Posted 11 May 2017 Hi, New to the site, seeking help with an Inkjet Coder that the company I work for recently purchased. A customer is wanting us to have the printer message selection automated, because parts got out with the wrong print on them. We purchased a Linx 5900 and want to use the serial port on a slc 5/03 to send a command to select the message based on a selector switch's position. I've been pretty desperate trying to find help with this issue, because this is my first time messing with a printer. I've got the AWA instruction set up and it will send a string, but I'm not sure what to have in the string or if I have everything configured right. I've attached the program for you guys to look through, the AWA instructions are at the end of LAD 13. I'm using the serial port to make changes to the program then hooking it into the printer to try the changes out so its a bit frustrating, but I don't have a pc with windows xp sp2 so using the DH485 port is not an option. Any help will be greatly appreciated. CNTRPUSH_4_2017.RSS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 11 May 2017 (edited) You can use a 1747-UIC (either from AB or these guys) to connect DH485. Do you have detailed documentation on the printer's protocol? I wrote code to have a Siemens S7-300 send instructions via RS232 to a Hitachi ink jet printer. You have to get the right sequence of control characters that the printer itself is looking for. For instance, the Hitachi needs to receive this string: STX (start text) DLE (instructs the printer to changed the printed message) 1 (change the text in line 1) ...... (the message to be printed) ETX (end text Your printer will probably have something similar (but different) that it's looking for. You'll need documentation on the printer to build the string you need the AWA to send. Edited 11 May 2017 by Joe E. Added link to cable alternative.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 11 May 2017 Thanks Joe definitely going to put in a req for one of those cables as we have plenty of 5/03's and under all around the plant. Just heard from the Linx tech support and got the sequence and characters right. This is what they sent. 17 characters for message name. FORD in sending: 1B ; ESC 02 ; STX 1E ; Load Message 46 ; 1 of 16 F 4f ; 2 of 16 O 52 ; 3 of 16 R 44 ; 4 of 16 D 00 ; 5 of 16 00 ; 6 of 16 00 ; 7 of 16 00 ; 8 of 16 00 ; 9 of 16 00 ; 10 of 16 00 ; 11 of 16 00 ; 12 of 16 00 ; 13 of 16 00 ; 14 of 16 00 ; 15 of 16 00 ; 16 of 16 00 ;???????????????????? 00 ; Quantity LSB 0000 = Continuous 00 ; Quantity MSB 1B ; ESC 03 ; ETX XXh ; Checksum (If enabled.) The Linx printer will respond with an “ACK” (05h) sequence was correct and the message name was valid or a “NAK” (16h) if the sequence was incorrect or if there was an issue, like the message name did not exist. So once I get the cable and can see changes with the printer connected do I use an ARD instruction to get the response from the printer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 11 May 2017 That I can't help you with. I've never had to do this level of RS232 programming in AB. And I could never get the response from the printer working in the Siemens system and ran out of development time. It's working without looking at the response, though, so it's not a priority to figure out right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites