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Contents Controlling the APR500 Function Menu Operation Speed Mode Task Mode Setup DB Lookup View DB VID (Visual ID) View Speed Mode Task Mode Task Mode (Advanced) APR Tasks Lists of Tasks Available 1. Add/Re-Tag/Move (Death/Purchase/Sale) 2. Birth or Abortion 3. Comments 4. Fostering 5. Groups (Batch/Feed) 6. Medicine 7. Temporary Movement 8. Tupping/Scanning 9. Weight/Muscle Depth Alerts Synchronising with Select Sheepware on PC AWR/APR Link Software Download Task Lists Task Mode Database Mode
Controlling the APR500 Function Menu Operation used to set the function of the Hotkeys 1. Hotkey Configuration a. Hotkey A i. Hotkey Mode ii. Action code list iii. DB Lookup item b. Hotkey B (as above)
Speed Mode allows the reader to behave as a wand type reader to record a list of tag numbers or a group of animals with an Action code: 1. Start Speed Mode 2. New Group 3. Action Code a. Purchase b. Sale c. Reconcile d. Tick Task Mode allows the user to record a series of common tasks: 10. Add/Re-Tag/Move (Death/Purchase/Sale) 11. Birth or Abortion 12. Comments 13. Fostering 14. Groups (Batch/Feed) 15. Medicine 16. Temporary Movement 17. Tupping/Scanning 18. Weight/Muscle Depth Setup allows the user to customize the reader s settings: 1. Display a. Switch off time b. Illumination i. Backlight off time ii. External Power options c. Contrast 2. Volume 3. Printer Setup a. Printer Type b. Interface c. Search Bluetooth printer 4. Battery Info 5. Advanced Setup a. RFID Settings i. Double Read
DB Lookup View Database (DB) Lookup View is a trimmed down version of the full animal record card, containing some of the most critical information about a particular animal. To use this feature, simply press Hotkey A, when close to an animals EID tag and the information is instantly displayed. Scroll through the various details using down and up arrows. The information displayed is as follows: 1. ALERT: (if an animal has an active alert, this will be displayed when the record is shown, together with an audible beep) 2. EID/Farm Tag 3. Visual ID farm tag (if used or last 5 characters of Dept Tag if no farm tag used) 4. Alert (if one has been set) 5. Flock (if more than one flock on system) 6. Breed/Type/Sex 7. Batch 8. Lambing Details (Lamb Crop, Lambing Date, Number Alive, Number Dead) 9. Lamb 1 & Lamb 2 Details (last 5 characters of tag number, plus SOLD if lamb has been sold) 10. Lamb 3 & Lamb 4 Details (last 5 characters of tag number, plus SOLD if lamb has been sold) 11. Due to Lamb From & Due To Lamb to (sheep may have a service range entered, so the due dates are shown as from and to) 12. Dam of animal (Mother) 13. Sire of animal (Father) 14. Comment (Shows the last comment entered for an animal) 15. Last weight, Days (between 2 dates shown), Previous weight 16. Last treatment date and illness
1. Press Hotkey A when close to an animals EID tag 2. Use the Down/Up Arrows To scroll through the various information
DB Visual ID (VID) View DB VID View allows you to look up/search for an animal by its Visual ID. Press Hotkey B, then either use the down/up arrows or type in a number/part of a number using the number pad to find the animal you are looking for. Once you find it, press the enter key. You can then use the down/up arrows to scroll through the animal record card. The information displayed is as follows: 1. ALERT: (if an animal has an active alert, this will be displayed when the record is shown, together with an audible beep) 2. EID/Farm Tag 3. Visual ID farm tag (if used or last 5 characters of Dept Tag if no farm tag used) 4. Alert (if one has been set) 5. Flock (if more than one flock on system) 6. Breed/Type/Sex 7. Batch 8. Lambing Details (Lamb Crop, Lambing Date, Number Alive, Number Dead) 9. Lamb 1 & Lamb 2 Details (last 5 characters of tag number, plus SOLD if lamb has been sold) 10. Lamb 3 & Lamb 4 Details (last 5 characters of tag number, plus SOLD if lamb has been sold) 11. Due to Lamb From & Due To Lamb to (sheep may have a service range entered, so the due dates are shown as from and to) 12. Dam of animal (Mother) 13. Sire of animal (Father) 14. Comment (Shows the last comment entered for an animal) 15. Last weight, Days (between 2 dates shown), Previous weight 16. Last treatment date and illness
2. Use the Down/Up Arrows To scroll through the various information 1. Press Hotkey B, and then search for an animal, by scrolling down /up or typing in a number with the number pad
