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Guest Cliff W

Ethernet without rslinx

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Does anyone know where I can find the information on how to make an ethernet connection to any A-B PLC5 without using RSLinx? I can connect to it now with RSLinx but I would like to become none dependent on that. Has anyone done this already or know of someone who has (cheaply)? Thanks.

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There are 3rd party *.DLL drivers and ActiveX interfaces for the PLC-5 on Ethernet.   They won't work with RSView or RSLogix or RSSql, but they'll work with custom software. They're comparable to RSLinx OEM Single Node in price, that is about $300 to $500, but have no runtime licensing scheme, usually. www.softwaretoolbox.com www.kepware.com Ron Gage in Saginaw, MI has even written drivers for Linux.  www.rongage.org

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Ken is somewhat correct in his answer.  I hate to dispute him, but unless you are not doing online programming with a  PLC5 and doing a monitoring/MMI type app like with RSView32 you can use any ethernet OPC server, like Kepware's AB Suite.  Since RSView32 is an OPC Client, it can work with a OPC Server.  I have done this several times.  However, the Kepware servers are about $800 for each server.  There are also the various ActiveX controls that will not work as Ken mentioned.  The key is to make sure you are getting a PLC5 ethernet OPC server and not plc doing programming through it.  I have worked with Kepware previously had have found their OPC server to be very good.  They are also a member of the OPC Foundation (www.opcfoundation.org).

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Rong Gage has an Allen-Bradley Ethernet Library called ABEL.ZIP.  Some assembly, or C,  is required. I have customer that have converted the software to their need successfully so it should be too hard.

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You can purchase an AB Ethernet ActiveX driver for $39.99 from http://www.vhmiautomation.com that will allow you to connect without RSLinx. Regards, Phil Covington

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The big question, as has already been mentioned is whether you are talking about programming your PLC through RSLogix with another means than RSLinx to provide your communications, or whether you are talking about simply gathering information from the PLC-5 over ethernet. I have more experience using the Cimquest Active X driver for ethernet communications along with Microsoft Visual Basic, but there are other drivers out there that would certainly do the job.  If you are looking to develop a C++ or VB application to talk to the PLC-5 via ethernet, you really need to consider a communications driver that has been well tested and has a good reputation.  I have had good success with the Cimquest Ingear drivers for Modicon and A.B.  The cost for these driver can be very pricey ($999US for unlimited runtime. I am aware of Automated Solutions drivers that have been used by some people with success.  www.automatedsolutions.com I cannot comment on their drivers, since I have not used them. The vHMIautomation driver mentioned above sounds very interesting to me, but again I have no experience with it.  The price is very attractive for their driver, and is priced to the point where it sounds worth paying for a copy just to try it out.

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