Barcoding News
Data tracking news, product updates, tips, and more
Tech Questions: My Star Thermal Printer Isn’t Printing
Question
My Star thermal printer feeds paper but is not printing at all.
Answer
The cause could be that the paper is not thermal-coated or it was loaded upside down. To verify that the roll is thermal-coated, scratch the surface of the paper with a coin or nail. If the top coat shows a gray mark where the scratch was made, the paper was thermal-coated. Next, verify the thermal paper was loaded correctly and try printing again (see illustration).
For additional assistance with or finding the right Star printer for your needs, contact us at Barcodes Inc.
Zebra Printer Duty Cycle – Infographic
Barcode label printers come in  variety of sizes and types depending on how fast and much they can print. Normally they get grouped into 3 main categories: desktop, tabletop, and heavy industrial. Outside of the obvious size difference between them, their overall print duty cycle varies quite a bit as well. The main concern when choosing the right size printer for your needs is considering the long term print volume you will be dealing with. Any printer can keep printing all day but the main issue will be how often you will have to reload media and replace common parts like your printhead and platen roller.
This infographic looks at Zebra’s most popular printers in each category and provides a breakdown of when and where they are best suited to be used.
For more assistance finding the right Zebra printer for your specific needs, contact us at Barcodes Inc.
Zebra’s Compact, Easy-to-Use UHF RFID Printer the ZD500R
The new ZD500R extends Zebra‘s broad range of RFID printers by adding UHF RFID printing and encoding to Zebra’s line of industry-leading  compact thermal desktop printers. Designed for applications where space is at a premium, the ZD500R offers simple, one-touch printing and encoding, straightforward loading, and automatic RFID calibration, making it ideal for applications where technical support staff is limited, such as retail in-store exception tagging.
The printer supports both direct thermal and thermal transfer printing and is compatible with inlays from all leading suppliers. The ZD500R can be used with a variety of RFID labels and tags from small, item-level hang tags to large case and pallet labels. By encoding RFID inlays that are spaced closer together, the ZD500R enables lower media costs, less media waste and fewer roll changes.
SummerEyes Woodcrafts Serves Customers More Efficiently With Mobile POS and the Star TSP143LAN
SummerEyes Custom Woodcrafts is a small business that specializes in the creation of wood products for the home and garden. The owner of Summer Eyes, Ross MacKay, prides himself on his custom wood planter boxes, arbors, trellises and different types of nesting houses and feeders.
During the warmer months, Mr. MacKay and his staff attend many craft shows and farmers’ markets to showcase their wares. SummerEyes only accepted cash or check, but Mr. MacKay and his staff saw that it would be more convenient for customers to be able to pay with credit cards as well. He began to look for a mobile POS solution that would allow him to begin accepting credit cards, easily process payments and print a receipt.
Deutsche Post Deploys 55,000 Honeywell Dolphin 99EX Mobile Computers
Germany’s leading provider of post and parcel services Deutsche Post DHL is equipping its employees with 55,000 Honeywell Dolphin 99EX mobile computers. The devices will enable approximately 60,000 employees to track and trace millions of DHL parcels delivered each day across Germany, including  more than seven million parcels during the peak holiday season.
More than 2,500 users from Deutsche Post DHL’s parcels division tested 11 different devices before choosing the Dolphin 99EX for offering the best combination of ergonomics, robustness, capacity, performance and ease of use. The device’s long battery life and ability to quickly photograph items to prove condition at the point of delivery were further factors.
Honeywell’s Remote MasterMind device management software will help to keep Deutsche Post’s drivers fully operational. The software makes an IT administrator’s job easier with the ability to manage all of the company’s mobile devices from a central system. Ensuring that each device has updated software and is properly configured reduces errors and prevents device downtime that can slow the driver. Initially the software is being used to manage all 55,000 devices across all of the company’s mail division depots. The company plans to further streamline the maintenance and upgrading of devices by adding software distribution and device support via Remote MasterMind in the future.
Intermec CN51 is Now Certified on Major Carriers AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless
The CN51 (Windows Mobile and Android versions)  follows a long heritage of industry firsts for Intermec in the wide area wireless space, with that  being the first rugged mobile computer that is dual operating system capable to be certified on all of the major North American wireless carriers.
Unlike the performance limitations of smartphones and competing mobile computers, the CN51 is the only rugged yet ergonomic solution with the versatility to support both the Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 and Android 4.1 operating systems, and deliver the benefits of a rugged solution such as superior battery life, excellent system performance and reliability.
Honeywell’s New Dolphin 6110 Mobile Computer Set to Aid Retailers Manage Inventory
Honeywell has released the Dolphin 6110 upgraded mobile handheld computer to help retail departments or clothing stores accurately track inventory, increase profits and customer satisfaction and improve order fulfillment. The device also helps retail workers conduct merchandise audits and price look ups, and assist customers.
On the outside, the Dolphin 6110 mobile computer looks identical to Honeywell’s popular Dolphin 6100 scanner: it is light, pocket-sized and stylish enough to look good on a retail floor, the company claims. On the inside, however, the Dolphin 6110 has upgraded technology, including an 800 MHz processor, updated barcode scanning and decoding capabilities, increased memory and a broader WLAN radio frequency range.
BarTender 10.1 Service Release 2 Now Available
Seagull Scientific has released their Service Release 2 of BarTender 10.1 which is available immediately.
In addition to a number of bug fixes in response to customer feedback, this release features:
- An improved sample label for GHS (the international system for chemical labeling) and an updated technical white paper
- An improved sample label for PTI (the US FDA’s Produce Traceability Initiative), including voice pick data as required by some big box retailers
- Certification for Windows 8.1.
Both samples provide a great starting point for creating your own labels to meet these important industry requirements.
It is encouraged that all users of BarTender 10.1 to update to SR2 which is  at www.DownloadBarTender.com.
TSC Label Printers Pass GS1 Barcode Testing and Certification
In recent years, the growing popularity of smart phones has triggered the increased use of two-dimensional barcodes, which offer large data-storage capacity and are secure and easily readable. This has resulted in the need for standardized tests, including GS1 certification testing, to ensure the quality and readability of two-dimensional barcodes.
Eleven TSC barcode label printers have recently passed rigorous GS1 two-dimensional barcode tests and have been found to be in compliance with international standards. The 11 models, supporting Data Matrix, QR code and GS1 Databar barcode types, were tested with 88 different labels and passed 18 ISO IEC 15415 two-dimensional barcode quality tests. The validation testing, which included light source, print quality and other assessments, was done using advanced measuring instruments and stringent control standards.
HS-51 and HS-51X: New Wireless Barcode Readers From Microscan
Microscan has announced two new wireless handheld imager additions to their extensive product offering. The HS-51 and HS-51X handhelds are ideal portable reading solutions for almost any 1D/2D symbol, with a compact and durable design to withstand multiple drops from 6 feet. They combine advanced decode algorithms and dual field optics with user-friendly features and the convenience of Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The HS-51 and HS-51X imagers are equipped with a 1.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor and dual field optics to provide reliable reading of codes ranging from large 1D barcodes to tiny high density 2D symbols. The HS-51 is an excellent portable solution for decoding 1D/2D symbols in common applications such as high-contrast, black and white labels. The HS-51X additionally includes Microscan’s industry-leading X-Mode decode algorithms and innovative bright field lighting for reading difficult, low-contrast codes, including direct part marks (DPM) such as dot peen and laser/chemical etch.
