Steve Bailey

If you don't already have a good understanding of PLCs, then Automation Direct may not be your best choice. That's not because there's anything wrong with AD's product line. It's because you're not the ideal customer for AD's business model. One reason that PLCs from Allen Bradley, Siemens, GE, et al are more expensive than those from AD is that the former have a large staff of field sales engineers, applications specialists, and distributors to help support the OEMS and end users of their products. Automation Direct realized that there was a large group of users who didn't need that much support and hand-holding. By eliminating the field sales and support personell they minimized their overhead. They put some of the money that saved into their excellent help desk and some of it into maintaining a larger inventory than most of their competitors. They created a company that has excellent telephone support, but it's not very easy to get someone to visit your facility and assess your needs. The other major PLC makers depend on their distributors to maintain close relationships with their customers and stock the components most likely to get sold. For someone in your situation, I would recommend that you develop a relationship with a distributor that you feel comfortable with; someone with enough technical expertise to be able to understand your processes and make sensible recommendations about automating them. In my opinion, that's more important than the cost of the components and certainly more important than which brand of PLC you settle on. At the end of the day, any of the major brands of PLC will do the job. They wouldn't be able to stay in business if they didn't.

TW Controls is right. The starter package will only go online with 10-point Micrologix 1000 units. You have a 16-point unit. RSLinx lite will communicate; it's RSLogix that will not let you go online.

There are two components to the duration. First, the signal needs to remain on for the input filter time in order for the input module to recognize it. Once the input module has recognized the signal as being on, it must remain on long enough for the input module to report it to the CPU. This happens once per scan when the CPU queries all of the input modules for their status. So, the longer the scan time, the longer the signal needs to be on to ensure that it gets detected. When your computer that is running the programming software is connected to the PLC and online with logic equal, you can see the scan time displayed at the bottom of the screen.

If you had been programming PLCs back in the days when DOS was king, instead of soiling your nappers, you would have known about 8-character filename limits, 80-column screen widths, fixed-width fonts, the whole Y2K thing, etc. Don't whine to us because your mum and dad didn't get around to conceiving you until after the golden age of personal computing. Back in those days you had to put some thought into optimising your programs because there were limits on the amount of memory available. Now that you know how simple PLCs actually are, you must join the cult. If you won't someone who has already been initiated will be forced to remove your brain from your skull and give it a thorough cleansing. Information like this is too dangerous to be let out. If your boss knew how simple it is, he'd think he could do it.

If you're actually going to purchase a system, contact a local industrial supply distributor that handles pneumatic components. If this is simply an exercise in pricing a system, don't ask a salesman to spend his/her time answering your basic questions with no chance of a sale. Instead look up what you need from the McMaster-Carr or Graingers catalogs.

There was a Micro 84 software pack for the P190. It requires a J375 Modbus adapter in the Micro 84 system. With that, you can upload from the PLC to the P190 and store the program on tape. The same system was used with the 484 and 584. There may be a way to convert those P190 tapes to Proworx. But if you don't already have the equipment and know how to do it, you're probably better off transcribing the Micro 84 program manually. The maximum program size in a 1K Micro 84 is only 9 networks and the 2k model can only hold 18 networks.

Your best bet would be to look around for someone local to come in and upload the program and make a printout. AB will still sell you the software, but they price it artificially high. It will probably cost you more to purchase than the cost of a one-day service call. By contracting out this part of the project, you eliminate wasting your time learning your way around the software for a one-time use. By finding someone local, you can minimize travel expenses. Your local AB distributor would probably be a good place to start. They may not be able to do it, but its a good bet that they know someone who can.

The company behind Automation Direct is Koyo. The product formerly known as the Siemens TI 305 and the GE Series One has always been manufactured by Koyo, and is now marketed by Automation Direct as the DL305. My personal opinion is that they are keeping that product line active strictly for bragging rights. It has been around since the early 1980s. DirectSoft software will program the TI305. Automation Direct has cut out a lot of the overhead involved in bringing PLCs to the market. That's how they can keep their prices as low as they do. They don't have a field sales staff or field application engineers or a network of distributors. They sell direct to consumer and support the product with an excellent help desk. They almost always have their product in stock when you order it and it generally goes out the door the day you order it.

