Agrident APR500 User manual

Brand: Agrident

Model: APR500

Type: User manual

Agrident GmbH, Steinklippenstrasse 10, D-30890 Barsinghausen

Phone +49 5105 582573-10 - Fax +49 5105 582573-17

APR500 – Weight from scale

Manual

V09/03/11

F o r F i r m w a r e V e r s i o n 4 . 0 0

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09.03.2011 Page 2 of 14

system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, scanning or other, without the prior written permission of Agrident GmbH.

Agrident GmbH reserves the right to make changes to any and all parts of this

documentation without obligation to notify any person or entity of such changes.

March 2011

Agrident GmbH

Steinklippenstrasse 10

30890 Barsinghausen

Germany

Phone +49 (0) 5105 582573-10

Fax +49 (0) 5105 582573-17

E-Mail: info@agrident.com

www.agrident.com

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09.03.2011 Page 3 of 14

Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 4

Necessary requirements ..................................................................................... 4

2.1

Connection via RS232 ..................................................................................... 4

2.2

Connection via Bluetooth................................................................................. 4

Configuring the scale parameters ....................................................................... 5

3.1

Scale type ........................................................................................................ 5

3.2

Interface .......................................................................................................... 5

3.3

Baudrate .......................................................................................................... 6

3.4

RS232 format .................................................................................................. 6

Hotkey configuration ........................................................................................... 6

4.1

Weight from scale and Assign mode ............................................................... 7

4.2

Weight from scale and Action Codes .............................................................. 8

Using the weight from scale feature .................................................................... 8

5.1

Weight from scale without Action Codes ......................................................... 8

5.2

Weight from scale with Action Code .............................................................. 10

5.3

Weight from scale with Action Code and Action Code Plus........................... 11

Using Bluetooth for non-Bluetooth scales ......................................................... 12

Appendix A – RS232 wiring .............................................................................. 13

Glossary ............................................................................................................ 14

APR500 –

Weight from scale

09.03.2011

1. Introduction

The APR500 is able to receive the

interface and to store it together with the EID and the timestamp in the internal non

memory.

This feature allows using non

more expensive EID

APR500, i.e. the reader has to know the serial protocol structure.

The current F

irmware supports 3 types of scales:

Iconix FX15 / FX21

Tell

TruTest XR3000

The received weight is stored in the Alias field of the dataset

the weight and an Alias in one

an Action Code and an Action Code Plus might be stored.

Necessary requirements

In order to use the

Weight from scale

serial connection. This can be either RS232 or Bluetooth

2.1 Connection via

RS232

For an RS232 connection you need the APC510 cable. This has to be plugged into the

APR500 and into the D

2.2

Connection via Bluetooth

Please perform a search for the Bluetooth enabled scale as described in the APR500

Bluetooth manual. Select the scale as the BT partner after the inquiry has finished. The

APR should be configured to act as the Bluetooth master.

Weight from scale

The APR500 is able to receive the

weight from scales with RS232 and / or Bluetooth

interface and to store it together with the EID and the timestamp in the internal non

This feature allows using non

-EID-

ready scales with a simple RS232 interface instead of

ready scales. Of course, the scale type has to be supported by the

APR500, i.e. the reader has to know the serial protocol structure.

irmware supports 3 types of scales:

Iconix FX15 / FX21

TruTest XR3000

The received weight is stored in the Alias field of the dataset

–

that means you cannot store

the weight and an Alias in one

and the same dataset

. In addition to the EID and the

an Action Code and an Action Code Plus might be stored.

Necessary requirements

Weight from scale

feature, the APR500 and the scale have to have a

serial connection. This can be either RS232 or Bluetooth

(BT).

RS232

For an RS232 connection you need the APC510 cable. This has to be plugged into the

APR500 and into the D

-Sub connector of the scale.

Please note that some scales might require an

additional null modem adapter in order to allow

communication with a

reader, e.g. Iconix scales. This

has to do with the designated use of the device (either

as DTE or DCE). For details please see appendix A.

Connection via Bluetooth

Please perform a search for the Bluetooth enabled scale as described in the APR500

Bluetooth manual. Select the scale as the BT partner after the inquiry has finished. The

APR should be configured to act as the Bluetooth master.

If the connect

ion is established, the

screen will display a

and the green

LED will flash periodically.

