Introduction

Welcome to this video that will walk you through unboxing, setting up, and using the  ThingMagic Sargas UHF RFID Reader. To watch this video on YouTube - click here.

Video Script

This video will walk you through:

• Connecting the Sargas to your computer
• A brief overview of the Sargas’s Web UI or User Interface, and
• Demonstrate reading UHF RFID tags in the Web UI

Let’s jump in.

Product Quick Facts

The ThingMagic Sargas is a high-performance RFID reader with a small form factor that is capable of connecting to 2 UHF RFID Antennas. The ThingMagic Sargas has a maximum transmit power of 30 dBm, an integrated GPIO port, and is able to connect to peripheral devices via 2 USB ports, a Micro SD card slot, and a Micro USB port.

The ThingMagic Sargas is one of the smallest Fixed RFID Readers on the market - coming in at 3.4 inches long, 3.1 inches wide, and a little under an inch tall, this reader can easily fit into the palm of your hand.

For a more in-depth introduction to the ThingMagic Sargas -  checkout this link.

Unboxing

Let’s go ahead unbox our Sargas Reader and connect it to our computer.

First I’ll go ahead and connect  our antenna to the Sargas Reader via an RP-SMA Male to N-Type Male RFID Antenna Cable. I’ll plug the N-Type Male side into the RFID antenna that we are using today, and the other, RP-SMA Male side into the Sargas.

I want to callout, that the end of this cable might look little different - you will notice that I’m actually using a cable adapter at the end of this cable to convert this SMA-Male connector, to an RP-SMA Male connector, for convenience. To learn about cable connectors and adapters -  checkout this link to read our free ebook all about antenna cables.

Next, I will connect the Sargas to my computer via an ethernet cable, I’ll plug one end into the Sargas’ LAN/PoE port, and the other end into a computer’s Ethernet port or an Ethernet wall outlet.

And finally, Ill grab the Sargas’s AC adapter, and plug one end into the Sargas’ power port, and the other end into a standard power outlet.

Now my reader is powering up.

Computer

Open a web browser on your computer and navigate to the reader’s Web UI - that address can be found on the side of your Sargas reader - right here. That address will start with h t t p : //  followed by the word Sargas, a dash, and then the 6 characters located on your sargas reader, followed by dot local if you are directly connecting to your computer.

When the ThingMagic/Jadak screen appears, type in the username and password. The username is ‘web’ and the password is lowercase ‘radio’ - then click login.

Web UI Dashboard

The ThingMagic Sargas’s Dashboard should appear and show the Status screen.I’m going to give you a quick overview of each of the top line categories.

• Status Page - The Status page is basically your main page and holds the reader’s status indicators, like temperature and connections, along with the Reader’s information like serial number, region, hostname, and IP address
• Settings Page - The settings page is composed of four sub-categories:
  1. Network - which has general network settings like hostname, domain name, and DNS information as well as ethernet interface options like IP address interfaces.
  2. Reader - which includes reader settings like protocols, enabling antennas, and antenna read power and write power settings.
  3. Protocol - which includes settings related to read rate, receive sensitivity, tag population settings, and tag search modes and sessions.
  4. Miscellaneous - which has telnet, GPO Polarity, and Syslog Host information.
• Apps Page - The Apps page allows you to turn on Keyboard Wedge or RAINstream and configure the output fields.
• Read Page - The Read page allows you to easily start reading UHF RFID tags and we will visit that category in a few minutes.
• Firmware Page - The Firmware page provides the firmware edition for the Reader, Web UI, Firmware Loader, and Apps, and allows you to upgrade the firmware via a downloaded file or specified URI.
• Diagnostics Page - The Diagnostics page provides general information similar to the status page, but includes reader uptime, the ability to:
  1. View and download user logs
  2. Reboot the reader
  3. Open a terminal window
  4. and perform a timed or continuous regulatory test

Now that we have a general overview of the Sargas’s Web UI, let’s go ahead and start reading UHF RFID tags.

Reading RFID Tag

In order to read  UHF RFID tags, you can use ThingMagic’s Universal Reader Assistant or URA via a free download, purchase ThingMagic’s RAINstream software, or simply read RFID tags via the Sargas’s Web UI. Let’s read tags within our Web UI, first ensure your RFID Antenna is setup by going to ‘Settings”, Clicking “Reader” and then choosing the antenna port that you are currently using. I am using Antenna Port 2, so I will select the box labeled “2” and Click “Save Reader Settings”

This might take a few seconds, but a pop up should appear after that lets you know that the settings were configured successfully. Click "Okay".

Then click “Read” in the top line categories, which might prompt the computer to warn you about leaving the page without saving your settings. If you have saved your settings, go ahead and click leave the page if you have saved your settings. Click the blue start button in the top right corner to start reading RFID tags.

---

---