README.magnetic-introduction

This is a collection of related and useful notes that you should read if you're
interested in magstripes. It is useful to see the phyisical layer of magnetic
information before you attempt to analyze it with actual hardware. Using a
viewer or developer is a very useful first step. This will help you see very
obvious issues with data alignment. Traditional ISO encoded data is written
perpendicular to the length of the magnetic stripe. Proprietary cards may
use alternate physical angles even if they use ISO format error coding.

Magnetic cards are encoded with a specific magnetic field strength.
This field strength is measured in Oersted (commonly abbreviated as Oe):

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oersted

To measure the coercive force (Hc) of a magnetic field, you may want to acquire
a rather expensive B-H Analyzer:

	http://www.miko.com.hk/IWATSU/sy8258.utf8.en.htm

If you're interested in calibration of your reading or writing devices, you may
want to acquire a set of QCards:

	http://www.q-card.com/products/rm-7811-calibration-cards.asp
	http://www.q-card.com/store/products.asp?cat=10

If you'd like to do visual inspection of small amounts of magnetic material,
you may want to invest in a basic Arnold Magnetics viewer:

	https://www.arnoldmagnetics.com/v2/sales/ProductTOC.aspx?id=238

If you're really feeling like splurging, perhaps the MV-95 is the viewer for
your magnetic field needs?

	http://www.sigma-hc.co.jp/english/magnet_viewer.html

If you have special needs relating to audio tapes and magnetics, you may be
interested in a liquid magnetic developer such as the Sprague-Mag HCFC 141B:

	http://www.sprague-magnetics.com/audio.htm#magdev

If you find the Sprague Magnetics people a little slow to respond, you may
be interested in a similar developer from Q-Card:

	http://www.q-card.com/store/products.asp?cat=8
	http://www.q-card.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=QCA1006
	http://www.q-card.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=QCA1001

If you want to design your own reading and writing devices, it's probably
reasonable to look into acquiring special hardware from Brush:

	http://www.brushindustries.com/otherheads.asp

You'll want to have a reader for experimentation. It's a good idea to get a
high quaility MSR-206 3 track hi-co/lo-co reader/writer:

	http://www.tyner.com/magnetic/msr_206_reader_writer.htm

It's very useful to read the various related magnetic stripe ISO standards:

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_7810
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_7811
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_7812
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_7813
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8583

Another helpful starter is the Wikipedia's magnetic stripe page:

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe