Communicating with a MW-3170 magnetic card reader

Question

One of our customers has asked if we can interface with a serial magnetic card reader/encoder from a old EPOS system. The device has no make only the MW-3170 model number.

Does anybody know how I can communicate with the device? I am currently looking for a programming manual on Google, without much success.

Answer 1

It reads cards conforming to these standards ANSI 3554, ISO 7811/3 and is likely a serial device with a DB-9 connector judging by its age. Why don't you just call one of the vendors and ask for more information?

EDIT: It looks like I was right about the interface:

COMMUNICATIONS
Transmission Type  : Asynchronous
Interface          : RS232C
Baud Rate          : 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 BPS
Data Length        : 7 bits or 8 bits
Parity             : Space, Odd, Even, Mark
Start Bit          : 1 bit
Stop Bit           : 1 bit

I'd further guess that it is probably an ASCII interface that would be easy to reverse-engineer even if you can't obtain documentation. Even if it is binary you can likely figure it out as long as you have magnetic cards containing known data.

Answer 2

After further searching, I found programming software for the MW-3000 series card readers/writers on Partner Tech USA.

Using a serial port monitoring software, you can reverse-engineer the commands sent to the card reader.

To read from the card reader, send the following command.

<STX>R7<ETX> 
Hex: 02 52 37 03