer connected and

idle

●The App needs to connect to restore

Reader is discovered and paired in the Host Bluetooth

Settings (often appears as a Keyboard)

●After pairing the reader connects automatically

●If idle the reader sleeps and the connection is

dropped

●The reader, when woken, automatically reconnects to

the host device

Apps receive and interpret TSL ASCII 2 Protocol

responses when the user triggers a UHF or barcode scan

Apps receive input as Key strokes from the reader

including Tab and Return/Enter keys

The App can respond and react intelligently to responses

e.g.

●duplicate responses can be ignored or counted

●incoming tag data can be truncated, stripped or

transformed into alternative representations: Hex,

ASCII, GS1 EPC URI, etc…

The reader types text for each barcode/UHF scan

received

●The tag values can be returned in Hex or ASCII

representations

●Up to 2 Additional characters can be inserted before

and after the text sent

●The reader cannot truncate or strip values from tag

data

The App can change the Reader’s behaviour The Reader can only send scanned data to the host, the

host cannot change the reader’s behaviour

The Reader’s behaviour and command parameters are

controlled in real time by the App e.g. the trigger action

can change to suit the task that the User is performing;

the App can allow the User to specify Inventory output

power

The Reader’s behaviour, such as the action of the reader’s

trigger switch, the inventory output power, the idle

sleep timeout and other command parameters can be

conﬁgured only once at start-up.

Conﬁguration is held within the App (any conﬁguration

in the AUTO.TXT is likely to be overridden by the App

settings)

All conﬁguration is held in an AUTO.TXT ﬁle stored on an

SD-Card. Removing the SD-card or deleting the AUTO.

TXT and power-cycling the unit restores default settings.

All reader activity, by default, is saved to a log ﬁle if an

SD-Card is ﬁtted.

All reader activity, by default, is saved to a log ﬁle if an

SD-card is ﬁtted.

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CONNECTIONS

CHANGING THE

BLUETOOTH

®OPERATING MODE

TSL®

Bluetooth

®UHF RFID Readers can be operated in

SPP mode

where the Reader is controlled by a custom-

written application or in

HID mode

, where the Reader behaves like a

Bluetooth

®Keyboard.

The HID mode has two variantsi:

HID mode

Compatible with Android, Windows and Apple devices

HID Apple mode

Compatible only with Apple devices providing an on-screen keyboard toggle

The

Bluetooth

®operating mode of a TSL®UHF RFID Reader can be changed using the steps detailed below.

PREPARATION:

Download and install the “

TSL PC Firmware Downloader

” from the Reader product download page (free, one time,

registration required)

https://www.tsl.com/downloads/tsl-products/1128-downloads/

https://www.tsl.com/downloads/tsl-products/1153-downloads/

https://www.tsl.com/downloads/tsl-products/1166-downloads/

TO SWITCH TO

BLUETOOTH

®HID MODE:

●First delete existing pairings to the UHF reader

●Launch the Firmware Downloader (

Desktop Firmware Loader

)

●Connect the UHF reader to the computer using the supplied USB cable.

●The driver should install automatically (*)

●The downloader should prompt as the com port arrives and select the com port automatically (“COMn

arrived”)

●Select Action>Reset Bluetooth to HID mode or Action>Reset Bluetooth to HID Apple mode (wait for the

process to complete)

●Disconnect the UHF reader from the computer (unplug USB)

●Wake the UHF reader (pull trigger, blue flashing LED)

●Pair to the reader on the device (it typically appears as a keyboard icon and connects automatically)

●Scanned data should now be typed into the current application on the device

TO SWITCH TO

BLUETOOTH

®SPP MODE:

●First delete existing pairings to the UHF reader

●Launch the downloader (

Desktop Firmware Loader

)

●Connect the UHF reader to the computer using the supplied USB cable.

●The driver should install automatically (*)

●The downloader should prompt as the com port arrives and select the com port automatically (“COMn

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CONNECTIONS

●arrived”)

●Select Action>Reset Bluetooth to SPP mode (wait for the process to complete)

●Disconnect the UHF reader from the computer (unplug USB)

●Wake the UHF reader (pull trigger, blue flashing LED)

●Pair to the reader on the device

●Launch an Application (e.g.

