You actually remove all the circuitry included with the mag reader and solder directly to the mag head (polarity doesn't matter). Solder the other end to a mono 1/8" audio jack and plug it into your microphone input on your computer. That's it!
This has screws holding the mag head and allows you to move the head up and down to track 1 and 3 (it ships at track 2). If you only have one mag reader, but wish to read all of the tracks you can position the head at track 3, and use shims to move the card up to the other tracks (leaving the head in the same position). A great video explaining this is on stripesnoop's site. See "hardware modification" http://stripesnoop.sourceforge.net/video.html
Let me know if you have any other questions.
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cool, not sure if it's in the first release documentation but make sure you double check your mic levels for best results.
open up audacity or other audio editor where you can see the waveform. Turn off mic boost, and swipe a card. Make sure the audio isnt clipping (peaking) and that it's not way too low. It should be at least 20% of the max or so. HICO cards produce more amplitude than LOCO cards, so be careful of that. The faster you swipe the higher the amplitude will be also.
lmk if you have any issues.
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I'm using them to see where data is visually on nonstandard cards. I have some that are essentially iron dust, which give a good idea of the tracks, but almost no indication of the individual bits. By the way, do you need any help with development?
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ah i havent seen that tried, let me know if it works. I know of others that have tried magnetic developer. check out the very bottom of this site for pictures http://sephail.net/articles/metrocard/
Also you should only need to detect where the data is if the data is not alligned in the typical track 1-3 (i've seen some metro cards with it in the middle).
If the data is there on the standard tracks 1-3, but it uses a non standard encoding which causes my program to not decode it correctly there's a better solution. Swipe the card using my program (with your mag head set to the right track). Now you can save the swipe to a wav file. By looking at this wave file you can manually look at where each flux reversal is (peak) and start to determine how it should be decoded.
about developement
sure that's kinda why i put it up here, i'm largly "done" with developing (at least any major changes). I put up all the feature requests i could think of ever wanting to do magstripper. There are plenty so if you know java check out the code (distributed in the jar file) and start looking through the comments. It shouldnt be too confusing especially if you understand the MVC software development pattern, if not you could always work on the actually decoding code which is all in one file. If you want a better break down of what each file is or where you should start for completing feature X, lmk
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I'm more or less not interested in credit card decoding, so a number of the cards I'm looking at do have nonstanard stripes. In once case, the entire stripe was one track. In another, I found something similar to the new york metro card layout, where tracks one and 2 are combined.
Right now i only have readers that work for track 2, and are not easily modifiable without better tools than I have in my apartment, so the filings are the only way I can get an idea of what's on them.
For development:
I've had a good bit of java experience, so once I get some time i'll look over the code. I had a couple ideas about features to add to the interface, so i'll post those in the near future.
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Hi I have a problem, I hope you can help me.
Yesterday I recorded a Pcm Wav files.
But with the opening Magstripper not catch me.
Do not mistake me, and as if he does not.
The file is 832mb and inside there are audio tracks, but I can not read afrlo why?
Thank you
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magstripper can only read in one swipe at a time, so cut the wav file up into a single swipe. After you do that it shouldnt be larger than a few mb. Then i could look at it if you send me a link to it.
Also you can start your own forum topic, now you're posting within someone elses.
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Thanks for the quick response, and apologize for double Post.
I felt like you said to cut the file, but the program can not read. Do not mistake me, and as if the file does not read, and when I go to see the system tells me: Info: Opening File C: \ Users \ Desktop \ 21.wav.
What problem can I have?
Thank you
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i mean you can cut the file up in a different audio editor (not magstripper) a single swipe of card shouldnt be longer than a second, so even when it is stored in a wav file it shouldnt be very large. I suggest you use audacity you can see where each swipe starts and ends based on the amplitude. You can then send me the file if you want if it doesnt contain anything sensitive and i can look at it.
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I recorded a WAV file with another card reader, but your program gives me a lot of errors about peak, small gaps expectations etc. :
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 0 frame: 326 val: -16 gap: 69 expecting small gap: false ranges: 22.04-29.82 9.07-16.85
Warning: Can't decode first peak, dropping
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 738 frame: 23556 val: 14 gap: 17 expecting small gap: true ranges: 80.29-108.63 33.06-61.4
Warning: Corrected peak 1159below ranges(even extended), second bit, decoded: 1
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 739 frame: 23819 val: 17 gap: 263 expecting small gap: false ranges: 74.57-100.89 30.7-57.02
Warning: Can't decode last peak, dropping
Can you tell me what should I do to avoid errors? Thank you in advance!
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you can post your own topic if you want this is a different thread.
those actually aren't many errors for a decoding that fails, if it had serious problems you'd have dozens of lines. What did it decode the card as (if it did at all).
I assume you've tried swiping it multiple times at different speeds and that didn't help? You can email the wav file and i can look at it if it doesn't contain any sensitive information, click my nickname to get my email.
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Do you have any more information/resources about setting up an input device for this project?
Yep, I know my documentation needs some work so hopefully others will read this.
I used sephail's hardware setup to read the magnetic data. You can check this page, specifically sections "Materials" and "Construction".
For a cheap track 2 reader i recommend bgmicro
http://www.bgmicro.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=8968
You actually remove all the circuitry included with the mag reader and solder directly to the mag head (polarity doesn't matter). Solder the other end to a mono 1/8" audio jack and plug it into your microphone input on your computer. That's it!
