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John_R

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Everything posted by John_R

  1. Flex, this is the direction I was leaning, something like a Vector-Shift-Left, plug a value into the starting address, which then bumps the rest of the values down, then do the math. I see the Store Direct under Math/Float/Basic functions, but (unless I'm missing the obvious), you can't do vector functions with MF's. So, are you thinking that I should have a net with 6 of these Float Store Directs in series, each moving the previous value to the next, then doing the math? Aus, I was thinking that if I plugged one value in and dropped one off, then did a sum & divide, that would be a rolling average.... JohnR
  2. Hey All, Anyone have an elegant way to do an average on floating (MF) numbers? I am reading a float value from a device every 10 seconds, but saving that value once a minute to a Data Table, I would like to keep a running average of the 6 reads per minute and store that instead of whatever the value is at that instant. Some sort of FIFO arrangement where the newest value comes in and the oldest value drops off with an output value of the running average. I've used the Filter FB before with integers, but that doesn't work with floats (unless I'm missing something). Any Ideas? Regards, JohnR
  3. Yep, been thinking about that lately, I've been making tounge-in-cheek comments about retiring for a couple of years, and the bosses say "yeah, yeah, sure you are, who'd take your place?".... I got a new manager last fall, and first thing I said to him was, "well you know, I turn 62 next year, and I'm thinking about retiring"..... 🏝️ Now I have a young protege that I'm supposed to teach "everything I know" (by osmosis I suppose because I still don't get a lot of one-on-one time with him), but he's a sharp young man and slowly picking up on things. JohnR
  4. +1 to that Aus, I cringe every time our IT guy moves something else to a cloud based app. we lost our internet connection last week (fiber cut somewhere), and the whole front office went idle cause no one could get to their work.... geez Aus, I haven't heard that term since they started making sliced bread🙃
  5. In my case the answer is YES...... We probably ALL have at one time or another But that's the reason we're so anal about saving to multiple locations, lesson learned.
  6. Same here Flex..... I save to a new file name daily, appending the file name with the days date, such as; 1210 formax 03 20 19.vlp If I do a lot of changes I will sometimes add an A, B, C after the date and have multiple saves in a day, plus I add the PLC model to the name also. So far as storage, I work off a USB hard drive, and try to be diligent about copying my files to my C drive and a network drive. And as in other recent discussions, I'll save my version number somewhere on a display; v032019
  7. Thanks Guys..... It was as simple as changing the site option from "create Excel file" to "create .csv file" and using the default comma separator..... In all my other DataXport sites I've used the Excel file option and it always worked as expected, but this is my first time dealing with floating numbers... Live and Learn 🤓 JohnR
  8. +1 to what Flex says..... This beta version seems to be a big problem lately, it's great that the beta is available for seasoned users to experiment with and help find bugs, but we are seeing too many new users grabbing the beta version for their first programming experience....
  9. Hey All, Today's dilemma..... I'm doing some data collection from a mass flow meter, saving values to a data table which I grab from the PLC using DataXport. The values I'm saving to the data table are floating numbers (MF's), and when I look at the data table the values look fine. But when I open the excel file created through DataXport, the floating numbers somehow get changed to "Number Stored as Text", and the guy who is analyzing the data isn't happy with this format.... I can do a conversion in my logic from the MF to an ML or an MI, and the guy will have to be happy with an implied decimal point to either 6 places or 3 places. But I'm wondering if anyone knows the reason for the float to text phenomenon, or how to change the way the excel file saves it? JohnR
  10. I don't think so.... to me, setup and programming is the physical installation and programming (designing, panel building, debugging, installing). while commissioning is the act of putting the equipment into service (installation, final testing, and "handing the keys" over to the end user). My 2 cents, others may have differing opinions.... JohnR
  11. Within DataXport you will create a "site", Under Design, you create; the comms connection of the PLC (PLC name, IP address, port etc.), the data table you want set a schedule for it to run Under Project/Excel/.cvs file properties. you define the folder on your PC to store file. And you can also setup emails for the report. You can also do this manually within Visilogic; insure you can connect to the PLC, while offline, open the Data Table and click the icon that says "read data structure and files from PLC" highlight the cells you want to save and click the "export to excel icon" JohnR
  12. I typically use DataXport to create an excel file from the Data Table, and save it to a folder on my PC You can set up a schedule a weekly time and where to save it. or you can have it send an email....
  13. +1 to both Aus and Flex regarding reading an entire vector and picking out what you want if they are close, or separate reads if they are spread out. Similar to Flex's example, I typically use a state machine of sorts, to step through each read via an index count (which is reset after the last read).
