On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 09:26:28 -0500 Anthony Coghlan <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks, Willard! I managed to read the BCR files from the original > tape (amazingly durable) into the Model 100 with my “new” non-Radio > Shack BCR. You're welcome! :-) >It works, though I am still amazed at how sensitive the > reading is to so many factors including just basic spacing and > contrast of the bar pattern, it seems. Maybe I’m not “doing” it > correctly. Definitely still learning. My read reliability seems > fairly low overall except for some bar codes. Can bar codes have > changed and gotten so much more “compact” and challenging to read > since the mid-1980s? It’s not something I noticed back then... :) Yes, it's pretty fussy about the angle the wand is held at, and a big factor is how fast the wand is swiped. You have to swipe really fast! I'll be honest, when I got a Tandy wand and the software, I thought the wand was broken because I couldn't get it to work at all... So I got a second one (this one came with the docs). Turns out they both work... But I would never have gotten them to work without the known-as-good swipable samples in the book. I practiced on them until I learned to get consistant reads. UPC hasn't really changed(*), but a lot of samples aren't high-enough-contrast for the Tandy wand to read. I think the smaller denser codes on various things aren't UPC and I don't know/care enough to try to identify them for reading > REX is on my M102. I’m eager to try your REX BCR image and the > additional, recent driver files. REX is awesome! (*)I think there is actually a newer UPC standard but I don't think it actually is used much? Willard -- Willard Goosey [email protected] Socorro, New Mexico, USA I search my heart and find Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night. -- R.E. Howard
