Another "weird and wonderful" device I have dug out of one box of my "Hmmm ... that's looks interesting" collection.
My background is in the world of electronics and when I come across just about anything that looks like it could be interesting (even if just to see how it works) or where a piece of equipment may be adaptable to other uses, I keep it in my many boxes of weird stuff to be "looked at" sometime later (often years later!)
This is one of those items ... I really don't think anyone is going to be able to use this "as is" but it could possibly provide a source of spare parts or be adapted to a new purpose in life.
I am not even sure if I ever did take a closer look at this equipment when I obtained it back around 2018 but over the last few days I have been looking at this equipment in detail, here is what I can tell you ...
Please keep in mind that the following information is only for the purposes of someone evaluating whether this gear might be of some use to themselves, it is not a completely detailed investigation but more of a general "overview" based on what I have found out and observed while testing.
This is a portable computer data terminal, which incorporates a scanner, IR reader, LCD backlit front panel display (mono) and a custom keypad. The previous user of this equipment was NielsenIQ, the market research people. The device is programmed (probably propriety software) and "functions" although in it's current form the uses would be pretty limited.
The terminal software has numerous menu options, but in essence it has a very long list of different retailers and it has been designed to that the user can visit one of the retailers, scan the product barcode, enter the price, determine if it is a "sale price" and then stores this information.
When not in use, the terminal sits in the cradle which has two purposes ... one is to recharge the terminal removeable Li-On battery and the other purpose of the cradle is to send the terminal stored information to a predetermined server via the 4G network using a datastream. The communication by the cradle is bi-directional, both transmitting data and receiving data back from the remote server.
How do I know all this? While testing and having previously entered some "shop data" for fun, I was startled while working at 6am in the morning to see the terminal power up, message on the screen "Overnight Polling ... connecting" and what was more suprising, the remote server acknowledged the terminal, accepted two data files and then the remote server sent two data files back to the terminal. Surprised because I would have though the 4G SIM card had expired or been disabled, but apparently not.
I did some research and do have a Reference Manual for this equipment, most importantly information about deleting the current programming and re-programming the terminal and on Cipherlab's website there is a LOT more useful information, software etc.
Now let's get down to the technical information and observations about this equipment ...
CIPHERLAB - Portable Data Terminal PLUS Data Terminal Cradle
Both units made in Taiwan
The company is still in operation and going strong! HERE is their website home page
Circa 2015 (based on the Reference Manual release year)
Data Terminal: 8001-C
Terminal Cradle: 4GC-8001
I could not locate detailed information about the system architecture, only that it is 32 bit based processing! Perhaps this information is available from Cipherlab, I just didn't look hard enough.
Power for the data terminal is a Li-Ion 3.7V 700mAh battery, type BA80S-700
Power for the cradle is via a rear DC socket, 5V @ 2A
A 2m power lead is supplied, this having a standard USB connector to plug into either a laptop port or a charger.
NO data travels across this lead, it is purely for power purposes.
I am not supplying a dedicated charger and just used one of my laptops USB port to "test charge and run" the equipment.
The cradle has a rear slot port for the Telco SIM card, currently it is a "large size" Telstra card. The system is definitely using 4G for communications.
There is a "port like" covered area next to the SIM slot but I cannot seem to remove this cover, if ever it was intended to be removed.
It appears that "local" communication with the cradle, for programming or testing, is via ANOTHER cradle using IR communications between the two ... this is a diagram from the Reference manual
I hunted through the manual(s) and looked in every nook & kranny on both the terminal and the cradle but could not find any info about a "direct" connection. It does seem that all communication between the cradle and a host PC is via the AT command set - all the commands are listed in the Reference manual.
I have also found quite a lot of useful programming software and documentation on the Cipherlab website and the direct link relevant to the 8001 series is HERE
I do have the Reference Manual although in my opinion it is a bit sparse on detail and quite frankly I found some of it quite confusing in relation to programming the portable terminal ... I just don't want to spend hours figuring this thing out!
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED (but undamaged)
CLEAN
NO damage to the portable terminal casing, LCD display (no scratching) nor the Gold plated battery charging contacts.
NO damage to the cradle casing, Gold plated "push down" battery terminals at all. Front LED's are all fine as is the rear SIM card port (with the rubber dust cover fitted)
The USB power lead is undamaged
TESTING:
For test purposes I used the equipment exactly as received with no changes being made to settings etc
Power ON button is on the bottom row, far right of the push pad. When pushed, greeted with a message onscreen "Welcome to Homescan"
LCD Backlight comes on but goes off after around one second or so
Now the user is greeted with an extensive vertical menu, options include ...
Purchases
No purchases
Vacation
Survey
Training Mode
Manual Poll
Message Centre
I went "into" the Training Mode and it is here that I am asked to make a choice from a massive list of retail shops.
I chose one at random and then the next step is scanning a barcode. To activate the barcode reader, the central Yellow button is pushed. I have no idea of the barcode formats this terminal supports (probably software controlled anyway) but I had no trouble reading barcodes from various packages lying around here. This is a "near" scanner, being able to read the barcode quickly at a maximum distance of around 150mm, any further away and it starting having trouble "reading".
I made a number of "dummy data entries" to create a test data list, also entering the price etc for each item scanned.
Then I left it overnight in the cradle (power ON) as I had other things to do, next morning I was up and working at 6am when suddenly the unit "beeps" and comes alive ... it seems that it is currently programmed to log into a remote system and download the data files. The LINK Green LED stopped flashing (went on steady) and the TX/RX LED flickered as data was being sent or received with the remote system. After sending and receiving (just what it was receiving I have no idea) files, it closed the connection and went to sleep again.
I also took a quick look at the messages menu option but this is empty, the device confirming "No messages sent, no messages received" - I don't even know how to send a message!
To me this means the unit is scanning correctly, recording data and then establishing a remote connection and uploading this data to a remote system "somewhere"
So there you have it, worth a play with? For me, I have far too many things on my plate at the moment and definitely do not have the time to work through this equipment and make use of it, I hope someone else does!
