User's Manual

THE PORTABLE INTERROGATOR User Guide
Revised July 2000
Page 59 of 63
Note that the reading displayed is the full six-digit odometer plus the numeric location of
the sweep hand.
If the transponder reports a tamper condition, The Portable Interrogator 400 will display
the tamper condition in the Reading box. Once displayed, you can record the reading in
any convenient manner you choose.
TRACE Wild Card Read
If you do not know the transponder ID of a module, you can still perform a TRACE
Quick Read without specifying the transponder ID number. This process is called a Wild
Card Read. If the transponder ID is not specified on the Quick Read screen, The Portable
Interrogator 400 will transmit the interrogation but at a very low power. As a result, you
must position The Portable Interrogator 400 antenna as close to the transponder as
possible before pressing the Read button. The display will show the transponder ID as
well as the reading.
Checking Transponders before Installation
When you receive a shipment of transponders, or when you are ready to install a set of
transponders, you can use the Quick Read function to verify that the transponder is
operating. But it can be tedious entering transponder ID after transponder ID, so The
Portable Interrogator 400 offers you another way to enter that information.
For transponders you have just received or are ready to install, each of the IDs is bar
coded on a label on the outside of the box. Using the optional bar code scanner
connected to the serial port, The Portable Interrogator 400 will accept the transponder ID
from the scanner and immediately interrogate the transponder and display the results.
To verify that transponders are operating, follow this simple procedure.
• Display The Portable Interrogator 400 TRACE Quick Read screen
• Connect the bar code scanner to The Portable Interrogator 400’s serial port
• Read the transponder number from the bar code on the side of the shipping box by
squeezing the trigger on the bar code reader while lining the scan line on the bar
code you want to read