Q Series communication options

[KenE 0]

Hello, I have several systems with the a Q02H CPU connected to a GOT1000 (GT1150-QLBD) through CPUs builtin serial port (The little DIN plug). We use the CPUs USB port for programming download. We would like to be able to send and receive (with some basic parsing) of ASCII strings either through serial or Ethernet. Is there a way we can use the builtin ports we have to communicate serially? Otherwise what is our most economical option that will offer good capability to send and receive (and parse) ASCII messages? I've looked at the CPU with builtin Ethernet and it has the problem of not having the little DIN connector for the serial port to communicate to the GOT. The Backplane Ethernet board is really expensive. I know they have serial cards, but haven't priced them yet, are these any good, or should I just pay the money for the Ethernet module? We have several machines we would like to add this to, so the extortion they charge for the Ethernet module would hurt! If thats what we need then, well, thats what we need. Another option that would work for us is to upgrade our HMIs to a more intelligent module with Ethernet. Something like a Red Lion G3 with builting serial and Ethernet. Then we can use that to do the serial messaging and use the Q driver to write our PLC parameters. I have to research this more to see if they do support the builtin serial port. I know some companies only support the plug in serial cards or Ethernet. The down side, of course is that we would need to reconfigure our HMI screens (Not trivial on at least one machine we have). I think in the end the answer will be that we just have to pay more money to the Melsec gods, just wanted to hear from others if there are any tricks. Thank you, Ken

[kaare_t 155]

I always go for Ethernet since I feel that this is the most "future" product, and you can also use the cards for more than just ascii strings.... Once you have your PLC's in a network you'll never want to go back... That's just my personal opinion.

[Crossbow 296]

You don't need to replace your HMI with a Red Lion. Mitsubishi GT14 offers Ethernet. And you can't send data out the built-in serial port. You would need to use the C24 module for that. The Ethernet module is an option, as you said. Another thought is L Series PLC. The L Series offers built-in Ethernet, and you can add the L6ADP-R2 to also get the serial port for the GOT.

[KenE 0]

Thanks Crossbow and kaare_t I thought this was the case but I wanted a reality check. The reason I don't want to upgrade to and ethernet CPU is because we would have to upgrade the HMI to either a higher level GT1000 *AND* upgrade the CPU or buy a module. If this is the case I'll just buy the add on Ethernet module and keep our GOTs and Q02H CPUs.the idea to use something like the red lion is that it has powerful programming language internally and both ethernet and RS232 ports and could maybe plug into our existing Q02H CPUs. It seems that they only support the plug in serial and the ethernet communication to the Q series, however (i.e. not the "programming port" DIN connector on the Q). Thanks, Ken

[kaare_t 155]

Since you have several PLC systems I guess that switching to L is not an option. Your CPU's are also very good so I don't see any reason to change these when you'll have to upgrade the HMIs too. When it comes to communication it may be possible to save some money if you choose to use serial communication (not sure about the prices), however serial communication is quite limited compared to Ethernet. That's why I prefer Ethernet. You have a lot of possibilities, and you can basically send/receive/move data between PLC's and/or HMIs/SCADA systems with ease. They are a bit pricey (it's actually really strange since Ethernet chipsets are some of the cheapest on the market) but again the possibilities are "endless" once you start using Ethernet. This may not be the absolute cheapes solution, this is just my personal opinion.

[bobtalbot 1]

Depending on your budget you could use a Red Lion Data Station, This would give you the protocol conversion & programming of the G3's, and you would keep your cpu and HMI

[JRoss 84]

I agree with Kaare, you should go Ethernet because it gives you much better capability going forward. You're just doing ASCII strings now, but what about when you decide to go to SCADA? Serial will work for that, but Ethernet is much faster. Also, you only need one port to talk to multiple devices. So when your HMI dies or gets hit by a fork truck, you can replace it with a GT14 and switch over to Ethernet with no additional cost. That being said, the C24 module will do what you want without too much additional headache (on top of having to deal with ASCII parsing, that is...). Not sure what the pricing is like compared to the Ethernet module. As an aside, I've always thought Mitsubishi's array of Ethernet products were rather limited in scope and pricey. They finally seem to be moving in the right direction with the LCPU and GT14, but it's been a long time coming!

[kaare_t 155]

I wish someone would make fork truck resistant devices.... We could really need it!

[KenE 0]

We will essentially be doing Data logging without SCADA. I wrote a windows service that records event driven ASCII string output from all of our disparate machines over Ethernet (most of which have serial ports and can use serial-ethernet converters, AKA Serial Servers.) and records the information to a SQL database. I know alot of folks do Modbus<->OPC-> Database but I'd prefer to log my data as event driven so as to not consume a ton of network traffic and the added overhead of polling the machines as OPC does. I agree though that Ethernet is more flexible and will probably go that route. It sounds like the Mitsubishi Ethernet is fairly reliable if you guys use it and give it praise. Thanks, Ken

[KenE 0]

Good thing we don't have fork trucks, although the large powered floor washer has been known to hit a machine or two .... :o) Thanks for your help guys, Ken