# Need help with decoding bar code **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915 "2009-04-21T23:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/21 "2009-05-06T16:29:31Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > Because it’s bugging me, I sent one of your links to a friend of mine with access to a barcode scanner to see what they can find out. > > They can verify the barcode symbology as well as see what the barcode contents are, if there is anything of value there. Hey thanks, I really appreciate that. I don’t have access to a scanner nor do I know anything about barcodes other than what I’ve learned recently. I’ve been contacted by someone who claims to have solved it and had that confirmed by the puzzle maker. I believe her because she’s been at it a while too. A while back she had this to say: > [@](#): > > My husband is somewhat of a barcode expert and we looked over this cache last night. We know what kind of barcode they are, but they don’t really seem to work exactly… so we are also looking at other angles. > > I also saw the circles, and we have some ideas about how to go about it, especially with the new clue and the names of some of the areas around the “fake” coords on the map… eenteresting. > > We’ll let you know if we can solve the puzzle that it’s solveable. And more recently: > [@](#): > > I said I’d say it once I found out: YES, the puzzle is solveable. And I won’t say anything else. The cache owner is a really nice person as well. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/22 "2009-05-06T19:19:02Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > It’s Code 39 with no check digit. First character is an asterisk. > > If you haven’t done so already, scan the barcode while in a text editor like Notepad. If the barcode can be read, the contents of the barcode will be displayed. You will need to be careful not to scan the area where it says “Demo”. Try to get the scanner to read the lines only above or below the word Demo. Make sure the scanner gets the white on either side of the barcode as well. It is actually part of the barcode and is necessary to get a good scan. (geez, I haven’t had to “walk” someone through scanning a barcode in 5 years. Funny how it all seems to come back!) > > One more thing to note: Those lines must be pure black and pure white. If there’s any shading or feathering in the lines, it can affect how the barcode is read. > > You can see an example on this page that closely resembles your barcode: > [http://www.idautomation.com/symbologyeval.html](http://www.idautomation.com/symbologyeval.html) > > Back when I was working, we used to play around with barcodes all the time and send messages to one another using them. It was fun. Code 39 is a 2 width symbology, there are more than 2 widths of bars so it can’t be 39 (I thought it was 39 also). I printed out the barcode and tried to scan into notepad, no luck. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/23 "2009-05-07T03:09:49Z")
Maybe they mixed two symbologies together? Intermixed characters? It’s not hard. All you need are the right barcode fonts. When you say no luck, did it beep and output nothing, or did the scanner do nothing at all? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/24 "2009-05-07T05:37:09Z")
FWIW, here’s an inverted version, cleaned up a little (there was a tiny bit of feathering near the top that could affect the results so I penciled those out with white). [http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8682/barcodeinvertedclean.png](http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8682/barcodeinvertedclean.png) ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/25 "2009-05-07T14:38:27Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > Maybe they mixed two symbologies together? Intermixed characters? > > It’s not hard. All you need are the right barcode fonts. > > When you say no luck, did it beep and output nothing, or did the scanner do nothing at all? The scanner timed-out and shut off the laser. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/26 "2009-05-07T14:50:28Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > FWIW, here’s an inverted version, cleaned up a little (there was a tiny bit of feathering near the top that could affect the results so I penciled those out with white). > > [ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8682/barcodeinvertedclean.png) [This site](http://imaging.gmse.net/FrmImagingOnline.vb) which claims to be able to “read any barcode from an image online” gave me the same “No barcodes detected on this image.” message when entered the above png. I took out the “SAMPLE” wording and ran it back through, same result. Of course there’s every chance I’m doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/27 "2009-05-07T18:54:00Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > The scanner timed-out and shut off the laser. No beep? I’m assuming you mean that when you scanned the code, you were holding down the trigger or continued to hold the scanner over the code until the scanner beam went off? The distance at which you hold the scanner can make a difference on scanning success as well. If you want to continue playing with the barcode, try holding the scanner at different distances from the barcode when scanning. But make sure you always get the white space on either side. If the code was printed on shiny paper, make sure there is no glare. It can confuse the scanner. My friend hasn’t had a chance to do anything with the code,yet, but we discussed it last night and have a couple of ideas on how to test it out. Once I get hear from him, I’ll let you know what (if anything) we find. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/28 "2009-05-07T19:32:35Z")
