Ash Neilson

Damian, Good on ya for moving up to Windows 7! It's really a great operating system (Vista was a disaster!!) There is only one thing in Windows 7 that causes MANY programs MANY issues and that is User Account Control (Commonly known as UAC) The best idea once you get your laptop is to disable UAC in the Control Panel (Its under "Users"). Then it will be smooth sailing with VisiLogic from there

Well said Simon! Just wondering - Do you use much EtherCAT Communication over the hedge there? Seems to be quite a nice "Industrial" Ethernet Medium and Protocol for IO based Hardware. Might be another handy thing to see implemented in the Unitronics PLC range

Fantasia83, VisiLogic 8.9.5 ready for testing at http://ftp.unitronics.com/Downloads/BETA/

Is that the 8.9.5 BETA? I still didn't see any color changes? Maybe it still looks 256 color in VisiLogic but 16-Bit in the PLC?

Tim, I just ran a quick test to see if it was possible. After saving a trend to the SD Card in the PLC, I Imported the SD Card into the "SD Card Manager" App. I could then drill down to the folder where my Trend was stored (TRENDS/TRENDS1), clicked on the .usd file which then brings up the Graph. From there the "Export to Excel" feature works P.S. - Shouldn't this be under the SD Card Suite section of the forum?

OOooo Harsh Us Kiwi's are good at moderating posts at a.. moderate rate I do like the idea of a "Respected Member" though - means those people who know their stuff and respect the forum can get posting without waiting!

Hi Vidmas30, I am slowly getting there with reading the Russian on the PDF Manual Could you possibly post the PLC Program here on the forum or send to ash@comtech.co.nz? It's a lot easier to see where you may be going wrong if I can see exactly how you are trying to communicate. The PDF Manual makes things a LOT easier now that we can see what the Modbus TCP/IP Addressing structure is

Any time Fantasia83! Glad the problem is resolved

Hi Matt, I'd have to say that is the dreaded screen that can sometimes be a mission to resolve Firstly, have you checked your program for any possible "Loops" where the Program Scan would take too long or wouldn't end? If you want to upload your program or send it to ash@comtech.co.nz I can inspect it for you. Secondly, I have found that tiny shorts in electrical wiring can actually cause the PLC to "Semi-Halt" for a few Milliseconds which causes the Watchdog Error Screen to come up. In one installation, it took us about 3 hours or testing, jiggling and wiring before we found a Pressure Transducer that had two wires shorting every now and then. Lastly - This could also be caused by EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference), which can be produced by anything AC based that is switching a big load or varying switching frequency - like a BIG solenoid being switched on and off or a VSD (Variable Speed Drive). You can actually buy meters that will tell you the level of EMI around them, but the easiest step is just to check if you do have any of these EMI producing devices. Have a look at the above things and get back to me. Hopefully it's an easy fix once I have some more information

Thanks for posting up the info! I can't see anything that is wrong with your system or settings - So I would have to agree it must be the USB to Serial Adapter. Not all of the USB to Serial Adapters correctly "Emulate" a "Real" Serial Port - so you have to be careful when buying one Good luck with trying another adapter!

