Needing some help with communication with PanelView 600 and SLC 5/05

[AdamW 0]

Equipment:

PanelView 600

Allen Bradley SLC 5/05

1747 PIC

Windows Vista PC

 

So to start off i'll give a quick rundown of what i'm doing and why. I'm currently in a community college finishing up my courses for my computer and electronics engineering degrees and one of my current courses is introduction to PLCs. I've only had this class for a couple weeks and have blazed past the rest of my class so my instructor put me up to figuring out how to get the communication setup on a PanelView 600. Now from what I understand it was setup in the past before he started teaching and since then they haven't managed to get the communication straightened out. It's using an Allen Bradley SLC 5/05 via Ethernet and from that PLC through the RS232 port it's connected to a 1747 PIC which then connects to the PanelView 600. Now keep in mind this is my first PLC course, I haven't messed with panelviews or Allen Bradley PLCs before so i'm not really prepared to tackle this to begin with. After figuring out how to make a basic program with PanelBuilder32 and ensuring there are no errors I attempted to download the program... and this is where I get stumped. The PanelView is using protocol DH-485 and from what i'd assume and have read on forums, the communication needs to be setup through RSLinx Network using the 1747 PIC Driver but on our PCs that driver isn't available. From what I can find on other forums that driver is suppose to be included with RSLinx but even after reinstalling the program it still isn't there. I won't be back in this class again until Monday but if anybody has any tips or suggestions then please let me know. I appreciate everyone's help and feedback, Thanks.

[kaiser_will 65]

Give this a try.  You are going about it in the right way...get system communications up first.  After that, create a simple HMI program with a display lamp tied to a PLC output and a button tied to a PLC register bit, then add a simple PLC program with a rung utilizing the 2 elements.

Work_Instruction_-_Allen-Bradley_1747-PIC_Driver_Install[1].doc

[Joe E. 259]

We've never been able to get the PIC to work with anything newer than XP SP2, so he may need another route to get the program into the HMI.

What's the model number of the PV 600?  Some of the PV Standards have multiple communication ports.  If it has a second RS232 port, that can be used to download the project, leaving the other configured to work with the PIC.

 

Edited 25 Oct 2016 by Joe E.

[kaiser_will 65]

Joe E raises a good point...legacy equipment with the PIC box likes Win XP but hates other operating systems.  A nifty work-around is a WinXP VirtualMachine loaded on your Win7+ PC; I prefer VMWare Workstation.

Alot of the older PViews do have (2) ports, but read the fine print...one is often DH-485 and the other is RS-232 for a local printer.

When you are tasked with getting something up, always research the details.  Assuming a DB-9 port is RS-232 and up for grabs can wind up causing a lot of grief.  A brief sort-of primer on SLC processors is attached; something I created to educate the field techs for this very subject.

Read the literature, network the devices, add functionality for you to test communication.  HMI status lights tied to PLC addresses; HMI buttons tied to PLC addresses.

Work_Instruction_-_Allen-Bradley_SLC_Communications_Setup[1].doc

[Joe E. 259]

Good point about the second port not always being usable for programming.  The exact model number of the PV in question will clarify all.

We've never been able to get the PIC to work with anything other than an XP SP2 host operating system (or older) with a built-in serial port (no USB adapter or even laptop docking station).  It would not work at all in a virtual machine.

[Paul_M 4]

The pics aren't compatible with anything newer than XP SP2, confirmed by rockwell. 

I have had them working with a serial to USB adapter but it was hit an miss on what brand worked and didn't.