3.2.2 Magnetic Stripe Reader Information can be read by swiping the card through a slot in reading devices. The magnetic card reader uses a specific component to read data from a magnetic card, which is referred to as the read head. Using good coding techniques, interrupt driven sampling can be used to read and handle the data. Most of the head will read the first and second tracks simultaneously. Some of advanced read heads can read all three tracks simultaneously. Linear conditioning is used for noise reduction and signal conditioning. The reader also contains an oscillator section that provides the clocks for the recovery section and for the enable/disable timers. The enable/disable counters provide initialization for the recovery section. The recovery section locks onto the data rate and recovers individual data bits from data stream.