GX Develloper Upgrade

[Sleepy Wombat 27]

I know that GX Dev is a bit old hat now, however, since I do not extensively use it these days i cannot justify the cost to upgrade to the latest and greatest offering at the moment. I have Version 8.28, however, I need to mod a machine that has come from over seas and the PLC is a FX3G-60MR/ES-A. My software will not support this model. and it appears that on the surface that they have programmed this with a version V8.91. So my question is, "Is there an easy upgrade option to this version that can be downloaded from some where ? " I can upgrade Omron software free, only pay for major revsions etc, is this the case with Mitsu ? Thanks

[Crossbow 296]

Mitsubishi upgrades (at least in the US) are made only to users who have active software maintenance plans, and you get 1 year of upgrades with the software. No idea how they do it in Australia, but I know of no legal place to download an update. 8.28 is over 6 years old.

[kaare_t 155]

I'm not sure how Mistubishi Australia handles these kind of issues but I think you'd better call your local distributor and check how this can be solved.... Edited 10 Aug 2010 by kaare_t

[JRoss 84]

We now have GXWorks3 available in the states. My understanding is that it's essentially version 9, so you can't get it with the maintenance plan. Interestingly, it costs about a third of what GXDeveloper 8.xx does, and even includes the simulator (previously a paid add-on). One downside is that it no longer supports the A-series. I've also gotten somewhat mixed reviews from heavy Mitsubishi programmers (I haven't tried it yet, but will be using it on a project shortly). If you can't get your distributor to give you GX Dev 8.91 for free or very reduced, then you could buy the new version and use it on the FX3G. Keep the old version around for the A-series though.

[Crossbow 296]

JRoss I assume you mean GX Works2. And the reason you are hearing mixed reviews from the Mitsu programmers is it's including the IEC compliant program editors, which most Mitsu users are unfamiliar with. But it still can be used as a new and improved GX Developer, even if you don't want to use the new IEC programming methods. As you indicated, as of today it does not program A Series, QnA Series, Q Process CPU, Q Redundant CPU, and Q Safety.

[Goody 5]

I had the same problem a few years back. Or almost the same, I was buying 6 FX3's with the snap on monitoring screens and realised my version of GX did not program this model. My Mitsi supplier (who supplied me with my original GX as well) gave me the upgrade disk free. I don't know if this was 100% legal or not - I never asked. But they did know I was not prepared to buy the full blown version again just to program one new CPU.

[JRoss 84]

Yes, GXWorks2. It's only slightly confusing that the new HMI programming package called GTWorks3 came out about the same time... Will the package eventually cover those PLCs?

[Crossbow 296]

I have heard that Q Process, Q Redundant, and Q Safety are all planned, and the FR-A700 and FR-F700 inverters which use A0J2H PLC might be supported eventually, but I have heard no dates on these. From my understanding, there is no plan to ever include A Series and QnA Series in GX Works2.