Page Type: SYMPTOM

The 'No Scanner' error message indicates that the scanner is not presently detected at the expected COM (data) port. This is usually because the scanner (within the past few minutes) has been turned off, or disconnected from the PC. The most common reason is on-site maintenance in progress, so the warning may not indicate a real problem.

The Rangecast software communicates with a scanner through a data port, also known as a COM port. Most PCs used for Rangecast have several of these COM ports.

If Rangecast expects to see a scanner at a specific COM port, but the scanner does not respond, then the NO SCANNER warning message is generated.

Rangecast scans COM ports on launch to determine which scanners are present, and which scanner is connected to which port. Therefore Rangecast will not expect the scanner to exist at a specific COM port unless it was automatically detected there on launch. So the NO SCANNER warning message means that the scanner apparently vanished since the software was most recently launched. Further, if the scanner is not detected within a few minutes, the software will repeat a scan of COM ports searching for the scanner; if it is not found on any port, then the error message will change to "Radio Missing". So the NO SCANNER warning is only shown for a short time, immediately after the scanner is no longer in communication with the PC.

(Exception: It is technically possible to lock a Rangecast sender to expect a scanner at a specific COM port. In this case, the NO SCANNER message may persist. However, this configuration is deprecated, and almost impossible to ever encounter.)

The most common cause of this warning is that the scanner was just turned off, or disconnected, due to on-site maintenance.