MuttsNutts

...I'm lost <scratches head>

Iconics is being used in Heathrow Terminal 5 as the front end for everything: CCTV, door access control, fire alarm system, services (boilers, steam etc) and HVAC. All of this is via OPC servers (Matrikon if I remember correctly) However, the front end looks appaling because of design choices - square box plus triangle to represent a CCTV camera for example. BUT.... we had a 4 screen display for every workstation: Alarms, Overview & Navigation, Specific screen of your choice and another screen of your choice. It worked well and coped with a tremendous amount of data but in an installation of this size, dividing up the load was an important consideration. I didn't work on behind the scenes scripts so I have no experience on passing variables/tags through to generic popups etc but if it was good enough for T5....

I like WinCC but PCS7 is a whole different kettle of fish. I really wish the standard libraries for PID Loops and Valve control (etc) would look a bit more slick. They take a hell of a lot of getting used to

Ok, after a bit of digging, I have come up with the following: it is not possible to get PF (Powe Factor) back as a 4-20mA. BUT.... PF = P/S (which is Active Power kw / Apparent Power kva) and because I bring back Active Power (on Out 2), then all I need to do is bring back Apparent Power on Out 3 (the one I'm trying to get PF on) and perform the calculation in the PLC. This, of course, could all be achieved so much easier by using a ProfiBus module but I've got to work with 4-20mA I/O units so I hope this will help someone else in the future.

Hello. I have a Socomec DIRIS unit with two A40/A41 (4-20mA) modules puluuged in the back. I can get some values back but I am struggling with Power Factor. Page 11 in the manual (ref: 536048) lists all the 25 possible options that can be assigned to Out 1 ( to Out 4 in my case). I can get back Voltage, Current and Kw in Out 1 to 3 but what is the parameter for Power Factor? Also, should I care about the min and max scaling for all analogue outputs? What I mean is, for voltage, I am assuming that I will not get more than 500v therefore have set the max to 500. If the unit is capable of measuring 1000v then would it "compress" a value of 1000v to give 20mA, or would it give 20mA at 500v and above? I am reading back 412.3 for voltage and this corresponds what is shown on the display, so I am guessing that a max of 500 for this Analogue Output is in EU and I have therefore chosen a correct scale (0 to 500). One final question - what is the difference between "K" and "/" after the min (or max) settings? (I assume K is 000s but what is "/"?) Any help appreciated.

Ah, yes. I can see how that would be the case. Thanks for the info

Thank you very much for the reply. I expect I will now be able to set up a datalog and configure a trend object to point to this such that every time I come back to the trends screen, the trends will still be showing and not starting all over again, yes?

Hello, I have a PV 1000 touchscreen unit running FTV ME edition. I want to put 2 simple pages on, each with a handful of trends. I have been given a 2GB flash card for storage and inserted this yesterday (with the unit powered off). The unit restated ok and all seems well. Question 1: If I set up a new Data Log Model, what should I put in the [Paths] tab so I can get it to store the data to this flash card. I have no idea what the card will appear as in the PV operating system - in other words, I have no idea what the path to this "drive" will be. Will it be something like "\Storage" or some other default name, or do I have to somehow go behind the scenes (how do I do this on a touchscreen?) and navigate to it and set up a folder? Question 2: How can I set up the trending/pens such that when I leave the screen, I can come back to it later on and scroll backwards and forwards? At present (and because I guess I'm not storing the trends) everytime I leave the screen and come back to it, the trends start all over again. I expect to set up 4 pens on 15 second sample times (I will set the Data Log accordingly) and have a 12 hour window for the trend, which I'd like to be able to navigate backwards and forwards through. There probably is an easy way to do this but it's not intuitive as far as I can tell. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I had the exact same requirement to smoth out signals from a flowmeter to show on a small HMI. The [AVG] instruction is about as useful as... I dunno, Paris Hilton (utterly useless) when your intuition tells you it ought to be ideal to use. The reality is to write yer own. By the way, that algoritm: FV=FV+C(NV-FV) is excellent.

<groan> It's £750 for the software. Still, if that's the way to go then so be it. Thanks for your help.

(I knew it wouldn't be long before I return) Final question: is GX Developer the only option to program A1S PLCs? It's quite expensive and will eat any margin I might make on this job

...I like you. Alot. Thanks v much, am away like a greyhound out of the starting traps now to unleash the creative beast. Many thanks.

Thaks very much for help so far. Ok, the HMI looks like it's going to be something like a GT1575 with a 232 to 422 converter so we can connect to the PLC which is A1S, but (like everything else in life) there is a further problem. I cannot open the PLC source files with GX Developer. The customer has given me the files and they are as follows: proj_12 proj_12.hdr proj_12.nam proj_12.prg proj_12.prm proj_12.prt (I've called it "proj" here) Question: how do I open these files and with what? Sorry for being a newbie about this. I will give feedback and details when I get this all cobbled together and gain confidence.

That's excellent. A fine showcase for what this kit can do.

Thanks very much. I have to say, the level of support in the UK from Mitsibushi local resellers is excellent. Better even than Omron and I didn't think I'd ever say that. This project, although probably simple, is fast becoming less of a nightmare and more of an interesting venture.