Some scales (like Iconix) might require

authentication for Bluetooth. In this case

please set the

corresponding

the APR500 Bluetooth menu

the passkey should be

Page 4 of 14

weight from scales with RS232 and / or Bluetooth

interface and to store it together with the EID and the timestamp in the internal non

-volatile

ready scales with a simple RS232 interface instead of

ready scales. Of course, the scale type has to be supported by the

that means you cannot store

. In addition to the EID and the

weight

feature, the APR500 and the scale have to have a

For an RS232 connection you need the APC510 cable. This has to be plugged into the

Please note that some scales might require an

additional null modem adapter in order to allow

reader, e.g. Iconix scales. This

has to do with the designated use of the device (either

as DTE or DCE). For details please see appendix A.

Please perform a search for the Bluetooth enabled scale as described in the APR500

Bluetooth manual. Select the scale as the BT partner after the inquiry has finished. The

ion is established, the

main

screen will display a

Bluetooth symbol

LED will flash periodically.

Some scales (like Iconix) might require

authentication for Bluetooth. In this case

corresponding

passkey in

the APR500 Bluetooth menu

. For Iconix

the passkey should be

‘0000’.

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3. Configuring the scale parameters

In addition to the serial connection of scale and APR500 you have to configure the APR for

the intended scale type.

Therefore you first have to enter the corresponding submenu.

The scale setup menu opens:

You can move to the next or previous menu items using the / buttons and enter a

submenu with .

The following menu items are available:



Scale type



Interface



Baudrate



RS232 format

3.1 Scale type

In that submenu you first have to decide for a scale type.

Select the desired scale model using the / buttons and confirm by pressing .

3.2 Interface

Please decide between RS232 and Bluetooth.

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3.3 Baudrate

This submenu allows altering the RS232 Baud rate. The following values are possible:

300 bps

600 bps

1200 bps

2400 bps

4800 bps

9600 bps

19200 bps

28800 bps

38400 bps

57600 bps

115200 bps

However, most scales should use 9600 bps. Some will have other (fixed) baud rates and

others will also have configurable values. You have to ensure that APR500 baud rate and

scale baud rate match, otherwise the communication does not work. Please also see the

scales manual for details.

3.4 RS232 format

This menu item determines the RS232 interface parameters “parity”, “data bits” and “stop

bit”. Normally “N,8,1” (no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit) is the correct setting but there

are also scales - like Iconix - which could require “E,7,1” (even parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop

bit). This can also depend on the scales firmware version and settings. For further details

please see the scales manual.

4. Hotkey configuration

In order to instruct the APR500 to request the weight from a scale, the corresponding

Hotkey has to be configured accordingly. Since the reader has two programmable Hotkeys,

you can configure either Hotkey A or Hotkey B for requesting the weight. The functionality

of the Hotkeys has to be selected in the “Operation” menu.

APR500 –

Weight from scale

09.03.2011

Now you can decide whether to configure Hotkey A or Hotkey B.

We wil

l use Hotkey A for this example

The following screen will be displayed:

Please go to

Weight from

You have to set the value to

If you go back to the main display you can see that the functionality of Hotkey A has

changed form “Read”

Now the APR500 will request the weight after the EID scan if the

Hotkey A. The same could be applied to Hotkey B, of course.

4.1

Weight from scale an

Please not

mode,

setting bu

If the corresponding Hotkey is configured to any

Weight from Scale

for this Hotkey, the foll

Now you can either confirm with activating

Hotkey mode

will be set to

If Weight from scale

is already activated

modes to the same Hotkey

mode

submenu in this case.

Weight from scale

Now you can decide whether to configure Hotkey A or Hotkey B.

l use Hotkey A for this example

, so please proceed with .

The following screen will be displayed:

Weight from

scale using the / buttons and e

nter the menu with

You have to set the value to

“On” using / - confirm pressing

If you go back to the main display you can see that the functionality of Hotkey A has

to “Scale Read”.

Now the APR500 will request the weight after the EID scan if the

scan is activated via

Hotkey A. The same could be applied to Hotkey B, of course.

Weight from scale an

d Assign mode

Please not

e that Weight from scale

is incompatible with the

o you can configure one Hotkey for either one or the other

setting bu

t never for both simultaneously.

If the corresponding Hotkey is configured to any

Assign

mode and you try to a

for this Hotkey, the foll

owing message will be displayed:

Now you can either confirm with activating

Weight from scale via

will be set to

No Action Code - or

you cancel the activation pressing

is already activated

it will no be possible to select one of the

modes to the same Hotkey

– the corresponding menu items are n

ot available in the

submenu in this case.

