Buckaroo

Ken, Thanks for the reply. I guess I should have looked more into the specs for the encoder to see if it would work. Thanks for the links. I will check them out. Regarding your reference to the programmable limit switch function. I will have to read up on that and get back with any more questions. Tom

Thank you for the reply. If I am reading things correctly then I should be able to connect the encoder A, B, Z signals to the Micrologix inputs 0-2. As for configuring the HSC would I then pick mode 6 or 7 and what are the advantages to each one. Or am I off base and need a different mode? As far as the outputs go, I am not that far but I envision a bank of solenoids properly protected of course. Again thanks for all the help. Tom

ok point taken. so back to actual specs. any other suggestions? just curious what others think. thanks

Greetings all, The company I work for has finally decided to purchase a new laptop for programming and troubleshooting. I am looking for some recomendations for specs. I did a search here but the most recent I found was dated 2005. I am hoping for some more current info. I currently mostly use Logix 500, 5000, panelbuilder and a small handfull of other software. One of the most troublesome problems with the laptop in use now is that while online it seems to not update fast enough. It appears that I miss some changes in logic transitioning states. Is this something that can be addressed with a better/faster/newer laptop? Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I understand that it is unrealistic to capture all state changes. I am not trying to imply that this is a major problem. Any suggestions to try to minimize their occurence? It was just something I thought I would try to address since we are purchasing a new laptop. Thanks

What about the oil field in Alaska? I think it is still shut down but yet the prices drop. Same thing with the refineries that were damaged during last year's hurricane season. Not sure they are running at full capacity . All very interesting.

How about: FLASH: The great thinker that decides to short a circuit out rather than tracing it out and deenergizing it properly. LEGEND: The person that has such a high opinion of himself/herself regarding members of the oposite gender that they are a LEGEND in their own mind.

Seems that if you need to go online with a micrologix 1500 and a panelview then maybe the portsplitter would be more of a necessity. $200.00 in my opinion to be able to access machines online to you couldn't before is money well spent.

The company I work for put in a call to the local AB rep and it looks like they are going to send a guy to give us a little demo of the port splitter. It should happen in the next week or two. I will post back with any info that might be interesting. As far as going ethernet your observation of being too costly hits the nail on the head for where I work. Don't get me wrong. I am not bashing my employer but they are very tight when it comes to spending money. It would probably be a monumental effort to try and explain the advantages of ethernet but in the end it would be time spent better on something else. If you remember back to an earlier post, I didn't get anywhere when I suggested we change our Micrologix 1500 processors to the model with 2 ports. Communicating with the PLC's is not a company wide problem. All new machines that have come in the last year or so I have no problems with. It is on the dozen or so machines before this time that the issue is with. I was trying to find a simple fairly inexpensive solution to communicating with a number of different machines. Hopefully with the rep coming in we can get some answers and shed some light on the subject to thoose controlling the money. I will keep you all up to date when the rep comes in. Thanks

I am in the process of trying to get one. Not sure if I can or not but if I do then I will for sure post my results and/or questions. If I can not get one then hopefully you will have better luck and then I can read what you have to think about it. Thanks again for the replies and I look forward to hearing about any results you come up with.

Thanks for the reply. I have seen the warning regarding the Micrologix 1100. Right now I do not have an issue with a 1100. So I guess the best way to go would be to try and get a demo and see what it can accomplish.

TWcontrols- Sorry it took some time to respond to your question. I had other issues to take care of. To answer your question they are using DF1.

Ken, Thanks for responding. I agree that you should try to get the plc with more then one port. However, I am in a situation where this was, in my opinion, not thought of when the machines were built. On a few machines there is the micrologix 1500 LSP and then on thoose there is a mixture of Panelview 550 and some Maple System. Not sure of the exact model of the Maple System at this time. Other machines are using 1000's with (gasp) Panelview Micro 300 on them. Now I realize that one solution would be to retro fit the LSP with the LRP processor to provide the extra port. The reality is that it is hard to get the people in contol to see where spending all that "extra" money gives them a good return. So what I was trying to do was come up with a way that would cover a broad mixture of machines with only a minimum of investment. Again, thanks for the help and if you need any more info from my end just ask and I will try to explain.

If I can get a demo to try I only hope I could write a "first Impressions" as good as the ones I have read. Thanks

I think I will give that a try. If I have any luck getting one I will post here with my results. Thanks

Judging by the number of replies I am assuming that this device is not widely used. I am still holding out for someone to chime in that has used this or knows more about it. Thanks.

Hi all. This is my first post so please be kind. I have no experience with Siemens so I am looking for some help. After browsing this forum and Siemens website I have the following questions(s). Does the Simatic Step 7 Lite V3.0 with service pack 1 that can be downloaded from the Siemens website allow you to monitor a program online or is it just a training tool? I need to troubleshoot a machine but I have no documentation or software so I am not sure how to proceed. Any help wil be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Khek, Thanks. I have already downloaded it and am in the process of checking it out. Any good tid bits of info or anything to help out is certainly welcome.

Thanks for the info. I have been going through the manual and readme files. This is what I was looking for but was in a hurry the other day and could not find it. No worries as far as network as I do not have any. Theese are stand alone machines. Again thanks for your reply and I may post another question later as I get deeper into this.

Thanks for the replies. I downloaded the software and am in the process of going over it. Also before I can do anything I will have to get the proper cables. Thanks again.