I am trying to connect the RFID Simultaneous Reader - M6E Nano to Universal Reader Assistant. I have the Reader connected to an Arduino. Every time I try to connect within URA it says the action has timed out. I have checked my system manager to see if the COM port is there and that does stand true. UFA tech support told me to contact you guys.
hi
I suspect this will not work as I tried that before. When I connect to the URA I use Sparfun SparkFun Serial Basic Breakout - CH340C and USB-C (/ DEV-15096)
I have created sketch where an m6E is connected to the Arduino with softserial and a “pc” to the USB. When de Arduino is an mega2560 serial1 can be used for debug info. The sketch will initialize the connection with the Nano and just passes the information on between the Nano and the PC.
When I start PUTTY on the PC, I can open and sent data to the Arduino (see that on the debug serial1). However when I try the URA or DEMO on the PC, it will always timeout during trying to connect. I see the data is begin sent with a USB monitor, I see TX light flash on the Arduino… but I am not receiving any data.
However when I connect to a Raspberry PI, running Linux, and then run demo, it works perfectly also with an Arduino UNO. The part that is not handled well if there is different speed setting command for the Nano.
Thank you for the response. I’m really hoping that the set up I have is going to work somehow, since I am limited on time. The arduino I am using is the SparkFun RedBoard. I pretty much followed the “Simultaneous RFID Tag Reader Hookup Guide” and so I am hoping there is a way that this will be able to work.
I’m having exactly the same issue, I’ve bought the red board and rfid reader exactly per the example and can’t connect the universal reader assistant. keep getting a timeout error
I have more testing, but not successful yet.
I have taken my USB to serial adapter. Connected that with loose wires to serial1 on the MEGA2560: RX / TX and GND. I have connected that to my PC running URA. Then connected the USB port of the MEGA2560 to a serial monitor running on another PC. Changed my software to use Serial1 as “URA” connection and Serial as debug connection. The Nano is still connected with softSerial. Then it works and I can connect to the NANO and see the commands coming from the URA to the NANO … not sure yet why this works and the using the USB connection does not work…
BTW in the hookup guide from Sparkfun they mention :
We recommend starting with the software called Universal Reader Assistant (Windows only) with a USB to Serial connection. I don’t see any support for the setup with URA working through an Arduino. Still I wonder why it doesn’t work
@paulvha could you share a picture of how you set this up to give me a better idea. I’m not sure I will have enough time to order the MEGA2560, but just in case. Hoping to get a response from Sparkfun to give me a better solution for what I have.
Hi Charlie,
What code are you running on your RedBoard to try and get it working with the Universal Reader Assistant Software on an Arduino? It is theoretically possible to get it working with the URA while mounted on an Arduino but not really recommended since it is troublesome.
If you want to use the URA, we highly recommend doing so through a direct serial connection via the serial header on the Simultaneous RFID Reader. If you intend to use an Arduino, it is recommended that you use the [Arduino Library.
If you can share the code you are using on your RedBoard to try and get it working via the URA we can take a look and possibly help but that’s a bit beyond the scope of our support since it is not the recommended use case.](GitHub - sparkfun/SparkFun_Simultaneous_RFID_Tag_Reader_Library: Arduino library to control the M6E-Nano RFID module from ThingMagic)
For testing purposes I will probably go the route of connecting the Reader with the Serial connection, I wouldn’t have to order any other part for that would I?
Also, if I was gonna hook up an LED to give a signal of when the RFID tag crosses the Reader, would I be able to use the Arduino then in that case if I had the downloaded code on there, or will the arduino just not work with this reader? (I don’t have any code at the moment, I had just found a possible sample code off GitHub I was gonna tweak.)
Hello Charlie.
For testing purposes I will probably go the route of connecting the Reader with the Serial connection, I wouldn’t have to order any other part for that would I?
If you’re looking to connect the reader to a computer via serial, we recommend using a [FTDI Basic Breakout (5V) and some header pins. Check the [Hookup Guide for where for information on where the FTDI plugs into the board.
Also, if I was gonna hook up an LED to give a signal of when the RFID tag crosses the Reader, would I be able to use the Arduino then in that case if I had the downloaded code on there, or will the arduino just not work with this reader?
Yeah, you could do that. The reader will work with Arduino. I would suggest starting with the example code we have in the hookup guide to make sure everything works, then try modifying that code to add an LED.](Simultaneous RFID Tag Reader Hookup Guide - SparkFun Learn)](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9716)
Hi I’m still really getting nowhere fast with this, I’ve got all of the drivers and libraries installed, used the hookup guide, M6E Nano on a Redboard and still getting timeout exception in URA on USB Serial. Are there any simple troubleshooting tips or hint anyone can pass on?
You can not use the URA software with the shield on a RedBoard. You must use a FTDI connected to the serial header on the shield and not have the shield plugged into a RedBoard.
Where TS-Chris is correct, the preferred way is to connect with the RFID shield with URA is a separate USB/Serial converter.
That said, I wondered WHY this is not working with an Arduino-variant or ESP32. After a deep investigation I found the root cause and created a workaround solution. The reason and solution alternatives are documented and available on https://github.com/paulvha/ThingMagic/t … assthrough