Maybe they farmed out the control cabinet to a shop in Tierra del Fuego???

A big thank you to all veterans. Whether you agree or disagree with the political decisions that place our military in conflict, we all owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who has ever put on the uniform and agreed to put his or her life on the line to defend our way of life. They do a difficult job, at times under unspeakable conditions, and they do that job with distinction. My hat's off to you all. Thank you.

Are you running XP on the other computers that are successfully communicating? If so, is it the home or the professional version? Was LM90 installed from the same disks (or CD) on those machines as on the computer that won't communicate? On the computer that won't communicate, is LM90 set up for serial communications? Is it set up to load the serial communications driver to any specific memeory or did you select 'Auto'? To check, from the very first menu screen that comes up when you start LM90, hit F9 (setup) then F4 (PLC Communication Options). When you launch LM90 programming or LM90 configuration, and it comes up offline, you select a program folder. Once you've done that, hit F7 (setup), then F4 (comset). What COM port is LM90 using? At the bottom of the screen, does it say anything about where the serial port driver was installed? Remember that if you change any of the port settings that they don't take effect until you hit F6 and they aren't saved until you hit F7.

When you install Logicmaster, the default port parameters are the same as the default settings for Series 90 PLCs. Most users don't change from the default settings. What operating system are you running on the computer that won't communicate? What COM port are you trying to use? What revision level of LM90? Is there anything else running on the computer that might be using the COM port that Logicmaster is set up to use? When Logicmaster loads, do you get any kind of message indicate that the communications driver failed to load? You may have to watch carefully. The message doesn't always stay displayed for long.

If you expect to be taken seriously as a systems integrator in the USA or Canada you will need to at least get familiar with Allen Bradley and Siemens. That being said, neither of them are the least expensive choice to get some hands-on PLC experience. Since you already have a PLC from Automation Direct and the software to program it, take a look at this thread: http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?showtopic=5855 In addition to hands-on experience programming PLCs, you should also get experience with pneumatic and hydraulic components and systems, variable speed drives, motion control systems, mechanical limit switches, proximity sensors, photoelectric sensors, ultrasonic and laser distance measuring products, pressure and flow sensors, encoders, resolvers, and any other types of automation components that your potential customers might be using. Get a copy of the book by Hugh Jack. http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?&act=Down...&CODE=02&id=156 It has a wealth of information on the components you'll be using.

Talk to your GE Fanuc distributor about the PCI Genius interface card, IC660ELB931.

Try searching the knowledge base under product category "Controllers & I/O", product name "Series 90-30", content type "All", using the term "Max-on". That turned up 65 hits for me.

I recieved the following email from rcastellanos0523: HI STEVE..CAN YOU HELP OUT....IM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH A PCM 311...I NEED TO START ONE.....DO YOU HAVE THE SOFTWARE TO PROGRAM TIS MODULE? OR CAN I PROGRAM IT WITH HYPER TERMINAL? PLEASE ADVICE......THANKS Here's a document that explains the procedures to use Hyperterminal with the PCM module. http://globalcare.gefanuc.com/kc/kb/glbCar...78&id=268446725 In the future, please post your questions to the forum rather than as private messages. Other members may be able to provide better answers than I can. Other people than just you may benefit from the exchange. Upon request, I'll be happy to provide you with my rates for a private consultation.

I don't see you getting precise data, only trends. When the plant is in a steady-state condition, the ratio of Lbs per out to Lbs per hour in should be reasonably constant. If it changes, the difference will be due to one or more of the following: 1. More or less waste from the shrimp. 2. An increase or decrease in the reprocessing rate. 3. An increase or decrease in the non-shrimp content (salt, water, etc) of the processed product. 4. An increase or decrease in the non-shrimp content (ice, water, etc) of the incoming 250 kg containers of shrimp. By tracking the incoming and outgoing weights over time, you may be able to determine characteristic patterns. For example, if you had one 250 kg container of shrimp that was particularly hard to peel, you would expect to see the yield ratio drop briefly and then ramp back up to normal. If that was followed by a 250 kg container with normal 'peel-ability', the yield ratio would increase briefly as the new batch worked its way through and then ramp down to the normal level. A sudden drop in yield followed by a sudden rise to normal would probably be the signature of a 250 kg container with higher than normal waste.

