Joe Tauser

There may be a missing termination character in the barcode stream. Terminal programs are a lot more forgiving than Unitronics serial ports are. Does your terminal program have a hex mode where you can see ALL the characters coming in? If not, use this one: https://sites.google.com/site/terminalbpp/ You'll see it has a little radio button for HEX and ASCII selection. In hex mode, you will see all the characters including the non-printing ones such as CR and LF. This will allow you to really tell the difference between the outputs of the barcode readers. Joe T.

It's your turn to beat on it. This is a learning opportunity. If you're still having problems tomorrow I'll load it into a control on my end. Joe T.

Thank you for posting. We appreciate it! The problem is you are calling the all the Modbus reads with the same trigger and you're not checking to see if the Modbus task is busy. When you call a Modbus read block it actually spins off a separate process that takes a while to complete. It also really helps to put a little breathing room via timer between reads. I've modified your code to make a state machine cycle through the reads in order and slow it down to let the read function reset. I know the examples show chaining read blocks one after another, but my experience has been this doesn't work. You're probably going to have to update your version of Visilogic to open my file. You can fiddle with the delay times to make it go faster. You'll find that when you set them too low the blocks will hang up. Let us know how it works. Joe T. Thermofisher JT.vlp

Vision controllers do not support Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It has become almost impossible to find a mail service that lets you get around this anymore. I see you have tried other ports. Do you know if gmx has a way to not use SSL? Which protocol are you using? Often a short (0.5s) delay is needed with dealing with Unitronics communications. I've had much better luck putting a delay in between connecting the socket and calling the email block. The other thing you can do is set up a local server such as https://www.hmailserver.com/ to send your PLC mails to which can wrap them in SSL and forward them on. Yes, I know this is a problem with the Visions. I've personally talked to the Creators about it and there's nothing they can do: the Visions have been around a lot longer than SSL has. If you really need reliable email you have to step up to a UniStream. Joe T.

This is an old thread. Are you having a problem? Joe T.

There probably are other problems. Modbus works a lot better if you put a delay between requests. Post your code so we can see what you are doing. Joe T.

You set the network ID of the RC1 with the dip switches, and each RC1 must have a Node ID. Make separate entries in the UniCAN table for each one. Do have have the start of a program you can post? Joe T.

Yes, you can use this module with 100 ohm RTDs. The manual did show a three wire device but they ran four wires to the RTD and made the jumper connection there. You could certainly put the jumper at the module with a small loss of precision. Whether you want to run three or four conductors depends on what kind of accuracy you want. Joe T.

Post your code. Joe T.

For additional information on what to do when a Unitronics goes weird, search the Help for "bootstrap". Joe T.

The UniStream is out now with full web serving capability. If this is important to your application then don't bother with the Vision product. Joe T.

I tried the "Contact Us" link at the VirtualPLC site and now I'm getting conversation requests in Russian. Something regarding "reviews about garlic". I'm not kidding. I'm guessing something has happened to that site/product, as the forum posts are also two years old. I have found this to be true. Seriously, if you're going to program PLCs, buck up and buy a backup PLC and a power supply. They will fit in your travel bag. Joe T.

I tried contacting the company and did not receive a response. I would suggest you try to contact them as well and see what happens. Joe T.

I also see you have posted in the UniLogic forum. Please clarify which CPU family you are using. If it's a Vision system, read all the Help for the UniCan function block first. You'll have to write code in the master for each of the RC1 modules. You set the ID for each module using the DIP switches on the RC1 and access them via UniCAN function blocks. You write a separate program for each RC1 as well for the I/O connected to it. The example program that comes with the RC1 is overly complex in my opinion. I usually write a dedicated program just for the I/O and the drop and keep it simple. Post a detailed layout of your system and any programs you have written and we can help. Joe T.

Don't get hung up on a 1000 ms sample rate or even trying to use an interrupt. Your pulses are only coming once every second at your normal flow rate. This is going to limit your update time; your screen update is going to be slow. It would be much better if you could get 10 pulses per gallon, which is not unusual. You need to create a sliding time window where you totalize the pulses coming in for a time - say 10 seconds, and multiply the count by 6 to project the GPM based on that time. I think you're having a hard time wrapping your head around this because you're trying to get instantaneous analog-style indication from a pulse train, which at best is going to be choppy.. The closest you will be able to get is your idea of measuring the period between pulses, which will give you an approximate 1 second update. If you don't see a pulse for some time period then force it to zero and have your code wait until pulses start coming in again. If you want to simulate the input to your code use a self-resetting timer with the preset on the display to generate the pulses. Then you can easily play with pulse occurrence rates and how your code responds to them. Stop theorizing and start playing. Joe T.

You should be using positive transitionals to sense your pulses (even in an interrupt) so it doesn't matter if zero flow occurs. Joe t.

Post the communication map details. Joe T.

Yes, it is possible. You need the Modbus register map from Festo to figure out what addresses and codes are required to implement FHPP. Joe T.

You've got your work cut out for you. Usually once a customer has AB tattooed on their butt you need hydraulic machinery to get it off. The PLC 5 family has been completely obsoleted by AB and is pretty much only available on eBay and through surplus suppliers. The official AB solution is to convert them to the ControlLogix platform, which carries a hefty ($10K) price tag. Which blows because the PLC 5's actually still work great. PLC 5 Ethernet is the old AB Ethernet protocol, which is not the same as Modbus TCP. It talks to SLC 5/05's and RSLinx AB-ETH drivers. Channel 0 on some PLC 5s can be configured for RS232 DF1 protocol. Unitronics Vision series can be a DF1 master in a convoluted way, but it does work. UniStream does Ethernet I/P, which is not compatible with a PLC 5. If all you've got is Data Highway+ then you'll need a protocol adapter. I've got such an animal that converts DH+ to Modbus TCP - message me if you're interested. Which PLC 5 are you dealing with? Or is it a bunch of different types? Joe T.

You might want to re-think that request. If you average all the samples over a time frame there will be no rate of change, just an average of the entire data set. You may want to average the samples over a smaller block and store each block average in several rows of a data table. You could then compare adjacent blocks for your change alarm. Joe T.

Unitronics does not have flexible I/O addressing. Ignore what is printed on the module. When you configure your I/O in the Hardware Configuration dialog, it will tell you what the addresses will be on each module. I know this is confusing. There are little stickers included with each expansion module so you can re-label them as to what they really are. Joe T.

This is where your friendly distributor is supposed to chime in and help you select your I/O. We can't do everything over the Internet. Joe T.

Sadly, there is no simulator. Joe T.

That is a good question. I don't have an EXF-RC15 handy so I'll tell you to do what I'd do. Try it out and see if it barfs. Let us know what you find out. You won't break the PLC. Joe T.

Sometimes you need input from "the hand that wrote all". (From The Alchemist). The ability to look at the config window and know which module it's for is deep and intimate knowledge. I am so glad that this forum has regular contributions from those who really know what's going on under the hood. It is the mark of a company who is truly concerned about the successful implementation of their products. Joe T.