QUOTE (Rockford @ Oct 13 2009, 06:09 AM)

QUOTE (PhilipW @ Apr 10 2003, 04:39 AM)

Hi there J,
3. A 1770-KF3 back to back with a 1761-NET-ENI ? i.e. connect the serial ports together at the identical baud rates etc, and I would expect something to happen. The KF3 takes DH-485 packets and strips them down to RS-232 DF1 packets. The ENI should then take them and bundle then up into TCP/IP packets. I've never tried this one so I'm guessing here. (Also the KF3 isn't cheap.)
Philip Wilkie
Has anyone tried #3 above and what was the result. Does it work? I have a Ethernet that I am installing with a SLC-5/03 a Micrologix 1200 and EZ-Automation touchscreens, but I would like to have an already existing DH485 panelview to be able to communicate over the Ethernet system without the expense of a SLC-5/05 or a PC in the system.
Doesn't sound promising. The KF3 is a true protocol bridge between DF-1 and DH-485, so no problems there. The 1761-NET-ENI is somewhat one-way. It's really a version of a Lantronix UDS-100 made for Allen Bradley with some extra features. You can program it to use multiple Ethernet addresses on the "outgoing" side and map them to DF-1/DH-485 node numbers to allow outgoing messages to multiple drops. But incoming packets are limited to a single device. In addition, I think the SLC suggestion is flat out wrong. It's a passthru, NOT a bridge. You won't be able to communicate to more than one device in the Ethernet to DH-485 route, and you can't pass through from DH-485 out onto the Ethernet port, only the other way around, because the SLC doesn't have a provision to supply which addresses to talk to.
The Digi One IAP and probably the full Lantronix UDS-100 on the other hand are closer to true bridges. I haven't had much experience with the UDS-100 but with the IAP box, you can map everything in both directions and treat it as a true bridge. However, it is limited to a single device type so you can access all your PLC's even with RS-Logix this way as long as they are in the same family (all PLC-5's or all SLC's for instance) but you won't be able to access your Panelview's (if you have any) for instance.
I've built DH+ bridges this exact same way. Ran with them for a couple years as we slowly made local connections to each PLC in turn under various projects and gradually eliminated the DH+ LAN.
The best bridges are 1756-backplanes, but as you said, it's very expensive. A KF-2 or KF-3 and a Digi One IAP is much less expensive although it's slower. But it gets you an initial bridge until you can upgrade via sidecars or upgraded processors or adding additional IAP's directly to the Channel 0 ports until you can abandon your DH-485 LAN altogether.