Speed Mode Speed Mode allows the APR500 to behave as a wand/stick type reader for rapid reading of tags. To use Speed Mode: Press the Function Key, Choose Speed Mode, and then New Group. You will be asked to enter a group name: Default is Group 1, then increasing in sequential order for each subsequent group. You may enter your own name if you wish. To enter letters, press the number key more than once to cycle through the available letters e.g. for a G, press the number 4 twice. You are now ready to use Speed Mode. Select Start Speed Mode from the menu. Simply hold the reader within range of the ear tags and the reader will read them (giving an audible 4 beeps if successful). You don t have to press any buttons. The ID count increases with each tag read and the last tag read is displayed on screen.
Task Mode Task Mode allows the user to record a series of common tasks about an animal. To use Task Mode, press the Function key, choose Task Mode and then choose the type of task you want to record. You can choose between: 1. Add/Retag/Move (Death/Purchase/Sale) 2. Birth or Abortion 3. Comments 4. Fostering 5. Groups (Batch/Feed) 6. Medicine 7. Temporary Movement 8. Tupping/Scanning 9. Weight/Muscle Depth Once you choose the type of task, you will be presented with 4 more options: 1. New Record Begins recording of chosen task 2. Show Capacity shows number of records stored and number of records free 3. Select Task returns to task selection screen 4. Browse Datasets allows you to view any saved recordings and edit them if need be. Example to Add a single animal. Choose Task 1 > New Record > Choose Add Animal > Choose Single >
You can check to see if you have already entered a particular animal by Selecting Yes for Lookup Database > Enter a Farm Tag > Press Enter key to read an EID Tag > Choose animal Type (Lamb/Ewe/Ram/Hogget) > Choose animal Sex (Ewe/Ram/Wether) > Enter Date of Birth using the number pad > Example to record a Weight. Choose Task 9 > New Record > Enter a Farm Tag or skip and Press Enter key to read an EID Tag (or both) > Use number pad to enter a weight in kilograms > Use number pad to enter muscle depth in millimetres > Use number pad to enter fat depth in millimetres > Use number pad to enter condition score > Use number/letter pad to enter comment > Press Enter key to confirm.
APR Tasks Task Mode (Advanced) The following lists from the PC software are used as selection lists in the APR. It is best if they are set up first before synchronising Breeds Customers (used for both sales and as record of death disposal place) Death Reasons Illnesses Locations (for temporary movements) Medicine Administrators Medicine administration methods Medicine Batch Numbers (these get entered in the PC software when medicines are purchased) Medicines Suppliers List of Tasks available: 1. Add/Retag/Move a. Add Animal i. Single / Multiple Single - allows individual animals to be added Option is given for database lookup to enable user to check if animal already exists User can enter a farm tag (short) and / or EID Selection for animal type, sex. Date of birth Multiple fields for farm tag and EID are hidden. Other fields are displayed. Program will go into Speed Mode and multiple sheep may be entered, each a clone of the first, apart from the EID
b. Retags i. Both tags lost / Correlate Both tags lost - will create a new animal much the same as add animal, except the Department of Agriculture flock records will indicate entry as Retag, both tags lost Both tags lost will allow Single or Multiple selection. Single allowing animals to be entered as individuals, multiple will trigger Speed Mode which will make each animal a clone of the first, apart from the EID Correlate will allow user to enter a new farm tag and / or a new EID. Then user can enter old farm tag / or old EID if old farm tag is left blank, EID field will be displayed, otherwise it will be hidden Correlate does not have a Multiple option as each animal must be linked back to an existing animal, either by farm tag or by EID c. Death i. Single / Multiple. Single will allow each animal to have a different reason for death (selection list) and different disposal place (selection list) Multiple will trigger Speed Mode and all animals recorded will be allocated the same reason for death and disposal place d. Purchase i. Single / Multiple. Single will allow each animal to have a different type, sex, date of birth, supplier (selection list). Multiple will allow user to enter type, sex, date of birth, supplier and then Speed Mode will be triggered where all the animals scanned will be allocated the same details automatically. Each will be a clone of the first apart from EID e. Sale i. Single / Multiple. Single will allow each animal to be entered with different customer (selection list).