Update: I just received an email from the couple who claims to have solved it. She says, “_The code font that I was using was code 128_”. Her husband, who works with barcodes somehow, says that codes came out badly due to the puzzle makers lack of tech savvy and they resorted to enlarging the images in Photoshop and “_had to visually pick them apart with a barcode font and compare the images_”. So I’m trying to do what I think that means. In the meantime I continue to welcome help. Thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/29 "2009-05-07T19:37:56Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > No beep? > > I’m assuming you mean that when you scanned the code, you were holding down the trigger or continued to hold the scanner over the code until the scanner beam went off? Held trigger, about 5 (?maybe?) seconds later laser turns off and gun beeps > [@](#): > > The distance at which you hold the scanner can make a difference on scanning success as well. If you want to continue playing with the barcode, try holding the scanner at different distances from the barcode when scanning. But make sure you always get the white space on either side. If the code was printed on shiny paper, make sure there is no glare. It can confuse the scanner. Yes, tried/checked all of the usual things, made sure to avoid the portion of code with “demo” in it, etc. It seems like it’s either not scanable, or it’s a symbology that my gun doesn’t recognize. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/30 "2009-05-07T19:41:15Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Update: > > I just received an email from the couple who claims to have solved it. She says, “_The code font that I was using was code 128_”. Her husband, who works with barcodes somehow, says that codes came out badly due to the puzzle makers lack of tech savvy and they resorted to enlarging the images in Photoshop and “_had to visually pick them apart with a barcode font and compare the images_”. > > So I’m trying to do what I think that means. In the meantime I continue to welcome help. Thanks guys. Did you try to match the code by guessing one character at a time yet? ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/31 "2009-05-07T19:52:43Z")
Now that we know it’s code 128 I can tell my buddy and see what he can find. I think one of the scanners he has access to can read that one… ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/32 "2009-05-07T21:34:32Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > Now that we know it’s code 128 I can tell my buddy and see what he can find. I think one of the scanners he has access to can read that one… Mine reads code 128. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/33 "2009-05-07T21:46:12Z")
Just heard back from my buddy and he couldn’t get any of the scanners to read that barcode. He tried several different things, but alas, was unable to get it to scan. I’m not totally done being obsessed by this, so I may still work on it myself. I’ll agree that the barcode was badly made and that may be why there are those extremely fat lines in there. And, that will make this a bit harder than it probably has to be. I pulled a code 39 font down from a site and used it to try to create a barcode and it wasn’t even close to what should have been created. I wish I still had the barcode fonts I used to use when I used to work… ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915/34 "2009-05-12T18:15:34Z")
I’ll give this one last shot… From [this page](http://www.adams1.com/128code.html) I learned the dimensions that should be adhered to. So I made the adjustments in Photoshop and tried several online readers with no luck. So now I’m down to trying to decode it visually. Having no experience in the field, I cannot even seem to get started. [Here is the 128 font page.](http://www.adams1.com/128table.html) But the start and stop characters don’t seem to match (though they alluded to there being 3 sets). My question: From the above link I’m assuming “Pattern B S B S B S” means ‘bar’ and ‘space’ is that right? If so does “1 3 2 2 1 2” mean one bar thickness, 3 space thicknesses, 2 bar thicknesses, etc? For those still interested in helping (hi **FalconFinder**!) the numerical answers to the barcode should be: 3 6 2 0 X X X 1 1 9 4 2 X X X Where you need to solve for X (given that these will ultimately be north and west coordinates and knowing pretty close to where the puzzle is hidden, I feel confident that the above numbers are correct for the first part of the barcodes). Links to improved barcodes: [Image 1](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3525437567_e0fe30a149_b.jpg) [Image 2](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3633/3526260620_cce0903469_o.png) Thanks again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-decoding-bar-code/493915.md?page=1)