Re: PPC Rom Barcodes Message #2 Posted by Max Stone on 9 May 2013, 4:21 p.m., in response to message #1 by John Abbott (S. Africa)
Hi John,
The 'special paper' is simply the thermal paper that the HP printer needed, as the print head uses heat to activate a heat-sensitive coating on the paper, which turns black..same process used with early fax machines.
If your barcodes are clearly printed without any distortion, and you're using a wand (pen) to manually sweep over the barcode, remember to start about 1-2cm before the barcode (left or right) and *quickly* swipe the wand across the code. Too slow and the decode will fail. No special paper needed to read a good quality barcode - but the old wands can be difficult to use. I personally only have experience with the HP (sapphire tipped) and Welch-Allyn (recessed) wands from the early 90's, but they all work the same way.
Cheers from Johannesburg...
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