Hi Fred, I have a couple of suggestions for you that might help things. - Check you have an Access Name for the PLC ---------------------------------------------- 1) Open InTouch WindowMaker 2) Click on the "Special" Menu (Top Menu Bar) 3) Click on "Access Names" 4) Make sure your PLC Name is listed there - If not, continue on the steps 5) Click "Add" 6) In the "Access" Box (Top of the Window), type the name you would like for the "PLC" (Doesn't have the be the actual PLC Name) 7) Leave the "Node Name" Blank 8) Set the "Application Name" to "OPCLink" (Without Quotation Marks) 9) Set the Topic Name to the same as the "Access" Box (The name you would like for the PLC in Step 6) 10) Check "SuiteLink" as the "Protocol to Use" 11) Check "Advise All Items" for "When to Advise Server" 12) Click the "OK" button and your Access Name is now Setup! - Check that your OPCLink Topic is setup correctly ---------------------------------------------------- 1) Open the OPCLink Application 2) Click on the "Configure" Menu (Top Menu Bar) 3) Click on "Topic Definition" 4) Click on your Topic that has been setup for the PLC - If not topic is added use the Following Steps 5) Click the "New" Button 6) Set the "Topic Name" to your preferred "PLC" Name (Same as the Access Name in InTouch) 7) Leave the "Node Name" Blank 8) Select "UniOPC.Server" from the "OPC Server Name" Drop Down Menu 9) Set the "OPC Path" to the PLC Name as set in UniOPC and a '.' on the end (For Example: "PLCName.") 10) Set the "Update Interval" to anything 1000ms or more (Less than 1000ms can cause UniOPC crashing issues) 11) Check the "Poke Asynchronously" Box is Ticked - Double Check your Update Rate in UniOPC ------------------------------------------- I have found in the past in UniOPC that my "Update Rate" for a PLC was incorrect as I had it set to "00:00:00:01" which means 10ms!!! Double Check that your "Update Rate" for the PLC is at least 1 Second or more ("00:00:01:00") - Make sure your InTouch Tags are Defined Correctly ----------------------------------------------------- When defining an InTouch Tag, remember to Select your PLC as the "Access Name" The following lists how your "Item" or "Tag" Syntaxes should be: MB = dMB<address> (Example: dMB0119) MI = iMI<address> (Example: iMI0020) ML = iML<address> (Example: iML020) MF = rMF<address> (Example: rMF05) Timer Preset = mTP<address> (Example: mTP015) Timer Current = mTC<address> (Example: mTC150) I try to keep my Addresses padded with Zeros '0' as it prevents UniOPC for crashing at times as well (Not Compulsory, but it helps) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hopefully this post has enough information to help resolve your issue! Sorry about it being so LONG, but it lays out the process of checking everything really easily If you get through this and are still having issues - if the computer is connected to the internet, I can help by remotely assisting you free of charge to fix the issue.

Hrmm... bit of a hard one to fix! When the PLC Receives a "*" that means an Unknown Character - which usually means the PLC has a different Baud Rate to the PC. I think the 2) and 3) should be around the other way 3) The PC is sending the "Synchronize" to 115200 Baud Command 2) The PLC is replying saying "Yup, we have Synchronized" to 115200 Baud! So that means the Synchronizing is kinda working. Could you try the following and see if your USB to Serial Adaptor has these settings: 1) Click on the Start Menu 2) Right-Click "Computer" 3) Click "Properties" 4) Click on "Device Manager" (Top Left Panel) 5) Click on a Tab Named "Ports (COM & LPT)" 6) Right-Click on "USB Serial Port (COM5)" 7) Click "Properties" 8) In the Properties Window, Click the "Port Settings" Tab 9) Check the Bits per Second, Data Bits and what not in that section 10) If there is an "Advanced" Button, Click on it 11) Hopefully you can take a screenshot of the Advanced Settings Window and Post it here. Sorry about it being a LONG list of steps - Microsoft love to tuck all these more advanced settings away! Hopefully you can follow the steps and provide me with more information so we can get it working

I think in all fairness - the Vision 1040 is a HUGE step forward giving us much more Screen Real-Estate. We don't want Unitronics to become great HMI Makers and bad PLC Designers if they get too focused on BIG HMI Panels

There you go - Moderated and Visible in less than 1 minute

I believe the 16-Bit Color Update is for ALL Color PLC's, so the Vision 350 should also look spectacular!

I definitely see the use of this if you are in-fact only downloading Program Updates that don't have any Timer Changes as you suggest. I will message Emil and get him to have a read of the posts to see what he thinks - He can submit the idea to R&D from there

Tim, Sounds like your really having fun with Modbus! Ah I see why you were having issues! You can't have a SCAN or SCAN_EX Function Block being called while for example a PHR or RHR Function Block is being called. As far as I know, you could stop SCAN / SCAN_EX, do your PHR and RHR Function Blocks wait for the Replies to come back, then run SCAN / SCAN_EX again. I believe SCAN and SCAN_EX cause all the replies from PHR and RHR Function Blocks to be read and processed before they get back to their PHR and RHR Function Blocks. Maybe it even prevents the messages from going out in the first place. Hope that helps

Hi Fantasia83, What Baud Rate are you using in the Terminal Software to Communicate with the PLC? I know the Vision 570 is best Communicated with at 115200 Baud. If the PLC hasn't been "Configured" to use 57600 Baud, VisiLogic will send a "Break Signal" over Serial, then Set the PLC's Parameters to 9600 Baud and then to the User Selected 57600 Baud. Give 115200 Baud a try and see if that works for you. I am assuming you are running a fairly recent version of VisiLogic? Say Version 8.6.2 or 8.6.3? Another option to try is before opening VisiLogic, Right-Click the Icon and select "Run as Administrator". Hope this works for you

