sd00

Thank you very much Ken - this information is very good news. "PLC-2/3/5 migrations are a substantial part of my business" - Are you in the UK? Do you do software conversions PLC3 --> ControlLogix? Do you do full conversion & installation? Cheers, Steve.

Hi, we have an obsolecence issue with PLC3-10 & are looking at upgrade options. Idealy, I would swap out the PLC3-10 processors for modern AB processors & (initially) reuse all of the existing RIO. The logic behind this thinking is that the thousands of IO points can continue to function and be slowly migrated to modern IO over a loger period of time - this would minimise the hardware changes duing the relatively short shutdown period & allow us to utelise the modern processors with minimal risk. Q: Do the newer processors (e.g. 5000 series) have the ability to connect to and use IO over RIO (i.e. is there a RIO scanner for the newer AB PLCs)? Q: Is there a 3rd party RIO scanner that would allow another type of PLC to run the facility (the departments prefered PLC manufacturer is Mitsi) Any other advise would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Steve.

My AB inexperience shows here & the manual was as clear as mud but I think I've sussed it, Use the MVS (Move Status) function and write to the extended addresses (instead of Status file S1)... E0.0.0.14 YYYY E0.0.0.15 MM E0.0.0.16 DD E0.0.0.17 hh E0.0.0.18 mm E0.0.0.19 ss Steve.

Hi newpageboba, thanks for taking the time to reply, i'm pretty sure you cant simply write to these registers! Could you explain how to set these via ladder please? What function (example ladder would be great) Cheers, Steve.

As per title... How can I set the PLC Clock from ladder? (PLC3-10), I've searched the forum & read the manual but it I can't seem to find the info necessary to set the PLC clock from ladder - is it even possible? Thanks in advance, Steve.

CX Programmer has approximately 10 levels of history. Again, I feel strongly about this - having had this facility since LSS (1980s) I miss it A LOT. I thought my liking to Internet Explorer without a back button should have provoked enough emotion to elicit a few "yeahs". I (and approximately 100 technicians I work with on approximately 50 CX-Programmer installations - all live and on-line 24/7 used daily for monitoring, modifing and debuging live production lines) can say with out any shadow of a doubt that this function speeds up ladder debugging & fault finding by aproximately a factor of 10 - I have seen it first hand & done it myself. And to be honest - what effort is it (for the mitsi programmers) to add a navigation stack - very little! (relatively speaking) Finally, 'Crossbow', please understand, I wish to better this product - while my frustrations may not sound like much to you, they annoy me greatly (having used products that do offer these nice touches).

GX Works2 (Simple Mode) At the time of writing this - I am not sure of which version I have (i'm not at work right now) but my first impressions are not so favourable. I find the ladder editing and navigation to be a big let down - below are a few of the frustrations I have with this post 2008 product... single undo level in edit mode is simply not good enough still no ladder normilisation (i.e. circuit is electrically sound but will not store!) still a restrictive number of comment characters still no navigation history to take you back to previous locations when navigating the ladder (a major pain IMO - you would change your internet browser immediately if it had no BACK button!) menu items still active when they shouldn't be scrolling in ladder moves cursor (god knows why) no indication in ladder of an items forced state while the cross ref window is a step in the right directions, I wish it was instant & dynamic (i.e. click a contact, coil or function with memory area - instant x-ref below) while not immediately obvious why - I would love to see copy & paste between the ladder editor and Excel. e.g. when writing ladder for multiple stations where only addressing changes - being able to copy and paste between excel (to use its fill functions and cell references etc) greatly simplifies & speeds up development! (I will explain why if in detail if you wish or just try it yourself in CX Programmer) Others - I forget right now NOTE: This is by no means an exhaustive review (I do intend on doing this & feeding back to mitsubishi soon). Please feel free to correct me if any of the above frustrations have already been addressed in newer versions. Regards, Steve. I will update this post with version details ASAP

I'm not sure what version you are using (or the version I have for that matter - i'm not at work right now) but my first impressions are not so favourable. More here... http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?s=&s...ost&p=82618 <EDIT - Moved post to the iQ Works improvements thread>

The port number can be changed in Kepware, so if need be I'll do that. I'll give it a try, thanks very much for your swift reply. Steve.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here could assist me in the setup of a Q Series PLC with a QJ71E71-100 for OPC connection via UDP. In line with the PLC being replaced, I Ideally need the new PLC to allow the existing Kepware communication settings to work. I am pretty unfamiliar with the Mitsi PLCs / GX Developer & setup so some screen shots or step by step guide of how I can set it up to allow a UDP connection on Port 263 (as set in Kepware - decimal i guess). I'd appreciate a quick response if possible. Many Thanks, Steve.

I can't disagree more. This capability is something many of you may not even realise exists in other packages, but I tell you this much, it is a ABSOLUTE BOON! Let me explain... You write a portion of ladder You copy it as mnemonic you paste it into excel & replace the address parts of the functions with ="D" & (1990 + (COL() * 10)) You copy it across 10 columns - instantly you have written the ladder for 10 more stages, incrementing the D2000 address by 10 - WITHOUT ERROR Now this is a simple example, but being creative you can apply the same logic to contacts, coils, etc etc. Some might argue that a function block is more suited & it is, but sometime the ladder will require customised parts - so use this method to make the base circuit then put it in excel, parametrize it, copy xxx times, paste back in & its written. DEFINATELY saved me hours of work & looking for the 1 function i forgot to update!!! Steve.

Excellent points. Thanks very much, I'll give it a try. Yes, I am aware hyperterminal can be used (though TBH, i've never worked with this module!), however 2 things, both RS232 ports are in use & this set-up is for maintenance guys who have the DH485 unit & standard op sheets for the PBASE method. The preference is to use PBASE, but ultimately, I might have to go the Hyperterminal way. Regards, Steve.

Thanks for responding. I installed it on a PC running DOS 6.22 only (not DOS on windows) - the error occurs when executing PBASE. Any more ideas regarding this fault anyone? Thanks, Steve. UPDATE I have just read the installation part of the manual, it is as I had done (adding the path entry in Autoexec.bat and the files / buffers entries in Config.sys). Perhaps my install disks are no good!!! Any idea how I'd get a replacement copy? Thanks, Steve.

Hi all, I wonder if anyone could point me in the right direction. The company I work for owns a licenced copy of the PBASE software for an AB Basic module (1771-AD) on a PLC3. I have the 2 original installation disks & they appear to install correctly, but upon execution of the PBASE software, I get the following error... ErrorCode = -9 CANNOT LOAD DRIVER PACKAGE I suspect there is a disk or two missing (perhaps a driver installation disk) - am I right in this assumption? and if so, where I could get a copy! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve.

Yes, Y10 and Y11 were off. Do you have sample ladder? Cheers, Steve.