Multiple will trigger Speed Mode and sell all animals to the same customer 2. Birth or Abort User can select Dam by either Farm Tag or EID. EID is only shown if farm tag is left empty. User enters lamb details, including date of birth, Breed (selection list), Lambing Difficulty (selection list), Birth Type (selection list). **Selection has 5 options, single, twin, triplet, quad, or aborted **. Aborted will be picked up during synchronisation and trigger sheep lamb crop to be increased with the event recorded as an abortion. Any other choice for Birth type will allow for each lamb, sex (selection list), Lamb size (selection with 3 options, small, medium, large which will be converted to 2.5, 4 and 5.5 kg respectively during sync), Lamb Farm Tag, Lamb EID, Sire (selection list of possible fathers rams must be set to Used for breeding in their record card to be in this list in the PC software), Eye problems, Comment 3. Comments a. Single / Multiple. Single allows user to enter a comment for each animal. Animals identified by Farm Tag or EID EID is not shown if Farm tag is entered. Comments may be 20 characters long. Press key repeatedly to get the alphabetic letters Multiple user enters a comment, then Speed Mode is triggered which will allow many animals to have the same comment entered with automatic EID scanning 4. Fostering Lamb may be identified by either Farm tag or EID Foster mother may be identified by either Farm tag or EID synchronisation will find the original mother and record the lamb as having been fostered off Comment may be entered which will become part of the general
comments report in the PC program 5. Groups a. Single / Multiple i. Batch / Feed. Sheep may be added or removed from batch or Feed groups. Both are selection lists which must be set up in the PC before using the APR for group changes. Single will allow sheep to be added to different groups. Multiple will trigger Speed Mode and allow a batch of sheep to be added to or removed from the same Batch or Feed group 6. Medicine a. Single / Multiple. Data to be entered can be Farm Tag (in single mode), EID, Administrator (selection list), Drug used (selection list), Batch number for drug (selection list), Illness (selection list), Quantity, the number of days drug is to be given, Method of treatment (selection list). Up to 3 drugs may be recorded. At the end of drug 1, entry, user is prompted for another drug (2) and at end of drug 2 entry details, user is prompted for another drug (3) 7. Temporary Move a. Single / Multiple. Allows user to record temporary movement of sheep to a new location (selection list) 8. Tupping / Scan a. Single / Multiple i. Pregnancy Scan / Service Pregnancy scan allows user to record pregnancy scanned number of lambs
ii. Tupping will allow user to record up to 3 rams used simultaneously. These are not in a selection list. User must enter either farm tag or scan the EID of the ram. User must ensure the ram is set up in the PC software with a useful farm tag code if this is the preferred method for identification and the correct farm tag code must be entered for this event to be linked to the correct ram 9. Weight / Muscle This will allow weight, muscle depth, fat cover, condition score and a comment to be entered for each animal. Items may be left blank. If events occur on different days, for example animal is weighed on 1 st September and scanned for muscle and fat on 2 nd September, the synchronisation to PC combines these into one record weights recorded within 7 days of muscle and / or fat scan will be combined in the one record on the PC. Alerts Most of the above tasks will show ALERT if an alert has been set in the PC.
