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CharlieB

RFID direct to ML 1400 Channel 0

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I am trying to connect an RFIDeas PCProx RFID card reader directly to channle 0 on a MicroLogix 1400 processor. I have channel 0 configured to ASCII, baud =9600, parity = none, Stop bits = 1, data bits = 8, no handshaking. The baud may be the problem but this rate is specified by RFIDeas. I am currently testing this on the bench and have just one rung in the PLC which contains the ARD command and a toggle bit. The ARD enables and is queued (EU bit is set). However, no data is returned from the card reader. Does anyone have experience reading directly to a PLC with this type of reader? This is small and inexpensive project and I'd rather not have to utilise an HMI that costs more than the rest of the machine. Thanks in advance.

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Have you tested the serial stream with Hypeterminal or RealTerm or another serial program to be certain that data is being transmitted ? How about the other way around, using a computer to send data to the MicroLogix ? What sort of cable are you using to connect to Channel 0 on the MicroLogix controller ? Any home-made adapters on the end ? This ought to be fairly straightforward; the ARD instruction pretty much does what it says on the tin, though it's sometimes difficult to handle the one-instruction-at-a-time nature of ASCII port instructions on the MicroLogix.

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I have tested the serial stream with the software used to set up the card reader. I did hear from a co-worker following my post that we have had readers that would communicate with a laptop but failed to function in the field so I'm gonn try a new one. I don't have occasion to use ASCII very much so I guess i need a reality check. If connected, the scan should put the data into the buffer and the ARD should retrieve it. Is this conceptually correct?

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Just in case anyone else runs into this. I got this going about a week ago but have been tied up with other things since then. The documentation from AB indicates that this must be done on Channel 0 which is correct for the SLC. However, if you are using a Micrologix processor the serial port is Channel 2. Works fine.

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