Warning! Self-promotion alert! Chris, if this crosses any boundaries as far as advertising is concerned, feel free to delete it. Check the simulator available at the MrPLC.com store. http://shopv2.mrplc.com/product_info.php/p...ccd4fb6cd761564 Since your company is already using PLCs, you probably have the programming software and you may even have a PLC available to practice on. This product lets you practice writing ladder logic programs and watching them work (or not) without running the risk of breaking things or disrupting production. If you have the software, but don't have a PLC available to practice on, check this out. http://shopv2.mrplc.com/product_info.php/p...242ed697064d19f

Which GE Fanuc manuals are you looking for? Manuals for some of the older PLCs are not available on line. Some of the more frequently requested legacy manuals have been posted in the downloads section here at MrPLC.com. If you're looking for a Series One, Series Five, or Series Six manual, just post the one you need. If its not already in the downloads are, I'll put it there.

The CCM protocol supports peer-to-peer communications. The CMM711 be configured as CCM peer-to-peer, but I don't know if the DataPanel impementation of CCM can be configured as peer-to-peer. It may be limited to master. Be aware that if you use the CCM protocol you can only directly read from/write to %I, %Q, and %R memory areas in the 90-70.

The SNP protocol is strictly a master-slave protocol. The Datapanel has the role of master. There can be multiple slaves, but only one master on the SNP multi-drop network. If you want multiple Datapanels communicating with a single PLC using SNP, you will need multiple serial ports on the PLC and a cable for each port. For multiple Datapanels communicating with a single PLC over a single cable, you will need to go to something like Genius or DeviceNet. I'm not sure which (if any)Datapanel models have Genius or DeviceNet daughterboards available. Maybe Russ B will see this thread and clarify what's available. Otherwise, talk to your local distributor.

I think the problem is due to the One-Shot inside the subroutine. Assuming that Dummy_?????? (the variable for the One-Shot coil) is non-retentive, then upon powerup, it is off. You turn on the switch that triggers the call to the Dummy block and that also fires the Dummy_????? One-Shot. The transition table remembers that the One-Shot has fired so it doesn't fire again. Now you turn off the switch that calls the Dummy block. Since the block is no longer called, the memory associated with the variable (including the transition table) doesn't get changed. Now you turn on the switch that calls the Dummy block again. The CPU starts processing the rungs inside the block. When it evaluates what to do with the One-Shot coil it checks the transition table for the last state of the address. The transition table shows the last state as on, so the One-Shot does not fire. One solution would be to put the One-Shot coil that enables the COMREQ instruction outside of the Dummy block.

You'll have to create a subroutine that does what you want. With some GE Fanuc PLC models, you can create parameterized subroutines that simplify passing parameters into and out of the subroutine.

You'll need GFK-0641 (Cimplicity 90 ADS Reference Manual) and GFK-0499 (Cimplicity 90 ADS User's Manual). You might also need a manual for whichever operator interface terminal your system has. They're on the InfoLink CD, so they should be on the website.

I know exactly what you're looking for. I was going to post the page from the Logicmaster manual. Guess what? In the pdf version of both the Logicmaster One and Logicmaster Six manuals, that page is blank! Here is a chart taken from the readme.lm6 file that may be helpful. o CTRL I : enter letter I in workarea reference line. o CTRL 0 : enter letter O in workarea reference line. o CTRL R : enter letter R in workarea reference line. o CTRL C : enter letter C in workarea reference line. o CTRL U : enter letter A in workarea reference line. o CTRL , : change workarea to decimal format. o CRTL . : change workarea to double precision format. o CTRL / : change workarea to signed decimal format. o CTRL H : change workarea to hexadecimal format. o CTRL B : change workarea to binary format. o CTRL Z : clear workarea line. o CTRL D : delete the last character. o CTRL S : move the workarea cursor. o CTRL E : enter the current function. o CTRL A : accept the rung. o CTRL P : display previous rung. o CTRL N : display next rung. o CTRL W : shift/enter. o CTRL = : toggle +- sign. o CTRL 0-9 : enter channel 0 through 9 in workarea o CTRL F1-F6 : enter channels A through F in workarea. o ALT X : confirm the prompt.