Page 7 of 14

nter the menu with

If you go back to the main display you can see that the functionality of Hotkey A has

scan is activated via

is incompatible with the

Assign

o you can configure one Hotkey for either one or the other

mode and you try to a

ctivate

owing message will be displayed:

- in this case the

you cancel the activation pressing

it will no be possible to select one of the

Assign

ot available in the

Hotkey

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4.2 Weight from scale and Action Codes

In addition to the EID and the weight you can save an Action Code and Action Code Plus

to the dataset. Therefore you have to modify the Hotkey mode value:

The following options are available:

No Actioncode

AC Auto

AC ask

AC Auto Plus

AC ask Plus

For details about the different modes please refer to the APR500 Classic Mode operational

manual.

If you select AC Auto for example, you will see that the description for the Hotkey has

changed in the main screen:

In this case the fixed Action Code value is “treat”. If the Action Code should change from

one animal to the next, you should use AC ask. In this case the main screen will show:

5. Using the weight from scale feature

If you have a serial connection between the APR500 and the scale and the corresponding

Hotkey is configured correctly, you can start with data collection in the field.

5.1 Weight from scale without Action Codes

If you just want to assign the weight to the EID you should have chosen “No Actioncode” in

the Hotkey mode menu and the main screen should show:

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Press Hotkey A in order to initiate an EID scan. This display shows:

If a transponder was read successfully, the following screen is displayed:

The first line shows the EID in a larger font size. The BT symbol on the right side indicates

that there is an active Bluetooth connection. The second line states that the scale type is

configured to Iconix and the third line that the scale should be connected via Bluetooth.

From the last line you can see that you have to press in order to request the weight.

The display shows:

If the weight was requested successfully, the following screen appears:

You can confirm the weight with or go back to the previous screen using the

button in order to request the weight again. If you confirm the weight, the following

information screen will be displayed:

The first line shows the weight, the second the EID, the third the information “stored” and

the last one the number of stored datasets and the remaining memory capacity.

If the APR was not able to receive the weight, the following error message will occur:

Then the reader returns to the previous screen:

Please check the serial connection again and make sure that the scale settings of the

APR500 are correct.

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5.2 Weight from scale with Action Code

As already mentioned earlier in this manual, it is also possible to assign an Action Code

additionally. Therefore please configure the desired Hotkey accordingly. In this example we

have configured Hotkey A to AC ask.

The main screen shows:

The procedure is started by pressing Hotkey A. The EID and the weight are collected like

before. After confirming the weight, the display will show the list of previously uploaded

Action Codes below the weight:

Select the intended Action code using the / buttons and confirm with .

Now the display will show:

Using the / buttons you can scroll to other screens.

Press or for going back to the main screen. You may also start another scan

directly by pressing a Hotkey.

The AC Auto setting works similar but you cannot select from the list each time. The APR

will automatically use the Action Code which is selected in the Action Code list submenu

for the corresponding Hotkey in this case.

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09.03.2011 Page 11 of 14

5.3 Weight from scale with Action Code and Action Code Plus

There can be Actions where it might make sense to add an additional numeric value. In this

case the Hotkey mode could be configured to AC ask Plus. The procedure is similar to

‘Action Code only’ until the confirmation of the Action Code. After confirming the AC you

will be asked to type in a numeric value:

Enter the value using the alphanumeric keys and confirm with .

Now you can see that in addition to the Action Code a numeric value was assigned, here

“15”. In this case the Action Code is ‘sold to’, so the numeric value could represent the

buyer.

As the final result you have the following information in one dataset:

Electronic ID

Weight of the animal

The information that the animal was sold

A numeric value which represents the person who bought the animal

This is, of course, only an example of how Action Codes can be used in combination with

the Weight from scale feature. There are various other possibilities depending on the

requirements of your application.

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6. Using Bluetooth for non-Bluetooth scales

If your scale does not have an integrated Bluetooth module but only an RS232 port, there

is an easy way of upgrading the scale and making it BT enabled: RS232 BT dongles. Of

course, there are many manufacturers of such devices but according to our experience

Agrident recommends to use devices from “Roving Networks”.

http://www.rovingnetworks.com/bluetooth-serial-adapters.php

The most simply module is the Firefly. It has no internal battery and needs to be powered

from an external power supply. The only exception is that some scales offer a power output

on pin 9 of the D-Sub connector. In that case you do not require an external power supply.

Such scales are:

TruTest XR3000 (only on CON2)

Gallagher SmartScale800 (Port 2 only; ID reader option needs to be selected for

Port 2!)

Firefly RN

240

Please note that there are two versions of this module:

RN-240F (in case that the scale is laid out as DCE)

RN-240M (here the scale is laid out as DTE)

Also see Appendix A for details about DCE and DTE.

