Keri Systems V-Track - Manual (Page 19)

V-Track™ Automatic Long Range Vehicle ID System
Installation Guide
Page 19 of 20 P/N: 01538-001 Rev. G
8.1 Antenna/Tag Orientation
We sometimes encounter complaints that the read range varies widely – sometimes acceptable and sometimes almost
useless. On several occasions it was determined that the antenna was installed in the vertical plane. The tags were being
presented in the horizontal plane. While this does work with somewhat reduced range, it can easily become impossible for
the installer to orient the antenna to provide the desired coverage area. Before starting we want to ensure that the antenna
and tag are both oriented in the same polarity.
Orient the antenna in the horizontal plane. This is when the white coaxial cable exits the square antenna on the side. If it
exits top or bottom it is polarized in a vertical mode. The tag is also horizontally polarized when held in the horizontal
position.
Ignore the receiver and controller for now, our first concern is with the Exciter/Antenna and LRT-5 tag.
USE THE TAG! As explained in the installation instructions, you orient the antenna in the approximate direction of
required coverage. Then you take the test tag and walk the area while watching for the LED blinking. So long as the LED
is blinking you are in the “read” area. When the LED stops, you are outside the area. It may be necessary to adjust the
antenna orientation a few times until you have the desired area of coverage.
NOTE: If the receiver output is used for this purpose, there is a 20 second delay between responses. This delay makes is
almost impossible to rely on the receiver for orientation and testing purposes. This is why we recommend that you forget
about the receiver until later in the testing process. This delay is a lockout function to prevent multiple reads from the
same vehicle from unnecessarily filling the data base. If the vehicle has to wait a few seconds for the gate to open you
would see many reads without the last card lockout. It is explained in more detail in the Installation Guide.
8.2 Using the Receiver as a Tester
When you are comfortable that you have the optimum area of coverage for this job, it is time to move on to the receiver.
Place the test tag in an area where it is being activated by the exciter. Remove the cover from the receiver housing. You
will see that the receiver is mounted on the cover. There is a red LED and a green LED. These are both illuminated
constantly when the power is applied. They will blink off under the following conditions:
• Green LED blinks off when a signal from a tag is received.
• The Red LED will blink off when the receiver receives this signal and determines that it is a valid V-Track code.
When the Red LED blinks off, the encoded data has been shipped to the receiver output port and will be transmitted
over the connecting cable to the host controller.
• With the tag in the field the Green LED should blink quite often. The Red LED should blink every 25 seconds.
Each time the Red LED blinks, you should see the response at the controller. If there is no data received at the controller,
you have an installation related problem, such as:
• Bad cable connection
• Data lines reversed
• Wrong wiring of data cable, crossed wires, etc
• Wrong type data output, Wiegand as opposed to Keri MS reader format
• Data cable connected to the wrong receiver output port
- Channel A output is for single lane systems
- Dual lane systems will transmit on both A and B outputs, corresponding to the lane in which it the tag was located
Once you are sure that the data is being received and seen at the controller, place a tag in the desired location of a vehicle.
A quick test should show that it also works in the vehicle.
You should now have a working V-Track system.