Chapter 6: Peripheral Devices & Accessories
Basic Scanner Operations
• Fuzzy Logic: reads damaged or low contrast regular 1D bar codes (5 - 55mil) at medium distances (up to 1m).
• PDF Raster Laser: reads 2D PDF bar codes or damaged or low contrast regular 1D bar codes (5 - 55mil) at medium distances (up to 1m).
• 1D Imager: reads regular 1D and PDF417 bar codes at short to medium distances.
6.9.1
Basic Scanner Operations
• Turn the hand-held on. Wait until the unit has booted up completely.
• Aim at the bar code and press the scan key or the trigger. A scan beam and a warning indicator appear until a successful decode is achieved or six seconds have elapsed.
6.9.2
Scanning Techniques
• Hold the scanner at an angle. Do not hold it perpendicular to the bar code.
• Do not hold the scanner directly over the bar code. In this position, light can reflect back into the scanner’s exit window and prevent a successful decode.
• Scan the entire bar code. If you are using a 1D or PDF laser scanner, make certain that the scan beam crosses every bar and space on the bar code, including the margins on either end of the symbol.
• If you are using a 2D imaging scanner, make certain the red, oval shaped framing mark is centered within the bar code you want to scan.
• When using imaging scanners, do not move the scanner while decoding the bar code.
Movement blurs the image.
• Hold the scanner farther away for larger bar codes.
• Hold the scanner closer for bar codes with bars that are close together.
6.9.3
Scanner Status LED
The scanner LED (the far right LED) indicates whether or not your scan is successful. The
LED behaves as follows:
• Scan In Progress: scan LED displays solid red colour.
• Successful Scan: scan LED displays solid green colour and turns off when the scan is ended.
• Unsuccessful scan: scan LED flashes red.
A bar code icon appears on the screen during a scan. While the scanner beam is active, the onscreen message states: SCANNING. If you want to turn off the onscreen message, disable
“Scan Indication” in the
Options
tab in the
Control Panel>Scanner Settings
menu.
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Troubleshooting
When the scan is successful, the bar code data is displayed on the screen until the scan button (or pistol trigger) is released, but only if “Scan Result” is turned on in the
Options
tab in the
Control Panel>Scanner Settings
menu.
6.9.4
Troubleshooting
If the scanner is not working, investigate the following:
• Is the unit on?
• Check that the bar code symbology being scanned is enabled for the hand-held you are using. Check any other parameters that affect the scanning procedure or the bar code.
• Check the bar code to make sure it is not damaged. Try scanning a different bar code to verify that the problem is not with the bar code.
• Check that the bar code is within the proper range.
• Does the hand-held display the warning without scanning? This suggests a hardware problem in the hand-held.
• Is the laser beam scanning across the bar code?
• Once the scan beam has stopped, check the scanner window for dirt or fogging.
6.9.5
Operating One Dimensional (1D) Internal Laser Scanners
• Turn the hand-held on. Wait until the unit has booted up completely.
Important: If an aiming dot is available on the installed scanner, the dot will be enabled for a configurable time period (including off), after which normal scanning
begins. Refer to “Dot Time (msec)” on page C-7 for details.
Double-clicking the trigger will override the aiming delay and initiate an immediate scan. Note that the aiming dot is standard on long-range and high visibility internal scanners.
• Aim at the bar code and press the scan key or the trigger. A scan beam and a warning indicator appear until a successful decode is achieved or six seconds have elapsed.
6.9.6
Operating Internal Two Dimensional (2D) Imagers
An imager scanner takes a snap shot of a single bar code or multiple bar codes (at one time).
It can find a bar code regardless of its orientation—that is, even a bar code printed at a 45 degree angle to the hand-held will be decoded successfully.
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Bluetooth Peripherals
Note: When scanning
multiple
bar codes, ensure that all of the desired bar codes are within the field of view of the scanner. It is possible that even when all bar codes are within the field of view, not all of them will be decoded. Only successfully decoded bar codes are passed to the application program. The application program then issues a warning, asking that you scan the missing bar codes.
When scanning a
single
bar code, ensure that only the desired bar code is within the field of view of the scanner.
Because imager scanners generally have a shorter depth of field than laser scanners, some practise may be required to find the optimal distance from the types of bar codes being scanned. Although the imager includes illumination LEDs, ambient light will help the imager decode the bar codes, especially if the bar code is far from the hand-held.
Important: Keep in mind that the imager scanner is a camera, and the LED illumination is a flash. Glare can be an issue on reflective media such as plastic coated bar codes, just as glare is an issue for photographers. When pointing at a shiny surface, either shift the bar code to the side or top, or angle the bar code so that the glare reflects away from the imager scanner.
Most imagers take several ‘snap shots’ of the bar code in order to decode it.
It is normal for the LEDs to flash two or three times. Hold the unit steady between flashes to improve decode performance.
• Turn the hand-held computer on. Wait until the unit has booted up completely.
• Aim at the bar code and press the scan key or the trigger. Hold the trigger until a successful or failed scan result is obtained.
• When the scan button or trigger is pressed, a red, oval shaped light (the framing marker) is displayed. Centre the framing marker in the field—either in the centre of the bar code you want to scan or in the centre of the area in which multiple bar codes are to be scanned.
The illumination LEDs will flash (typically several times) and a picture of the bar code(s) is taken.
6.10
Bluetooth
Peripherals
It is possible to communicate with a variety of
Bluetooth
peripherals, including GSM/GPRS handsets, scanners, printers, and so on. The range of the
Bluetooth
radio in Omnii is limited to approximately 10 meters (32 ft.).
Psion Teklogix provides built-in support for:
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Bluetooth Peripherals
• GSM/GPRS universal handset
•
Bluetooth
printer
•
Bluetooth
headset
Keep in mind that
Bluetooth
and IEEE 802.11g radios both operate in the 2.4GHz band. Although Omnii includes features to minimize interference, performance of the system will not be optimal if you use both radios simultaneously. Typically, when both radios operate in the hand-held at the same time, they cannot transmit simultaneously—this has a negative impact on overall system throughput. To minimize the impact on the backbone 802.11 network, Psion Teklogix recommends using
Bluetooth
peripherals that have low transaction rates (such as printers and scanners).
Bluetooth
peripherals are configured by choosing the
Bluetooth
icon in the
Control Panel
.
Refer to “Bluetooth® Setup” on page 125 for information about setting up your
Bluetooth
devices for communication. In addition, review the manual shipped with your
Bluetooth
device to determine the method used to associate with the Omnii host.
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