If your unit does not have the financial ability to purchase scanners, ATLAS Teaching and Learning have a small amount available to rent. Contact them at
atlas-tlt@illinois.edu for further information on scanner rental.
This tutorial is demonstrating card swiping with the "ID Tech Omni Card Reader: WCR3237-512U" (our recommended model) on a standard PC.
**It's extremely important that you test your scanner on the actual machine you will be using the day of the exam. Since ATLAS Application development does not have 24-hour application support, we strongly recommend testing your scanner at least three business days before it's needed.**
Begin by plugging the card scanner into your machine's USB port.
Upon plugging your scanner in, you should hear a "beep" sound and also see a green indicator light on the device as pictured above. When the scanner is plugged in - your machine should begin automatically looking for the necessary drivers to operate the device. This will likely happen without any indication to you that it's happening. As such, sometimes it may take a few minutes, depending on what your machine (computer) is up to, for the drivers to install.
To test your scanner, open any notepad or Microsoft Word type of program. Since the scanner behaves exactly like a keyboard - a card swipe should produce the corresponding UIN.
Swipe an iCard with the back of the card facing the shorter side of the device as in the video above. The audio is removed from the demonstration video above, but you should also here a "beep" sound upon scanning.
Now take a look at your notepad to ensure the UIN has displayed correctly.
If the UIN on the iCard and displaying on your machine are the same - you have successfully tested your card scanner. (Red bar added in the above photo)