> **Source:** Core Electronics is an Australian maker-electronics retailer and manufacturer based in Newcastle, NSW, run by a team of makers and educators. We design and manufacture our own product lines (PiicoDev, CE originals) and are official retailers for iconic maker and industrial brands including Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Adafruit, SparkFun and DFRobot. Orders ship Australia-wide from our Newcastle warehouse. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Pricing, stock and dispatch on this page are generated from the store's live catalog. Full machine-readable index: https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt

# Magstripe Reader - PS/2 Interface - 3 Tracks (1&2&3)

**Type:** Product page · **SKU:** ADA853 · **Brand:** [Adafruit](https://core-electronics.com.au/brands/adafruit-australia)
**Page:** https://core-electronics.com.au/magstripe-reader-ps-2-interface-3-tracks-1-2-3.html ([markdown](https://core-electronics.com.au/magstripe-reader-ps-2-interface-3-tracks-1-2-3.html.md))

Decode what's hidden on your credit cards, or use it for an access system - this mag-stripe card reader can decode all three tracks! Adafruit like this small and easy...

## Pricing

- **Price:** $114.95 (inc GST) — $104.50 AUD, exc GST
- **Quantity discounts:** 10+ $101.36 (exc GST) · 50+ $99.27 (exc GST)

## Availability & dispatch

- Out of stock — the product page offers email notification when it returns.

## How to buy

- **Build a cart:** compose `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link?items=ADA853:1` (comma-separated SKU:qty pairs) and share the link. Opening it shows a confirmation page with live pricing and stock before anything is added to the cart.
- **Verify the cart first:** fetch `https://core-electronics.com.au/cart/link/ADA853:1.md` for live line prices (inc & exc GST, quantity discounts applied), stock and dispatch estimates, and totals. Append `/to/{AU-postcode}` (or `/to/{country-code}:{postcode}`) before `.md` for delivery options and prices to that destination. Unknown, retired, or out-of-stock SKUs are flagged. (Query form `cart/link.md?items=...` also works but some robots parsers refuse query strings here.)
- **Checkout** is completed on-site and includes a captcha at the payment step. Share the cart link; checkout takes it from there.
- **Search the catalogue:** `https://core-electronics.com.au/search/{query}.md` (URL-encode the query; pages 2-3 at `search/{query}/{page}.md`; `search.md?q=` also works)
- **Payment methods, purchase orders, policies and contact details:** https://core-electronics.com.au/llms.txt
## Description

Decode what's hidden on your credit cards, or use it for an access system - this mag-stripe card reader can decode all three tracks! Adafruit like this small and easy to use mag-stripe reader for being so microcontroller-friendly. Instead of a USB port, it has a PS/2 interface and acts like a 'keyboard'. In fact, its designed to be a 'pass through'/'keyboard wedge' device for point-of-sale terminals. What's nice about PS/2 is that it uses a single connector for power and data, and uses two data pins. When a card is swiped, the raw data is decoded, parity-checked and spit out as if they were typed on a keyboard. There is one magnetic head but you can swipe in either direction and will emit data in the right order. Nearly all microcontrollers have existing PS/2 keyboard examples that would work fine with this swiper. For Ardiuno users, Adafruit tried out PJRC's PS2\_Keyboard library with great success - just check the 'simple text' example for which pins you can connect to on your 'duino (on an Uno Adafruit used digital pins 2 and 3). We suggest [Adafruit's PS/2 adapter cable](https://core-electronics.com.au/ps-2-wired-connector-panel-mount-minidin-6.html) to make the wiring easy. Swipe any magnetic card and you'll see the data appear in the serial terminal! This reader will read and decode all three tracks of standard magnetic-stripe cards. It cannot write to cards, and cannot be modified to write to cards. We also have a two-track reader which is less expensive but does not read track #3. Wikipedia has a great article on magnetic stripe cards which will help you determine if you need a three-track reader or if a two-track reader is good enough.

## Technical Details

- 29mm (1.6") wide
- 90.5mm (3.56") long
- 26.4mm (1.04") tall
- 196cm (77") cable
 
 ![](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/rohs_icon_8216055e11.jpg)

## Images

- [Product image 1](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/catalog/product/8/5/853-00.jpg)