Simon

Ooooh! Didn't know about the V570 firmware upgrade for 16-bit colour.

Thanks Cara, I always get nervous when I point out an "obvious" error, as sometimes the error is with my perception.

Hello, If I am the only one that doesn't understand this please accept my apologies. The changelog for Visilogic 8.6.3 list the following addition to Visilogic. However I can't see any real change from previous versions of Visilogic. Can anyone help explain this feature?

The logo movie is in fact just a normal visilogic project, so there is actually a project in the PLC. DLU backup relates to the fact that the project has been saved to flash in the PLC and these files will be deleted if you download a new project.

I would expect a Bit-> Num conversion to use a vector of numerical registeres once the number of bits exceeded the size of the MI, ML or DW. Hence the "number" in those registers would not make sense as a number, but would be a valid bitwise repesentation of the original vector of individual bits. So, if you then converted the vector of numbers back to a vector of bits, you should get what you started with. Maybe the term BIT->WORD conversion would be a little less confusing?

Good suggestion Damian.

I was offered an unused ABB pressure transducer with HART interface (see http://www.hartcomm.org/). HART stands for Highway Addressable Remote Transducer. Showing the ability to read all values from such a device using Unitronics is an advantage for applications in the mining and resources sectors in particular.Using the Turck BL20-E-GW-EN and BL20-2AIH-I a simple ModbusTCP gateway module was possible. Whilst all HART values are accessible as Modbus registers, the conventional 4..20mA input value is stored as a 16-bit signed integer (MI) but the HART values are 32-bit Float values (MF). Also the Float registers must have the word order reveresed. I currently have a V530 program that reads all values and displays them on the screen. Using SB102 allows the word order to be reversed when reading the Floats.Two problems currently remain* The remote device does not appear to detect a lost connection, and doesn't automatically connect on power up. Not sure what is happening here, but it seems like the problem is with the remote device, as I have not had this much trouble communicating with other ModbusTCP devices from a Unitronics PLC.* converting the project to V350 mostly worked, but the reversal of the float words did not work - also not sure about that one, and haven't spent the time reading the help files for clues at this stage..

Hello, With those protocols, you are restricted to a 2-step process: Using UniCAN, synchronsie the live data from PLC B to a local copy in PLC A Using Modbus, read/write from the local copy in PLC A to the PC. Other options: * Use DDE or OPC server in PC to talk to PLC A, then use the CAN pass-trhough function to read/write data in PLC B directly from the PC software. * If you are on ModbusRTU, extend the RS485 link to PLC B, replacing the CAN bus. Then you can read/write both PLCs directly with ModbusRTU.

The old forum required moderation of all posts. Part of the issue has been learning the layout and behaviour of the new forum. Once everyone is familiar with it, I see no reason why it will be any slower than the old forum. As for the policy about whether to allow immediate posting by all members, that's up to Unitronics.

Automatically connect to a PLC when you start your PC and display the PLC screen in the sidebar?

Just following up on Pascal's comment: You can of course go the other way and export your own code from your initial program and imort it into a new Advanced Webserver project. Just another option...

To answer you fundamental question, yes it is possible to send AT commands to a modem using the protocol block. Any response from the modem can be scanned using the protocol block, or it can be simply ignored if not relevant to your requirements. Unitronics do have built-in GPRS support for a number of modems, but you need one of the supported modems. I am also not sure whether it is possible to set up the GPRS connection using the Unitronics functions, then switch to protocol FB for sending general ASCII data.

Hi Olaf - FWIW = "For What It's Worth" - in other words, saying "this is just a suggestion, my opinion only, not intended to to start a major argument" You are right that the forum is great for solving immediate problems as well as providing an archive that continues to help users long after the original problem was solved. However I would still say some form of direct contact is a wise move if you need an immediate answer. If the solution is obtained directly rather than through the forum, it is always possible to then post the solution back to the forum afterward. I guess the bottom line is that the forum is intended to be as responsive as possible, but not always in "real time".

Hello, as far as I am aware you are correct in both cases. We eagerly await the "Enhanced Webserver FB"...

IMHO, if you need urgent and immediate support I would contact your local Unitronics representative, or email directly to support@unitronics.com (depending on your relationship with your local distributor, it is nice to let them know if you contact Uni HQ directly). Some of us moderators are volunteers, and we get to the task as soon as possible. I have also found that the new forum makes it a little harder to see that a post is awaiting moderation, so they are easy to miss.. I have already fed that back to Unitronics to see if something can be done. FWIW I would rather the team at Unitronics put forum moderation at least 3rd in their priorities. 1. make great products 2. answer their direct emails 3. moderate forum posts.

Hello Olaf, For ASCII strings you require a refresh bit for the HMI variable and you need to use a different bit for each variable. Using the same bit to try and refresh all ASCII vars produces the type of behaviour you describe. Another possible cause is that you are calling that screen from the ladder and using a direct logic condition rather than a 1-shot (eg edge triggered contact). I hope this helps.

Thanks Ash (and Phil), that's good to know, I will make more use of it. In this case I am glad my initial assumptions were wrong! Nothing like an endless loop to really foul things up...

Looks like I have posted twice, and can't see how to delete the second copy - HELP! (Phil: Deleted!)

Hi Phil, Thanks for the post. This is of interest to me as I have come from a background of PC-based programming and it's always a brain-stretch to cross between that and PLC ladder logic. Whilst I generally agree with the usefulness of loops, my understanding of jumps in the Unitronics world is that they only jump forwards, not backwards. So the "jump back" actually causes the PLC to end the scan at the jump instruction and start the next scan at the jump label. So in the example of a loop, n interations would take n scans, and the other code in the program would not be executed during this time. If the code in the loop is short and the PLC is fast (like the V570) then this wil still execute reasonably well. This isn't confirmed knowledge, and the help file is not definitive on this point. A simple program could be used to test it, or if a Unitroics engineer is reading, it could be confirmed by revelation. Or maybe I am wrong all together...

It needs to be 12V (assuming you set up the V120 for 12V operation). You could possibly use optocouplers, but they would need to be fast enough to transmit the encoder signal at max frequency.

Hello Emil, This is the old "can we round off MF values for display" question. yewtech, At this stage probably the easiest method is to use the "num to ASCII" and set the number of decimal places there, then display the value as ASCII. If you need keypad entry then the other option is to split the number in to two MI values and disaply them with a decimal point in between.

I believe I once posted some suggestions to the effect that it would be nice to have it as part of the upload/download options.Upload: option to bring back the live values and save them with the project. Nice for swapping out a faulty PLC.Download: allows the programmer to initialise values for the first time that need to change during the operation of the machine (so are no good for setting with power up values).

Hello, Unitronics don't support HART on their analogue inputs. However you could use an external device on ethernet, for example. The Turck BL20-E-GW-EN ethernet gateway with BL20-2AIH-I analogue HART input module should allow you to read the HART registers via ModbusTCP. I have one on my desk to play with, haven't got there yet, but will try to post the results once I do.

Also, does the MJ20-PRG plug fully into the unit? Take the back off the PLC to check. We have seen the occasional case where the alignment of the connectors is slightly off and the MJ20-PRG doesn't plug fully in. Alternatively, with some misalginment the pins on the PLC connector can get pushed back and bent, then they do not plug into the adaptor even if it is pushed all the way into the housing.

Now there's a hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is.