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Magnetic Card Reader

tracking down the ISO tracks

Magnetic Card Reader
Magnetic Card Reader
Credit cards, Eurocheque cards, other types of bank cards and car park tickets: even if many of these cards contain chips, they all have magnetic strips. This article describes how you can read and decode the contents of these magnetic strips.Our project consists of three parts: a magnetic-strip (‘swipe’) card reader for ‘playing back’ the data tracks, an interface that connects the card reader to the serial port of a PC, and finally, Windows software for decoding, displaying and managing the data read from the cards.
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Materials

Gerber file

CAM/CAD data for the PCB referred to in this article is available as a Gerber file. Elektor GREEN and GOLD members can exclusively download these files for free as part of their membership. Gerber files allow a PCB to be produced on an appropriate device available locally, or through an online PCB manufacturing service.

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PCB

Component list

Resistors:
R1,R3,R4,R5 = 2k?7
R2 = 8 x 10k?
R6 = 8k?2
Capacitors:
C1,C3,C12,C13 = 100nF
C2 = 100µF 25V radial
C4,C7-C11,C14 = 10µF 16V radial
C5,C6 = 33pF
Semiconductors:
D1 = 1N4001
D2,D3 = LED, low current, red, 3mm
D4 = LED, low current, yellow, 3mm
D5 = LED, low current, green, 3mm
IC1 = 7805
IC2 = AT89C2051-12PC (programmed, order code 000054-41)
IC3 = MAX232CP
Miscellaneous:
K1 = 2-way PCB terminal block, raster 5mm
X1 = 11.0592 MHz crystal
K2 = 6-way Jumper
K3 = 4-way Jumper
K4 = 9-way pinheader
K5 = 5-way pinheader
K6 = 12-way pinheader
K7 = 9-way sub-D socket (female), angled, PCB mount
PCB, order code 000054-1
Magnetic card reader e.g., Hopt & Schuler Type 832-01320000000 (order code 165328-33), see text
Disk, order code 000054-11

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