EID tag readers

You don't need a reader — tags can be typed, and cattle passports scanned with the camera. But with a Bluetooth stick reader, Drover takes tag numbers as fast as you can wand a race: turn the reader on, and the app picks it up by itself.

What works today

We'd rather tell you straight than claim everything works. "Proven" means we've wanded real tags into saved records with that reader in hand. "Built, untested" means the support is written from the maker's own protocol and should work — we just haven't had the hardware to prove it.

• Tru-Test XRS2 — proven. Connects by itself in about 20 seconds from power-on; setup guide below.
• Keyboard-style Bluetooth wands — proven. The cheap 134.2 kHz sticks that pair as a Bluetooth keyboard and "type" the tag number. Any brand that works that way works with Drover.
• Tru-Test SRS2 and XRP2 — should work. Same protocol as the XRS2; not yet proven on hardware.
• Tru-Test XRS2i / SRS2i — built, untested. The newer "i" models connect differently (Bluetooth Low Energy); the support is written, including downloading sessions stored on the reader, but hasn't met real hardware.
• Shearwell SDL130 / SDL150 — built, untested. Written from Shearwell's own protocol.
• Shearwell SDL400 — not working yet. It connects but doesn't read; we're missing one piece of its protocol.
• Allflex, Gallagher, Agrident — not yet supported (unless yours is a keyboard-style wand, in which case it just works).

Got one of the untested ones — or one that isn't listed? Message us. If it's a reader farmers actually carry, we want it proven, and we'll happily do that with you.

Setting up a Tru-Test XRS2

1. Pair it once in your phone's Bluetooth settings, the same way you'd pair headphones. You only do this the first time.
2. Open Drover and turn the reader on. The app finds and connects to it by itself — give it 20–25 seconds; the reader takes most of that just booting up before it will answer anyone.
3. Wand a tag. Drover opens the scan screen for you and starts collecting. From there, use the gather for whatever the job is — a movement, a treatment, a weigh session, a withdrawal check before the lorry.

Worth knowing:

• The XRS2 switches itself off after about 16 minutes idle. That's the reader saving its battery, not a fault — turn it back on and Drover reconnects by itself.
• Keep Drover on screen while you're wanding. Android freezes apps in your pocket within seconds, and a frozen app can't hold a connection.

"It worked yesterday — today it won't connect"

This one has a specific cause. The XRS2 offers itself to the phone two ways at once, and Android sometimes grabs the wrong one — treating the reader as a keyboard ("Input device"), which blocks the connection Drover needs. The tell-tale is a connect attempt that hangs for a minute and gives up.

The fix takes ten seconds:

1. Open your phone's Bluetooth settings.
2. Tap the gear next to the XRS2.
3. Switch Input device off.

Android has a habit of quietly switching it back on — and re-pairing the reader resets it too — so if the same thing happens weeks later, it's the same fix. Most of the time Drover's auto-connect wins the race before this ever bites; this is for the day it doesn't.

The cheap wands

The £20 Bluetooth sticks sold for pet chips read farm tags too — same standard. They pair as a Bluetooth keyboard: wand a tag and the reader "types" the number. Pair it in your phone's Bluetooth settings, open the scan screen in Drover, and wand — the tags land just the same. Slower and shorter-range than a proper race reader, but a fine way to find out what a reader does for your routine before spending £1,000+ on a stick.

Questions

WhatsApp 07762 249868 or email james@getdrover.co.uk — a photo of the reader's model plate helps.