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Using the Reader

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John Garner edited this page Oct 3, 2026 · 2 revisions

Powering On

The power button will power the unit on or off.

Note that it will typically take about 15-30 seconds to boot the OS and launch the PikaReader4Pi application.

Start / Stop Reading

Starting the reader:

Pressing the reading button for more than a 1/10 of a second will put the readers into read mode.

Stopping the Reader:

Press and hold the reading button for more than 2 seconds and then release. The system will then take the readers out of reading mode.

Trigger

Press the trigger button (if available) to have the system record a trigger. Alternatively, use the web UI.

LCD Display

Unit Information

The LCD displays the following basic system details on the first two lines:

  • Unit Name: A user-configurable short name for the unit (e.g. "PR4-04")
  • IP Address: The IP address of the unit or "No Network" if there is no active network connection.
  • Battery Level / Runtime: The battery Percentage and the estimated remaining runtime
  • Time of Day and Clock Source: The current time of day in HH:MM:SS and one of the following indicators
    • G: GPS Sourced (NTP Stratum 1)
    • N: NTP Sourced time (NTP Stratum 2 -> 7)
    • L: Local RTC
    • X: None. The clock should be considered inaccurate.

Reader Status

The Status of the readers is displayed on the bottom two lines. The system will display the status of up to two connected 4 port RFID Readers

Idle Mode: When the unit is idle (not in read mode), the status of each each reader is displayed. Each connected reader prefaced with an "R1" or "R2" and then the status. If the unit is ready, it will display the antenna port status as follows: * C: Connected * X: Disconnected * D: Disabled

Reading Mode: When the unit is in reading mode, the system will display a power meter for each antenna, the total number of reads, and the last chip read.

The Power meter consists of a bar chart that displays the read strength of the antenna ports. The first reader is marked with an "R1". If there is a 2nd reader connected, it is indicated by a stacked "R2" followed by the bar chart for the connected.

The total read count is prefaced by a "R:" followed by a six digit number. If more than 1 million reads have been read it will simply display "100k+". The first 8 numbers of the last chip read are displayed below the read count.

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