TConnolly

We made the conversion several years ago (maybe even 10 years ago) - I don't recall how much it was, but at the time we did not view it as prohibitively expensive, though it wasn't cheap either. It seems like all together it was a little less than 10 grand, including the PLC/5 processor - but that was many years ago. We determined at the time that it would be a lot less than rewiring for a SLC - and we needed the machine. The whole process only took a few days at that time. However, we did not have any PLC/2 programming software - though we had a copy of the file on floppy but we had several PLC/5s and AI software. Things are a bit different now. E-bay was not around then. If you have the PLC/2 programming software, or you have a local programmer who does have the software who can download it for you, then maybe finding a processor on e-bay would be a good idea. E-bay is where I look for replacement <cough>Modicon 984s<cough> now. If however you would have to purchase the PLC/2 programming software (very expensive) to continue with that family, and you already have PLC/5 programming software, then the best approach is to use ABs upgrade program. I think however that if it were me and I was going to swap out the entire PLC, I would not use a SLC, I would swap for a CLX platform.

The PLC/2 is a really old PLC and while you can still buy a new processor it will be very expensive. Since it looks like you have the software files, I suggest you get in contact with your AB representative. AB has an upgrade program - you can trade in your old broken PLC/2 for partial credit towards a PLC/5 processor. The PLC/5 will work in the same IO rack as your PLC/2, so you dont have to rewire anything. Then you send your software to AB and they will crank it through a computer program they have that will convert it to PLC/5 software and send it back to you. I know AB offers this sevice because we have used it ourselves. Contact your AB rep. for more info.

Also try spectrum controls. The third party vendors are all participants in the AB Encompas program - that means your AB rep will have access to them and should be able to help you.

Just a thought, I dont know if you tried this or not, but are you using a crossover enet cable or a straigth thru cable? If you are connecting directly from your computer to the ENBT then you have to use a crossover cable. If you have a hub then you can use straight cables.

I attach my laptop to the network and share out my workstation floppy drive - however I have also used a pen drive and moved the activation to it first, then to the laptop. Rockwell has a tech note on moving the activation files via a USB pen drive. http://domino.automation.rockwell.com/appl...03?OpenDocument You have to download two seperate evmove applications, EVMOVECF and EVMOVEW for this to work. The standard evmove app wont work. When I did it one of my pen drives would not work however - I got an error message about a missing volume serial number on the target disk which was my usb pen drive. I tried my other pen drive and it worked just fine.

Interesting reslults Firetubes. I would have thought that the MCPs with IO updates disabled would have been slightly faster than JSRs because of the stack overhead. Well, 22 years later and I still learn something new everyday in this industry. That's what makes it such a great career IMO. Since the scan penalty isn't very much then I would recommend whatever approach the programmer and the maintenance people feel most comfortable with as the the objective is to break the program into manageable chunks, not make it more difficult to manage.

I would recommend the option that Gerry pointed out. Split the program into various program files according to function or zone. Then in the MCP tab of the processor status file, starting at word 80, enter a 2, a 3 in word 83, a 4 in word 86, etc.... until the MCP table is filled with the subroutines. See the online help for this tab in the processor status file dialog in RSL5. You can designate up to 16 program files as MCPs. Each of these will run in order without any extra programming on your part. If however you need more than 16 you will have to use JSR instructions.

Another thing, always range check your indirect address pointer with a LIM instruction before you execute the rungs with the indirection in them. If its out of range then adjust it so that it is in range or the processor will fault.