Datalogic QBT2500 setup guide: base station, pairing, first scan

The QuickScan QBT2500 is a cordless 2D imager that reads 1D and 2D barcodes, including codes on phone screens. This guide charges it, connects the base station to your PC, links the scanner and checks the first scan. It also covers pairing straight to a PC, tablet or phone over Bluetooth, without the base.

Before you start

What is in the box

Datalogic lists the QBT2500-BK-BTK1 as the QBT2500 Bluetooth USB kit: the scanner, the base station and a 2 m USB-A cable (90A052258). The base is the BC2090, a Bluetooth base station and charger with several interface options. The scanner runs on a removable Li-Ion battery pack (3.6 V, 3,250 mAh). Contact us at once if anything is missing or damaged.

Two ways to connect

Through the base, the scanner talks to the base by Bluetooth and the base passes the data to your PC over USB. This is the usual setup for a checkout or a warehouse desk, and the base also charges the scanner. A direct link skips the base: the scanner pairs with the host's own Bluetooth, like a wireless keyboard.

Charge the battery

New scanners ship with the battery almost empty, so charge it fully before first use. You can charge in two ways:

• In the base: put the scanner in the base once the base has power (see the next step). You hear a chirp when the base detects the scanner, and the base's charging light shows progress.
• By cable: connect the USB Type-C port at the bottom of the handle to a USB wall adapter or a computer.

To check the charge level at any time, double-tap the top of the scanner head with your fingers. The battery light then shows a colour for about 3 seconds: green at 50–100 %, amber at 2–50 %, blinking red below 2 %. While the scanner charges through its USB-C port, the light blinks green (50–99 %) or red (below 1 %) and turns steady green when the battery is full. Below 1 % the scanner does not work until it has charged.

Connect the base station

1. Switch off the PC or terminal before you connect the base, as Datalogic recommends.
2. Push the USB cable fully into the port on the underside of the base.
3. Plug the other end into a USB-A port on the PC.
4. Optional: connect the 12 V power adapter to the base. With power from the PC only, the base charges the scanner in slow mode, and with some hosts or long cables Datalogic recommends the adapter for full charging.
5. Switch the PC on. The base's Power/Data light shows steady green when the base has power.

Place the base on a flat desk, or on the optional tilting platform, which lets you set the scanner at different angles.

Link the scanner to the base

Put the scanner in the base. That is all it takes: placing it in the base links the two. You hear a chirp when the base detects the scanner.

A scanner that was linked to another base before won't switch over on its own. Scan the Unlink barcode first, then put the scanner in the new base. You find Unlink in the "Linking the Reader" section of the PRG and of the QBT/QM2500 Quick Reference Guide.

Choose the interface

By default the base sends data as a USB keyboard, so scans appear wherever the cursor is, in any program. Keep this for most uses. If your software expects a virtual serial port, scan Select USB-COM-STD and install Datalogic's USB-COM driver. To go back to keyboard mode, scan Select USB Keyboard (the Quick Reference Guide name; the PRG calls it Select USB Standard Keyboard). Interface barcodes take effect with a single scan; you don't need the ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE barcode for them.

Or pair directly over Bluetooth

Skip this step if you use the base. To send scans straight to a host with Bluetooth, use the HID profile. The scanner then behaves like a wireless keyboard:

1. Using a keyboard layout other than US? Set the Country Mode first, as described in QBT2500 keyboard layout. The PRG asks for the keyboard settings before you connect to a Bluetooth HID host.
2. If the host uses a USB Bluetooth adapter, install the adapter's driver first.
3. Scan Link to Host in HID mode from the "Linking the Reader" section of the PRG or QRG. The scanner becomes visible to other devices, by default for 3 minutes.
4. On the host, open the Bluetooth settings, search for new devices and select the scanner. Its default Bluetooth name is QUICKSCAN QBT2500 followed by its serial number.
5. At the default Bluetooth Security Level (Level 1) the scanner is set up to pair without a passkey. If the host still shows a passkey or PIN, enter it by scanning the alphanumeric barcodes in the PRG's Keypad appendix, then scan Passkey END. To start the entry again, scan Passkey Restart.
6. Open the program that should receive the data and scan a barcode.

For software that reads a serial port instead, scan Link to Host in SPP Mode, pair the same way and read the data on the COM port that the host's Bluetooth manager assigns. If pairing fails with an error, the security settings on the host or the scanner may need to change; the PRG describes the Bluetooth security levels.

Test a scan

1. Open Notepad or another text editor and click in the window.
2. Aim at a barcode with the two blue triangles of the aiming pattern and pull the trigger.
3. A good read gives one beep, the green light on the scanner and Datalogic's Green Spot on the barcode.
4. Check the text. If the cursor jumps to the next line, the scanner sent Enter after the barcode.

Letters or symbols come out wrong? Your Windows keyboard layout differs from the scanner's default US layout; see QBT2500 keyboard layout. Want a Tab instead of Enter? See Enter or Tab after each scan. Scanner beeps but nothing appears? See QBT2500 troubleshooting.

Know the range and power options

Datalogic states a Bluetooth range of 50 m in line of sight. Walls, shelving and metal reduce it. The PRG has settings for what happens at the edge of the range and when the scanner is idle. Most are set with ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE, the option barcode and ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE again; Send Batch and Power Off are scanned on their own:

• Disconnect Beep (on by default): the scanner beeps when it loses the link to the base. Docking (Connecting) Beep (on) beeps when you put it in the base.
• Leash Alarm (off by default): a linked scanner that goes out of range beeps three times per second for a time you choose, from 1 to 30 seconds.
• Batch Mode (off by default): with Automatic, the scanner stores barcodes in memory while it is out of range and disconnected. With Manual, it always stores them until you scan Send Batch.
• Powerdown Timeout (30 minutes by default): the scanner switches itself off after this idle time. You can choose 10 minutes to 2 hours, or Disable.
• Battery Profiles (Maximum Performance by default): the other profiles favour fast charging, battery health or runtime.
• Power Off: scanning the Power Off barcode switches the scanner off until the next trigger pull.

Fine-tune the settings with Aladdin (optional)

Datalogic Aladdin is Datalogic's free configuration program for its handheld scanners. It configures the scanner from a PC and can also install firmware updates. Download it, and the Datalogic USB-COM driver for Windows if Aladdin asks for it, from the Datalogic software downloads page. Without Aladdin, you program the scanner with the barcodes in the PRG: most settings start and end with the ENTER/EXIT PROGRAMMING MODE barcode.

All our guides for this scanner are on the QBT2500 guides page.