cmoyer

OK! Thanks for the replies, it was exactly the sort if info I was looking for. After considering the replies here, I am going to push for control/compact to replace SLC, but I don't think it makes sense to replace the Micros we are using at this time. Every Micro we have used is either a 1100 or 1400, which are the latest in the line and we have been happy with them. Most of the tasks that the PLCs perform in our systems are HVAC/Balance of Plant related, so there isn't a lot of processor power required. The only reason that we have to go SLC sometimes is simply I/O scale. However, we are panning on upgrading our manufacturing pant next year to increase production. The goal is to get 3X what we are seeing now, so there will be tons of new equipment, controls, etc... We are currently using SLCs in the plant and I really think the switch to ControlLogix makes sense there. Once again, thanks for the helpful replies! cmoyer

Greetings all, My employer is currently using SLC and MicroLogix controllers in all of our products. We got in this position by having a 70 year old CTO that was pretty set in his ways about what technology he trusted. Long story short, the CTO is retiring in Dec. and I am wondering about pushing for a switch from SLC and MicroLogix to ControlLogix and CompactLogix. I consider myself to be an advanced user/programmer when it comes to SLC and Micro, but I have little to no experience with control and compact logix. What are the opinions of some of you folks out there regarding the switch from the following points of view? Ease of switch - For someone who is an advanced SLC programmer, how difficult is it to transition from RSLogix 500 to 5000? Cost - what is the price difference we can expect to see between comparable SLC and ControlLogix systems? Technology - What are some of the main advantages of switching from SLC/Micro hardware to Control/CompactLogix hardware? How is the Control/CompactLogix superior to SLC/Micro? I am sure I will come up with some other questions, but I have to go to a staff meeting. Thanks in advance for any replies! cmoyer

Thanks Ron! That did the trick. I am still relatively new to AB but I knew there had to be something like this. I spent 15 minutes going through the RSLogix help file before I realized that somebody here would probably know. There are a lot of goodies in the S data file that I was unaware of until now! Thanks again! cmoyer

Hello all, I work with both Allen Bradley and DirectLogic PLC's; the DirectLogic programming software has a special relay (sp0) that goes high for the first program scan only. Does RSLogix 500 have a similar relay? I am trying to write default set points to some integer files that will have new values written to them over time and I don't want the default values being re-written over the changes. Thanks! cmoyer

Thank you for all the helpful replies! I am now updated to linx classic 2.53, but the 1400 is still unrecognized so you guys gotta be right about needing updated logix too. Sigh, there are certainly pros AND cons to working with AB. I will give my rep a call tomorrow and see about an update. Thanks! cmoyer

I just have the RSLinx classic lite ver 2.52.00.17 (CPR 9) that came with logix500. I am unable to upgrade software because I dont have the stupid allen bradley subscription. Thanks for your quick reply! I was thinking I was on to something when I could connect through port 2, but then it gave me the unrecognized device error and my hopes were dashed. I don't want to believe that I cant communicate with the 1400 just because I have linx classic lite , but it wouldn't surprise me considering this is AB I am dealing with. Any other suggestions? cmoyer

Hello all, I am trying to establish communications with a micrologix 1400 PLC without much luck. The tools I have on hand are: 1747-UIC 1747-CP3 1784-PCMK series B I haven't had any luck with any of the communication tools. The closest I have come to getting it to work was when I had the 1747-CP3 going stright from my COM1 to the db9 comm2 port on the 1400. I appeared to have communication but RSLinx wouldn;t recognize the device. Who else has had experience with 1400's and how do you usually establish communication? Thanks! cmoyer

Thank you very much! Exactly what I needed. You're the best Ken! cmoyer

Nice! That would be awesome and definitely appreciated. Thanks for the help! cmoyer Xtreme_II.RSS

Hello all, I am trying to open an .rss file with RSLogix 500 and I am getting the following error: Unsupported processor! Please open this project with higher version of this product. OK whatever, so I go to AB.com to try and get an update for my logix and I get shot down because you need a support contract just to download a flippin' update for a product that I already shelled out way too much money for. Is there any way around this? I don't need to change the program at all, just view it and maybe print out one of those nifty reports. Thanks! cmoyer

I am trying to do a simple moving average type smoothing of a 0-10VDC analog input on a DL05 (DirectSOFT 5 for programming). Is there an ibox that can accomplish this or do I have to do it the hard way? Thanks! cmoyer

Thank you all for the responses, It is beginning to sound like this might actually be possible! A few updates: The meter HAS been ordered but it has not arrived yet so I can't play around with it at this time. Anton-Paar tech support has not returned any of my support requests yet so no love there either. I HAVE NOT ordered the 5/03 yet because I didn't want to fill out a PR for something I wasn't sure would work. I will probably order the 5/03 once the meter arrives and I am sure of how it operates. I have a 1747-UIC so I can use the DH-485 port to program and the other port for the communications. For a change my boss gave me a project with a decent timeline so I have some room for research and trial and error. Ron - thank you for your VERY helpful reply! I went to the ol' SLC 500 instruction set reference manual to research the ASCII commands you suggested. It looks like I can configure channel 0 on the 5/03 to match the interface of the meter. Hopefully this means I can just plug the meter directly into the 5/03 and get it to read the ASCII string from the meter by using a ARD command. That seems like the hard part! Once the data from the meter is in a string data file it will be a cakewalk from there. Once again thanks everyone for the help and I will update this thread as I make progress. cmoyer

Thanks for the reply Rod, I am not sure if the output of the meter is an ASCII string or something else. I will have to get in touch with tech support at Anton-Paar. Speaking hypothetically, lets say the output is an ASCII string (I think it is safe to assume this is so). The format of the data when it is downloaded to a PC or printer looks like this 1 23,3 34,6 2 24,3 34,8 3 23,6 34,6 First column is sample number, second column is temp and third column is density. The density numbers are the ones I want to get into the 5/03. On my last project I networked several 5/02's using the DH-485 protocol, so I know that the PLC's can communicate with other nodes on the network. So to be more specific about my problem, do I have to network the meter and 5/03 together on a DH1 with RSLinx for them to be able to communicate? Are there embedded drivers in RSlinx that can handle the interface I specified(again assuming that the output is an ASCII string) in my first post, or do I have to find someone to make a custom driver for me? Am I making any sense at all? The only other thing I can think of is to connect a PC to the 5/03, then dump the meter data to the PC, and finally download the data from the PC to the 5/03. Is this idea any more or less feasible than the above scenario? Once again, thanks in advance for any help offered! cmoyer

Hello all, I need to get data from an Anton Paar density meter into a SLC 5/03. I am not new to PLCs but I am new to Allen Bradley and communicating with external devices. So before I spend a lot of time researching how to do this, I was wondering if anyone with more experience could tell me if its even possible. The density meter has a 9 pin RS 232 interface port with the following pinout Pin 2: TXD Pin 3: RXD Pin 4: DTR Pin 5: GND Pin 6: RTS The interface specs are: 7 data bits 1 parity bit, even parity 1 stop bit 9600 baud rate The manual for the density meter states that the output signal to a PC can be processed by standard terminal software. (Windows Terminal, Procomm, Hyper Terminal) What I'm trying to accomplish is to somehow get the density readings into the 5/03 memory, then compare that value to a table which lets the PLC know to add X amount of DI water and X amount of H2SO4 to the holding tank. I am confident I can get this working IF I can get the density reading from the meter into the PLC memory. Thanks in advance for any help offered! cmoyer