If you want a mag reader with an adjustable head I recommend the slightly more expensive omron v3b-4k, here's the cheapest place I've found.
http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=26M8315&CMP=AFC-GB100000001
This has screws holding the mag head and allows you to move the head up and down to track 1 and 3 (it ships at track 2). If you only have one mag reader, but wish to read all of the tracks you can position the head at track 3, and use shims to move the card up to the other tracks (leaving the head in the same position). A great video explaining this is on stripesnoop's site. See "hardware modification"
http://stripesnoop.sourceforge.net/video.html
Let me know if you have any other questions.
whoops i forgot the most important link, sephails. again read the materials and construction section
http://sephail.net/articles/magstripe/
Thanks a bunch. I've finally gotten the parts I need (good, cheap, component stores are hard to come by) so I hope to give these things a shot.
cool, not sure if it's in the first release documentation but make sure you double check your mic levels for best results.
open up audacity or other audio editor where you can see the waveform. Turn off mic boost, and swipe a card. Make sure the audio isnt clipping (peaking) and that it's not way too low. It should be at least 20% of the max or so. HICO cards produce more amplitude than LOCO cards, so be careful of that. The faster you swipe the higher the amplitude will be also.
lmk if you have any issues.
Any idea where i could get cheap iron filings?
Not sure, what's the plans with them?
I'm using them to see where data is visually on nonstandard cards. I have some that are essentially iron dust, which give a good idea of the tracks, but almost no indication of the individual bits. By the way, do you need any help with development?
ah i havent seen that tried, let me know if it works. I know of others that have tried magnetic developer. check out the very bottom of this site for pictures http://sephail.net/articles/metrocard/
Also you should only need to detect where the data is if the data is not alligned in the typical track 1-3 (i've seen some metro cards with it in the middle).
If the data is there on the standard tracks 1-3, but it uses a non standard encoding which causes my program to not decode it correctly there's a better solution. Swipe the card using my program (with your mag head set to the right track). Now you can save the swipe to a wav file. By looking at this wave file you can manually look at where each flux reversal is (peak) and start to determine how it should be decoded.
about developement
sure that's kinda why i put it up here, i'm largly "done" with developing (at least any major changes). I put up all the feature requests i could think of ever wanting to do magstripper. There are plenty so if you know java check out the code (distributed in the jar file) and start looking through the comments. It shouldnt be too confusing especially if you understand the MVC software development pattern, if not you could always work on the actually decoding code which is all in one file. If you want a better break down of what each file is or where you should start for completing feature X, lmk
I'm more or less not interested in credit card decoding, so a number of the cards I'm looking at do have nonstanard stripes. In once case, the entire stripe was one track. In another, I found something similar to the new york metro card layout, where tracks one and 2 are combined.
Right now i only have readers that work for track 2, and are not easily modifiable without better tools than I have in my apartment, so the filings are the only way I can get an idea of what's on them.
For development:
I've had a good bit of java experience, so once I get some time i'll look over the code. I had a couple ideas about features to add to the interface, so i'll post those in the near future.
Hi I have a problem, I hope you can help me.
Yesterday I recorded a Pcm Wav files.
But with the opening Magstripper not catch me.
Do not mistake me, and as if he does not.
The file is 832mb and inside there are audio tracks, but I can not read afrlo why?
Thank you
magstripper can only read in one swipe at a time, so cut the wav file up into a single swipe. After you do that it shouldnt be larger than a few mb. Then i could look at it if you send me a link to it.
Also you can start your own forum topic, now you're posting within someone elses.
Thanks for the quick response, and apologize for double Post.
I felt like you said to cut the file, but the program can not read. Do not mistake me, and as if the file does not read, and when I go to see the system tells me: Info: Opening File C: \ Users \ Desktop \ 21.wav.
What problem can I have?
Thank you
i mean you can cut the file up in a different audio editor (not magstripper) a single swipe of card shouldnt be longer than a second, so even when it is stored in a wav file it shouldnt be very large. I suggest you use audacity you can see where each swipe starts and ends based on the amplitude. You can then send me the file if you want if it doesnt contain anything sensitive and i can look at it.
Hi there!
I recorded a WAV file with another card reader, but your program gives me a lot of errors about peak, small gaps expectations etc. :
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: When calculating the initial average, we found a gap below the short range
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 0 frame: 326 val: -16 gap: 69 expecting small gap: false ranges: 22.04-29.82 9.07-16.85
Warning: Can't decode first peak, dropping
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 738 frame: 23556 val: 14 gap: 17 expecting small gap: true ranges: 80.29-108.63 33.06-61.4
Warning: Corrected peak 1159below ranges(even extended), second bit, decoded: 1
Warning: Peak didn't fit in range, binary decoded: 739 frame: 23819 val: 17 gap: 263 expecting small gap: false ranges: 74.57-100.89 30.7-57.02
Warning: Can't decode last peak, dropping
Can you tell me what should I do to avoid errors? Thank you in advance!
you can post your own topic if you want this is a different thread.
those actually aren't many errors for a decoding that fails, if it had serious problems you'd have dozens of lines. What did it decode the card as (if it did at all).
I assume you've tried swiping it multiple times at different speeds and that didn't help? You can email the wav file and i can look at it if it doesn't contain any sensitive information, click my nickname to get my email.