One USB cable for all PLC brands?

[king144 0]

Greetings, We just purchased two new HP laptops - we call them PPU's- for use by our PLC troubleshooters. With these new laptops we now have USB ports avaible. In the past we've had to carry asround a bucket full of modified RS-232 cables in order to communicate with our various brands of PLC's. So, I'm wondering if there are unique USB/RS-232 adapters on the market that plug into various brands of PLC's. Thanks, -Andy PLC Documenation GP/Koch Corp {Pending buyout} Camas Mill E-mail: richard.anderson@gapac.com

[Wordman 0]

If you have all of the cables, most people just use a USB to Serial converter. I've had problems with some of them. For instance my Tripp Lite worked fine on AB Micrologix but wouldn't work with a Proface Quickpanel. Maybe others can tell you which ones they've confirmed have worked with specific brands. I use a Quatech PCMCIA Card instead of a USB adapter. Works great, have linked to any and all brands of controllers/HMIs/devices that have RS232 ports.

[panic mode 245]

sell your laptop, bucket and all converters and buy Dell Latitude

[TimWilborne 108]

You can make the cables up around 6 inches long and make one extension cable. Then maybe you can just carry a bag of cables instead of a bucket depending on how many different Plcs you have Edited 2 Dec 2005 by TWControls

[gravitar 3]

What is different/better about a Dell?

[Mickey 70]

Dell Latitude It has a real serial port

[Chris Elston 77]

You could probablly use this USB to RS/232 cable here: http://shopv2.mrplc.com/product_info.php/p.../products_id/71 The cable is considered a NULL adapter cable. If most of your PLCs use a NULL cable to program, it's possible that this cable would work for your needs.

[panic mode 245]

Yes, every Latitude has real com port. Note that Dell Inspirons are 'consumer grade' laptops just like any other model you can find in places like BestBuy, TigerDirect etc. don't go for those if you need RS232.

[Spedley 0]

And I've never managed to get a Compaq laptop to work with a 1747-PIC - ever!

[panic mode 245]

one good thing about Dell is cheap power supplies ($50) so I can five spare ones (one in a glove box in my car, one in the office, one in my suitcase... ). I'll never have to worry about forgetting to bring it with me. Also I remember times when for replacement PSU for one of my older machine I had to pay almost $400.

[chrisbramall 1]

I've got a Compaq NX9005 which does have a real RS232 port and works fine with the 1747-PIC. You have to let the system install the specific PIC serial driver. Chris