In case your scale does not supply power on pin 9 and you don´t want to use an external

power supply for the Bluetooth dongle, Roving Networks also offers solutions – dongles

with internal rechargeable batteries:

Firefly RN

Please note that there are two versions of this module:

RN-270F (in case that the scale is laid out as DCE)

RN-270M (here the scale is laid out as DTE)

Also see Appendix A for details about DCE and DTE.

The Firefly RN-270 uses AAA NiMH batteries and allows an operation time of up to 10

hours. It also has an on-board charger (still requires external 5V power supply).

APR500 –

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09.03.2011

The RN-220 XP

has a built in Lithium

hours. It also has a

All these dongles are Bluetooth Class 1 devices. In combination

with the corresponding Agrident readers they allow wireless

comm

unication over a distance of up to 100 meter.

7. Appendix A –

RS232 wiring

Depending on the intended use of communication devices they are classified in DTE (

Terminal E

quipment) and DCE (

where the RFID reader should be a DCE.

A DTE will always have a male D

9-pole D-

Sub connector, male (for DTE)

However, some scales are laid out to be

there are gender changers available in case that scale connector and reader connector do

not match. But this is not the

device using a straight through cable (wiring 1:1). If you want to connect two DTE (or two

DCE) devices with each other, you need a crossover cable (also called “null modem

cable”).

Wiring of an RS23

2 crossover cable without hardware handshake signals:

Pin connector 1

Weight from scale

220

here is only one version of this dongle and per default it

acts as DTE. This behavior

can be changed by

on-board jumpers. Nevertheless yo

u require a gender

changer (female-female)

in order to connect this dongle to

a scale which is intended to be DCE.

Also see Appendix A for details about DCE and DTE.

has a built in Lithium

Polymer battery

and allows an operation time of up to

hours. It also has a

n on-board charger (still requires external

5V power supply).

All these dongles are Bluetooth Class 1 devices. In combination

with the corresponding Agrident readers they allow wireless

unication over a distance of up to 100 meter.

RS232 wiring

Depending on the intended use of communication devices they are classified in DTE (

quipment) and DCE (

Data Communication E

quipment). A PC is always a DTE

where the RFID reader should be a DCE.

A DTE will always have a male D

Sub connector while a DCE will use a female connector.

Sub connector, male (for DTE)

9-pole D-

Sub connector, female (for DCE)

However, some scales are laid out to be

DTE, others are considered to be

there are gender changers available in case that scale connector and reader connector do

not match. But this is not the

only difference: You can connect a DTE device to a DCE

device using a straight through cable (wiring 1:1). If you want to connect two DTE (or two

DCE) devices with each other, you need a crossover cable (also called “null modem

2 crossover cable without hardware handshake signals:

Meaning connector 1

Meaning connector 2

RxD TxD

TxD RxD

GND GND

Page 13 of 14

here is only one version of this dongle and per default it

can be changed by

altering the

u require a gender

in order to connect this dongle to

Also see Appendix A for details about DCE and DTE.

and allows an operation time of up to

5V power supply).

All these dongles are Bluetooth Class 1 devices. In combination

with the corresponding Agrident readers they allow wireless

unication over a distance of up to 100 meter.

Depending on the intended use of communication devices they are classified in DTE (

Data

quipment). A PC is always a DTE

Sub connector while a DCE will use a female connector.

Sub connector, female (for DCE)

DTE, others are considered to be

DCE. Of course,

there are gender changers available in case that scale connector and reader connector do

only difference: You can connect a DTE device to a DCE

device using a straight through cable (wiring 1:1). If you want to connect two DTE (or two

DCE) devices with each other, you need a crossover cable (also called “null modem

2 crossover cable without hardware handshake signals:

Meaning connector 2

Pin connector 2

APR500 – Weight from scale

09.03.2011 Page 14 of 14

8. Glossary

• Weight from scale

A feature of the APR500 which allows receiving the electronic weight from a

supported scale via RS232 or Bluetooth.

• DTE

Data Terminal Equipment, e.g. PC

• DCE

Data Communication Equipment, e.g. RFID reader

• Action Code (AC)

An Action Code is a string of up to 14 alphanumeric characters. Action Codes allow

to assign events like sale, movement, disease or treatment to animal IDs. An

Action Code can be combined with the transponder ID after reading. It can only be

assembled and uploaded to the APR using appropriate software.

• Action Code Plus (AC Plus)

Numeric value of up to 255 (8 Bit) or up to 65535 (16 Bit);configurable

• Transponder or Tag

Data carrier for RFID applications, available in various models and types.

Agrident APR500 User manual

Brand: Agrident

Model: APR500

Type: User manual

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Agrident APR500 User manual

Agrident APR500 User manual

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