Installing the ThingMagic URA and Connecting To Your USB Pro RFID Reader

Introduction

This is the second video in a tutorial series that involves setting up the ThingMagic USB Pro RFID Development Kit, walking through reader to PC connection, and then downloading and using the ThingMagic URA.

[Audio Transcription Below]

Hi, I’m Zach Plunket, a Sales Specialist at atlasRFIDstore.com and today I am going to help you install the ThingMagic driver, URA, and connect to your ThingMagic USB Pro Reader.

Once you have all of the hardware components set up, you will then need to connect to your reader. If you do not have all of the hardware components set up, first watch our video “Unboxing and Setting Up the USB Pro RFID Reader Development Kit."

Installing The Driver on Your Computer

The first step is to install the driver for your USB Pro Reader.
Using the link here and click on the folder labeled “USB PRO” – there are two files in this folder, one is a User Guide for the USB Pro Reader, and one is a zip file labeled “FTDI-driver”.

Click on the zip file. In this zip file are two separate files, instead of clicking on one or the other, click “download” in the top right corner. A box will pop up on the bottom of the screen asking what you want to do with the zip file, click “save” and “save as” and save it on your computer.

It will then let you know it is done downloading, click “open folder” and a new window will open showing where the file is located on your computer.
Right click on the file, Click on 7-zip, and click “Extract” and then close both windows.

Installing the URA

Next, we will install the Universal Reader Assistant Program, also known as URA. URA is a software program designed for ThingMagic readers for testing and demonstration purposes.

Click on the link here to access the folder containing the ThingMagic URA. There are three files in the folder, a User Guide and two zip files containing the ThingMagic URA.

There are two options either the 32-bit installer titled URAx86 or the 64-bit installer titled the URAx64. Your computer will be the determining factor on deciding which to use.

We are going to download the 64-bit installer by clicking on that option and then clicking “download” in the top right corner and then “Direct Download”.

When the pop-up box appears, click save and save as to save the file, and then click “Open Folder” to see the file in the folder.

Right click on the file, Click 7-zip, and then click on Extract.

Then double click on the software.

The URA installer will then setup to install.

Agree to the terms and conditions and click “Install”.

When it has installed, click “Next”, then “Typical Installation” then “Install”.

After that, the screen will say “Setup Successful” and let you “Launch” or “Close” the URA Setup. Go ahead and click “Launch”, but before we follow the next steps – we need to install the driver.

Installing the Driver on Your USB Pro RFID Reader

Before moving forward, make sure your USB reader is connected to your computer and we will install the driver.

Open the “Start” menu and search for “Devices”.

In your devices folder under “Control Panel”, look for your reader which will usually be under “Unspecified”.

Double Click your device

The properties window with detailed information about the reader will pop up – click on the tab labeled “Hardware”.

Then click on “Properties”

Click on “Change settings”

And then click the tab “Driver”

And then “Update Driver”

Another window will then pop up, prompting you to either “let your computer automatically search for updated driver software” or to “browse your computer for the driver software”. Because we have already downloaded the driver, click “Browse my computer for driver software”.

When the search location pops up, click “Browse” – then find the folder where you downloaded the Micro driver usually titled “Micro-USBDriver”, click the file and click “OK”.

Your computer will then install the driver software. When that is complete, hit “Close” and close out all windows that were opened when installing the driver.

Setting up the ThingMagic URA

Go back to your URA setup menu and click “Refresh” to see your reader,
when it comes up, click “Next”.

The next menu prompts you to choose a Region, Antenna, and Protocol. Choose the region within which you are using the USB Pro reader and choose which antenna you prefer and then click “Next”. Later, you can go in and change the antenna preferences under “Settings” tab, under “Read/Write Options” in order to test which works better for your application.

Now your reader is setup and can successfully read the sample tags provided for you in the USB Pro Development Kit.

For help navigating the URA and reading and writing tags, checkout our video "How to Use the ThingMagic URA".

Conclusion

Thanks for joining us and walking through the steps of installing the ThingMagic URA and connecting to your USB Pro Reader. For more information on all things RFID, please visit our blog or our RFID resources page, or our YouTube channel. And as always, if you have any questions at all, send us an email or give us a call.

To read more about RFID readers, check out the links below!

• RFID Insider Podcast 4: Mobile RFID Readers
• Enabling New Use Cases with Cellular RFID Readers