Setting up Select Sheepware to work with the APR500. Normally, TGM technical support will do this part for you by internet connection, using Teamviewer. Once this has been set up, it s unlikely you will need to change these settings. Open Select Sheepware on your PC. Click on System, then Default Settings/Flock Names then Default Settings. Choose the Electronic ID Tags Tab. Change setting as shown below
To Synchronise the APR after recording: Click on the EID Tab in Select Sheepware and choose Sync Handheld The synchronisation will begin and each task will be transferred one at a time. click EID, -> Sync handheld -> Agrident You ll get this Then this Click to Save and exit
You ll get this When finished. You ll get this Click Yes to erase all taskmode data. Then this Then this click on Yes Speedmode allows reader to behave like a wand to get a list of eid numbers read in quickly. Having processed the downloaded speedmode data the reader speedmode memory needs to be cleared. Normally after a successful sync, this clears the reader ready for the next batch of recording. It also copies back the lists of breeds, rams, medicines etc.
AWR Link Software (V2.0) Connect the APR to the computer via the cable or enable Bluetooth on the computer and connect to the APR via Bluetooth. On your computer, for the first connection, you must switch on Bluetooth, search for devices, choose to pair with the APR and enter pairing number 1234. Thereafter, connection should be automatically made when you choose to Download from APR from within the software. Version 2.0 of AWRLink is a move away from spreadsheet only recording. It is much easier to use than Version 1.0. Improvements include: A user may view previously recorded data, currently imported data from the current import, and all data (current and previous). Users can filter, sort, and print, without ever opening a spreadsheet. No MS Excel experience is required, so Version 2 is much easier to use for the user who is not very confident with MS Excel. Spreadsheets are saved during sync for the more advanced user who wants to copy and paste from these sheets to their own recording system. Users can print directly from the task and database views, without opening MS Excel. The print function will print currently filtered data. So it is easy to filter some selected sheep and then print the result of the filter. Sorting may be done on any column in task or database view, by clicking on the column heading. It is now easy to sort sheep in order of weights, weigh gain, number of lambs alive, Birth date.. Printing retains the sort order, so the animals are printed in the same order as shown on screen. Version 2 has been translated into 6 languages.
-Download Tag Lists -Open AWR Link -Click on Download Tag Lists to download a list of tag numbers. -Then click on Download Group Data from Device -The AWR Link program will automatically connect to the reader, provided it is switched on at this stage. -If connected, there will be a green indicator shown. -You will be prompted to save the file of EID numbers downloaded from the APR. Please choose a suitable location to save the data. In the example below, a folder named TagListFiles has been selected (a sub folder in C:\AWRLink)
-The file name will be AWR + Date + Time.txt e.g. AWR 19_04_18_11_011.csv -Click on Save to save the file. You may choose where to save it. -It is possible to choose from 3 different lists: 1. All tags 2. Last group of tags read 3. A selected group of tags ** All tags are shown in UK or IE format IE04. Or UK. **
1. All Tags sorted within group by tag lists all tags read. Sorted in 0rder of tag number within each group 2. Tags in last group 3. Tags in selected group
-To print the currently selected list, click Print Selected List. -To open a previously saved file, click on Open a saved file. -To delete all data from the APR click on Delete All Group Data from Device.
**This is not reversible and once the data has been erased it is completely gone. The downloaded file will still be in the location it was saved in, but the APR will be empty of all data.** -You will be prompted Do you want to delete all data from the device -Click Yes or No as appropriate. -Additional Options -If you do not want the date and the time shown, then remove the tick in the checkbox for include date. -If you do not want the file saved in spreadsheet format, then remove the tick from the checkbox Save as csv. File will then be saved in.txt Notepad format. -If you want to save each group as a separate file, then tick the box to Save each group to a separate file. -You can separate the tags by farm identity by ticking this box. -Click on Close to exit from Tag Lists mode.
-For users where sheep are on common grazing land, it s possible for sheep from another flock to get mixed in with their own. AWR Link allows you to compare 2 lists of tags so you can see which sheep don t belong in your flock or which sheep are missing. -Download the groups, saving them as a separate file. Click Compare 2 files and list differences. Pick the 1 st file and then pick the 2 nd file. Save the results file and then open it. -You are given a list of any discrepancies.
