{"id":1279,"date":"2018-12-18T20:56:19","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T04:56:19","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-03-20T09:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:13:42","slug":"1279","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/1279","title":{"rendered":"Why doesn&#8217;t my Vernier Photogate (VPG-BTD) auto-ID?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This photogate supports auto-ID<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/vpg-btd.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18337\" style=\"width:416px;height:226px\" width=\"416\" height=\"226\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Vernier Photogate (VPG-BTD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Vernier Photogate (shipped since mid-June 2003) has the necessary technology for auto-ID. It can most easily be identified by the white BTD port on the arm of the photogate. (The port is used for daisy-chaining two photogates together.) If your wired photogate does not have this extra port, it cannot auto-ID. <br \/><em><strong>NOTE: <\/strong>Sensors that do not auto-ID cannot be used with Vernier Graphical Analysis.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Check the Cable<\/strong><br \/>If you have a sensor that should auto-ID but is not, check the cable. Using the wrong cable can prevent a photogate from working as expected. The correct cable for this photogate is <a href=\"\/product\/bt-photogate-cable\/\">BT Photogate Cable<\/a> (<nobr>PG-BTD<\/nobr>).<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The cable should have an RJ-11 (US phone-style) connector going into the gate head and a flat white BTD connector going into the DIG\/SONIC port on the interface.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cables that have a flat white BTD connector on both ends only work with Motion Detectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Make sure your cable has six conductors instead of four.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"\/product\/bt-photogate-cable\/\">BT Photogate Cable<\/a> (<nobr>PG-BTD<\/nobr>) that comes with the Vernier Photogate has a clear plastic, 6P6C (6 position, 6 conductor) telephone-style connector at the photogate end. <\/li>\n<li>Between 2000 and 2003, photogates shipped with a 4P4C (4 position, 4 conductor) connector that looks much like the cable that comes with the newer photogates. This cable lacks the necessary connection to support auto-ID when used with a newer photogate.<\/li>\n<li>The four-conductor cable can be used on a photogate with Logger <i>Pro<\/i> and LabQuest App but NOT with Graphical Analysis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Swap cables with a working photogate to check for a bad cable.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you have the correct photogate and cable but still cannot get the sensor to auto-ID, your photogate may need repair. Contact support@vernier.com for additional assistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Older photogates do not support auto-ID<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vernier photogates shipped before mid-June 2003 were made before the auto-ID feature was implemented. These photogates, and photogates made by other companies, cannot auto-ID in Vernier software even if they have the correct photogate cable. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/vpg-dg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/vpg-dg.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/vpg-dg-90x90.jpg 90w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Vernier VPG-DG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/pgk-dg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/pgk-dg.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/pgk-dg-90x90.jpg 90w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Build-Your-Own Photogate Kit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/me9204b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18327\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/me9204b.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/me9204b-90x90.jpg 90w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pasco me9240b<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This photogate supports auto-ID The Vernier Photogate (shipped since mid-June 2003) has the necessary technology for auto-ID. It can most easily be identified by the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1698,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1523,594,1524,1525,1522,1281],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-autoid-auto-id-auto-id","tag-cable","tag-pg-btd","tag-pg-dg","tag-photogate-photo-gate","tag-vpg-btd"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1698"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vernier.com\/til\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}