RFID Explorer

) to use the reader

(*) if not download from here

http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information can be found from the Reader Download pages (free, one-time, registration required - see links

above)

Application Note – Bluetooth®HID mode

: Provides further examples for conﬁguring HID mode

Application Note – Using the Micro SD log and auto-run files

: Describes using the AUTO.TXT

TSL ASCII Protocol 2.4 Rev B

: Details all the commands including for HID .st,.hs,.hc, and .hd

If you encounter any issue while following the above procedure please contact

suppor[email protected]

providing the

following information:

●The serial number of the UHF Reader

●The Firmware version of the UHF Reader

●The step at which the procedure failed

●A description of the fault that occurred

iFirmware requirements: 1128 - v4.2.7 or greater; 1153 – v2.1.7 or greater; 1166 – v1.1.6 or greater

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VIEW LIST OF

BLUETOOTH

®DEVICES (iOS 7)

BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

iPad®:

●Go to the Settings App.

Figure 10: Select

Bluetooth

®settings

Figure 11: List of devices in

Bluetooth

®settings

●Go to the Settings App.

●Select the

Bluetooth

®settings in the left hand

column.

Figure 9: List of devices in

Bluetooth

®settings

iPod®/ iPhone®:

●Tap on the

Bluetooth

®row to be taken to the

Bluetooth

®settings

SETTING UP A

BLUETOOTH®

CONNECTION WITH AN APPLE PRODUCT

Awaken the 1166 UHF Reader by squeezing the trigger, which is conﬁrmed by the ﬂashing of the blue LED. To pair

with your iOS device, navigate to the

Bluetooth

®option within the Settings menu on your iOS device.

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iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 12: Identify device

After successfully pairing with the 1166 UHF Reader, the device will be shown as ‘connected’.

iPod®/ iPhone®

Figure 13: Device connected

iPad®

Open TSL’s RFID Explorer App.

The RFID Explorer App can be downloaded from the App Store.

PAIR WITH TSL

BLUETOOTH

®DEVICE

BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

In the list of

Bluetooth

®devices, the 1166 UHF reader will be identiﬁed by its serial number (1166-xxxxxx). Click on

the corresponding row to pair with the reader.

If RFID Explorer is installed on your device then a prompt will appear requesting a connection to the newly added

reader. Choose ‘Allow’ to launch RFID Explorer or ‘Ignore’ if the device is to be used with a different App.

iPod®/ iPhone®

Figure 14: Allow connection

iPad®

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BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

If the app is starting up for the ﬁrst time, no reader will be selected. To select a reader, tap on ‘Change Reader’ in

the menu to the left (iPad®) or ‘Paired Readers’ (iPod®/iPhone®).

iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 15: TSL RFID Explorer App on ﬁrst load - no reader selected

If you have a reader selected from your device’s

Bluetooth

®settings as previously shown, continue from Figure 28.

If the ‘No devices are available’ message in Figure 25 appears, you can also connect to a device through the RFID

Explorer app. Press the + sign presented in the top right corner of the Select Reader section/screen.

iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 16: No devices are available

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BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 17: Select the Reader to use

This will open a ‘Select An Accessory’ dialog box.

There may be a small delay in loading available readers.

Once the available readers have loaded select the 1166 UHF reader.

A list of compatible and currently paired

Bluetooth

® devices will appear. Select the device to be used with the

RFID Explorer App.

iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 18: List of paired

Bluetooth

®devices

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The selected device’s image will appear, accompanied by relevant device information. The ‘Inventory’, ‘Read/

Write’, ‘Commands’ and ‘Find a Tag’ features can now be explored. To maximise battery life it is recommended to

release the 1166 UHF Reader from its

Bluetooth

®connection if the reader is not to be used for a signiﬁcant period

of time.

BLUETOOTH

®WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

iPod®/ iPhone®

iPad®

Figure 19: 1166 UHF Reader selected and ready to use

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