-Using Task Mode. -Click on Tasks. -Before using the APR for the first time, set up the task lists. Click on Lists. -You may set up 17 lists for the APR tasks, to enable fast entry of data. -Click on the last entry of each list then press the down arrow on your keyboard to add new options to each list -After you have finished setting up the lists, click Upload Lists to device.
-Initialising Tasks -If you have purchased the AWR/AWL/APR from TGM Software, we will have already installed the Task functions so there is no need to do the following step. -If you have purchased the AWR/AWL/APR from another supplier and you want to use our Task functions for management recording in conjunction with this free software, you will have to click the Initialise and Upload Tasks button. -This will delete all data, so only use this function to setup the reader before you use for the first time or after you have downloaded all data from it and want to upload a new version of the task software to the APR -The set of management tasks will be copied to the APR.
-Downloading Task Data -After you have recorded some management information using the task mode of the APR and you want to download it to the AWR Link software, connect the APR and click on Download Task Data. Each task will be downloaded. -You can view the downloaded data in each of the nine categories. -In Tasks section, you can view previously recorded data, without having to open a spreadsheet. -In Task section, you can filter according to any heading e.g. select the animals with low weight gains, high weight gains, sheep between birth dates, Male, Female, etc -In task view, apply alerts to filtered animals. These alerts get applied to all 9 task files and to the database.
-Users can print directly from the task and database views, without opening MS Excel. -The print function will print currently filtered data. So it is easy to filter some selected sheep and then print the result of the filter. e.g. Filtered Weights between 33kg to 35kg -Sorting may be done on any column in task or database view, by clicking on the column heading. It is now easy to sort sheep in order of weights, weight gain, number of lambs alive, Birth date.. e.g. sorted in order of weight -Printing retains the sort order, so the animals are printed in the same order as shown on screen. e.g. sorted in order of weight.
-Spreadsheets -Tasks recorded in the APR will be automatically saved to nine spreadsheets, one spreadsheet for each major task event. -However, users can filter, sort, and print, without ever opening a spreadsheet. No MS Excel experience is required, so Version 2.0 is much easier to use for the user who is not very confident with MS Excel. -Spreadsheets are saved during sync for the more advanced user who wants to copy and paste from these sheets to their own recording system. Spreadsheets automatically saved are: Add / Retag / Death / Purchase / Sale / Temporary Move Birth or Abort Alert / Comments Fostering Groups Medicine Milk Recording Tupping / Scan Weight / Muscle -Spreadsheets are automatically saved to c:\awrlink\data -You may open a spreadsheet directly from within AWRLink by clicking on Open Spreadsheet. -Click Close to exit from Task Mode.
-Database -Animals added via task mode are added to a simple database. -Click on View animals in database to review. -The database may be uploaded to the APR. This enables you to look up animals details on the APR screen. To upload to APR, click Upload animals to device.
-Users can print directly from the task and database views, without opening MS Excel. Click Reports and Printing. -The print function will print currently filtered data. So it is easy to filter some selected sheep and then print the result of the filter. -Sorting may be done on any column in task or database view, by clicking on the column heading. It is now easy to sort sheep in order of weights, weigh gain, number of lambs alive, Birth date.. e.g. sorted by EID number. -Printing retains the sort order, so the animals are printed in the same order as shown on screen. -You can expand any section with an arrow to show more details.
Finally, if/when the time comes to convert from this basic software to the fully integrated Select Sheepware, TGM Software Solutions Ltd can convert the data recorded in this basic system and import it to the more comprehensive system. Please contact TGM Software Solutions Ltd if you wish to do this by Email support@tgmsoftware.com or Telephone 02892689681 TGM Software Solutions Ltd 31 St John s Road Hillsborough Co Down BT26 6ED Telephone (028) 9268 9681 email: info@tgmsoftware.com Web: www.tgmsoftware.com