I have 2 PanelView 1200s. Both part numbers are 2711-TC1. One is a Ser: F,
Rev: A, FRN 5.10.00 and the other is Ser: B, Rev: A, FRN: 2.000.00. These were thrown in with another E-Bay purchase that the maintenance supervisor made. We currently have none of these in use, nor do we have the software to program them. All of our AB plcs are MicroLogix 1500 or smaller, and we are using newer PanelViews and PanelView Plus HMIs. Does anybody have any ideas how I could use the older 1200s with these controllers? I contacted my AB sales guy and he said that he can't even get me the programming software for them. By the way, what is the programming software? All I have is PanelBuilders 32 and RSView.

Sounds like you got your money's worth.

The PanelView 1200 only works with Remote I/O and DH+ networks, neither of which you are using. You would need "PDS for DOS" software, which has been obsolete for many years and A-B does not sell or support.

The best thing you can do with these is sell them to a PLC aftermarket supplier. PanelView 1200's are slowly burning out nationwide after 10-15 year lifetimes and A-B cannot repair or replace them anymore. Many PV1200 Classic users would love to have a good CRT to put into a burned out one just to give them time to upgrade when the original finally burns out.

I believe if you have firmware 4.0 or greater you can use Panelbuilder 1200 which is a windows based software similar to Panelbuilder 1400.

Has anyone tried the 2711-(very old TA1 & etc) to PanelView e migration kit. I think the part # is 2711E-UTC10 etc..

We have two 1997 TA1's that are going down on a bagging line. The vendor is bankrupt and we don't have the files, programs, or any of the old programing tools. I have a 2711-UTCT10SW migration kit on the way.
Quite a deal at $8K plus....Will this be easy? Or not?

I have done several PanelView 1200 Classic to PanelView Plus conversions in the past two years, and each one was far more work and trouble than I expected, especially with Remote I/O.

Because the PanelView 1000E is still available, I have changed my recommendations regarding the replacement of PanelView 1200 Classics as follows:

1. Upgrade to a PanelView 1000E. The software will directly import an old 1200 Classic program, and you'll be up and running in less than a day with the new hardware. The downside is that the PV1000E terminals are pretty expensive and won't be available new for much longer (less than 3 years, I think). They'll continue in support for longer than that.

2. Upgrade to a PanelView Plus.... BUT..... don't use RIO. The graphics and screen objects take some time to convert, but they can be converted with few surprises. The same can't be said for the RIO communications, which in my experience have been hard to understand and troubleshoot. Instead, I strongly recommend retrofitting the communications link with Ethernet. You don't have to change much programming... just point the RSView ME tags at the existing source files for the block transfers, and disable the BTW/BTR instructions themselves.

The usual caveat comes in here; it's a lot cheaper to hire somebody who already has the tools and skills than it is to buy the software for a one-time process. I think 20 terminals is probably the break-even port for doing this yourself.


oldgearhead, what is included in that upgrade kit ? The part number suggests it's a PanelView 1000e migration kit with a terminal and the PanelBuilder 1400e software.

I know that A-B at one time offered an "enhancement" kit that basically gave you a "1200E" terminal. Hopefully that's not it, as it did not upgrade the most common failed part, the CRT.

Ken,
Thanks for the quick reply. As I understand the 'migration kit', will do your number 1 choice. But, let me

tell a bit more. The bagging line control consists of 3 SLC 5/04s and 2 old (1997) Panel Views. It appears to be DH+. However, the Panel Views do not show up in RSWho, but the 3 SLCs do. If I had the orginal RSLogix files I would probably just do a PV+, since it appears all HMI I/O is done with the B3:xx file.



Does anyone know if the migration kit is capable of extracting a usable file from the old Panel View?

You see, I don't have the either the PDS DOS or Panel Builder 1400 files......

As long as we're on the subject of CRT displays and their longevity, permit me to rant a little and cross-over some experience from one of my OTHER hobbies, classic video games. It seems to me that video games and CRT-based panelviews have much in common, as they both are left running for days on end in a hot, poorly-ventilated enclosure.

The prevailing wisdom with game monitors is that the CRT itself, although they CAN and sometines DO fail, is a very high-reliability component and usually is NOT the cause of a monitor failure. Heck even when they do, they can often be "rejuvinated" to get a few more years of life out of them. On the contrary, the most common items to fail in a monitor are the electrolytic caps (especially the high-voltage ones), the horizontal output transistor (HOT), and the flyback transformer. Furthermore, bad capacitors can LEAD to premature failure of the HOT, flyback, and other components.

So why am I even mentioning this!? Because if the capacitors are considered a regular maintenance item and are replaced BEFORE they fail, there's no reason why a monitor like this can't live 10, 20, 30 years or more. I have 30-year-old video games with the original monitors to back this claim up. Oh and by the way, the caps are usually VERY CHEAP and are pretty easy (for someone with basic soldering skills) to replace.

For those that want to read more..
http://www.gamearchive.com/Video_Games/FAQs/capkit/

http://www.flippers.com/esrkttxt.html