Yes you could possibly have that option - however, what happens to any timers you have just added to the project? On downloading a Project with some new Timers, the PC might have a value of say 2 seconds ("00:00:02.00") and the PLC would usually have a value of 0 seconds ("00:00:00.00"). If you used the "Do Nothing Option", you would then need to manually set the Timer Values in the PLC. This could be annoying if you added 20 new timers Another issue - Every time you go do download an Update of your Program, the Timers will still the incorrect compared to the Project. What if you updated a bunch of timers with new values? I still think the best option yet would be the option to select for each timer "Upload to PC" or "Overwrite in PLC" Hopefully Emil, Ofir or Cara could help confirm what I have posted.

I am assuming this would be either a Vision 130, Vision 350 or Vision 570 PLC? If it's the Vision 350 or 570, try the following steps: 1) Turn the PLC Power Off 2) Touch and Hold your finger on the Touch Screen 3) Power the PLC Back On 4) Wait about 6 - 10 seconds with your finger still Touching the Display 5) Set your Serial Baud Rate to 115200 in VisiLogic 6) Try Downloading the OS again. If you are using the Vision 130, repeat the same process, but instead of Touching the Screen, Press and Hold the Info (i) Button

Thought I would also just mention Tim - you are correct about SB3 and SB7. They are on for half of the Time Period then off for the other Half. SB3 will turn On when the Second Value changes, then turn off 500ms later. SB7 will turn On when the Millisecond Value reaches a 100msec Value (e.g. 100ms, 200ms, 300ms, 400ms) and turn Off 50ms later (e.g. 150ms, 250ms, 350ms, 450ms).

Hi Tim, As far as I can see, "Calling" or "Activating" any Modbus Function Blocks using ONE pulse should be just fine. I'd bet that calling another Modbus Function Block while a "Function is in Progress" could cause issues, hence the reason why Unitronics would recommend we make use of that "Function in Progress" Bit. I have attached a VisiLogic Project I just created for you that makes use of a Vision 280 PLC. I tested using a Vision 280 running OS 5.04 Build 18 (The Latest) and found everything to be working just fine. You will want to adjust the Start Address and Read / Write Length of all the PHR and RHR Function Blocks to suit any Modbus Devices you have. I included an extra bit of Ladder Logic that I use to "Roughly" calculate how long each Modbus Function Block takes to execute. Hope you can resolve your issues using this Modbus Example.vlp

Unfortunately a "Do Nothing" Idea won't really work. When a PLC Program is downloaded, the Timers in the PLC "MUST" be overwritten by the Timers in the VisiLogic Project. It has to do with where the Timers themselves are stored within the PLC after Downloading. I think if anything, a really nice feature to ask for would be the ability to select which values are used for which timers. For each Timer that needs updating, we could select "Update Project" or "Update PLC". Currently EVERY Timer that needs updating must "Update the Project" or "Update the PLC", we have no control over which Timer Value goes where.

Damian, I found this - http://www.ampsic.com/blog/?p=145 I'm assuming Unitronics released information to these guys, looks AMAZING!!!!!!

Tim - Are you using Modbus IP or just standard Modbus over RS232 / RS485? I have found with Standard Modbus Installations, that the best way to maximize communication throughput without collision issues and what not is to use step logic (Usually sequencing on an MI). Listed below is an example of the steps involved in this Logic: 1) PHR Block is called and we instantly Jump to Step 2 2) Wait for the Function in Progress Bit to be Off "0" before we Jump to Step 3 3) RHR Block is called and we instantly Jump to Step 4 4) Wait for the Function in Progress Bit to be Off "0" before we Jump back to Step 1 As shown above, you will be Sending out the Modbus Request, waiting for the Reply and then be ready to send out another Modbus Request. One issue I have noticed with cheap RS485 devices is they have issues with me sending out a message instantly after I have received a reply - In that case you just add say a 20 - 50ms Timer before each Modbus FB is called If you want I can send an example of this Modbus Logic in a PLC Program. I have used this logic for years on many installations and never had one issue.