  14. Hey All, Thanks for the suggestions/opinions, nice to see that I'm not the only one missing any hard-fast rules. I think I'm going to follow this topology which comes from a recent (non Unitronics) project that I was involved in. We are using Belden 3106A cable, which is listed as "1.5 pair with shield", meaning there is a pair for the signal (ORG/wht, WHT/org), a single conductor for DC common (BLU/wht), which is connected to the DC common on each device, and the Shield, which is connected cable to cable at each device but only earthed at the PLC end of the circuit. And a 120 ohm terminating resistor at the last device. JohnR
  15. I see a "play" bar now, but still no video
  16. Hey All, I'm looking for opinions on using RS485 With Termination or not? (MODBUS RTU on V570). On past projects using MODBUS to talk to one or more A-B VFD's, I have turned on the termination at the PLC and let it be the "end unit". In these cases the VFD's were fairly close to the PLC. Now I'm working on a project to collect data from multiple Mass Flow Sensors via MODBUS, and the last unit will be a hundred feet or so from my PLC. I'm wondering if I should set my PLC port to no termination, and put a termination resistor on the unit furthest away? To me, this seems like the correct way to do things. (I also plan to use 3-cond w/shield MODBUS cable, and only connect shield to ground at the PLC) Right? Wrong? Indifferent? Let's hear some opinions on running long MODBUS runs..... JohnR
  17. I had this same problem last week on a 100+ foot drop from a V560 to my network switch, cable looked good with my tester, I could connect my laptop the the network switch through the cable, but could not connect my laptop back the other way to the V560. I snipped off the ends and crimped on new RJ45 connectors, and magically everything was happy. JohnR
  18. Update.... After a little experimentation, I realized that the MODBUS data was correct. Just had to get my head out of my back pocket and think about what I was looking at. The data registers I was accessing were Float, and I was trying to stuff them into MI's. which obviously didn't work. JohnR
  19. Well, we finally got this device in hand, and after dealing with a couple other projects higher up on the priority list I got it installed. The analog 4-20ma output was simply that, a value calibrated to a specific range, 4ma = 0gpm to 20ma = 67gpm (odd range, but that's what it is). And as we all suspected, the "pulsed" output was something completely different. Hooked it up to my V570/V200-18-E3XB, and in short order I had a scaled value on screen that mirrored the display on the massflow meter. Now I am toying with the possibility that we install more of these devices, at which point I plan to make a dedicated PLC and MODBUS them all together. I have started to mock that up with a V560 I had sitting on the bench, I have managed to sort through their comms protocol, and got my V560 talking to the device (which is half the battle), now I'm a bit confused with their data layout. I'm getting values from different registers but they are not the numbers I'm expecting to see. They have a setting for MODBUS Order, I am assuming that their default would match the Vision protocol. Can anyone confirm or refute this? Regards, JohnR
  20. Ahh, well I have not yet purchased this device, but thought if you remembered how it was setup I could apply the same thought process to the devices I already have....
  21. Flex, I work in a meat processing facility, and every night the whole place gets pressure washed from ceiling to floor. Everything that shouldn't get wet does, wired connections that should be disconnected before moving equipment usually get yanked out, or at least thoroughly soaked. The wash crew is just a bunch of animals when it comes to moving stuff. Anything I can do to make my stuff a bit more foolproof only benefits me. So, can you share with me how you configure this devices to work with the vision PLC's, perhap's I'll see what I'm doing wrong. Thanks, JohnR
  22. All I'm trying to do is make a couple portable machines wireless so I don't have have wired drops. Of course, our IT guy has got our wired infrastructure divided into different subnets; one subnet for workstations (XXX.XXX.70.XXX) another subnet for printers (XXX.XXX.69.XXX) my PLC network is on subnet (XXX.XXX.68.XXX) the wireless infrastructure on another subnet (XXX.XXX.203.XXX) And through some IT magic my workstation on .70 can talk to my PLC's on .68 and my laptop can connect via wireless from .203 to my PLC's on .68 but when I try to setup a bridge to connect a plc to .203, I can't get it to talk back the other direction (although the IT guy says it should all work).
  23. hmmm, well I have tried to make a vision plc wireless a few times, tried several different wireless bridge/ap devices, but never was able to get a connection, if you got it working then I must be going about this all wrong. I'm certainly no IT whiz.
  24. I can see this working on a unistream device as it is a linux box, but has anyone gotten this to work with a vision device? JohnR
  25. at least the second fuse down is properly insulated.....🤨
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