Heard of these guys?

Has anyone heard of a company called Barix? I've been looking for a low-cost ethernet based PLC just to do some simple monitoring & control and I ran across their website.
They have something called a BarioNet that supposedly has a built-in webserver and 8 dig-ins, 4 dig-outs, & 4 analog-ins. I emailed their U.S. partner & it is only $295...
Sounds too good to be true. Has anyone used this thing before? Anyone know how it is programmed? Don't want to buy it and find out that it is something that I can't use.
thanks.

I would look at Automation Direct instead

Rod (The CNC dude)

One drawback is that their digital I/Os are only 12Vdc and not the industry standard of 24Vdc.

Kind regards,

Hi,

Ever though of beckhoff? There have very moduled I/O and networkconnections. And at a very low cost.

Rudi

Yeah, I've looked at Beckhoff and I like their stuff too. But their low cost ethernet controller does not have a built-in webserver (no hmi capability), and you need their 'TwinCAT' software to program the units. From what I've been able to find, there isn't anything out there that matches Barix's BarioNet controller when it comes down to bottom line price and what you get. (if everything works like their docs say)

- Programmable controller
- Built in Webserver for HMI
- 8 built in digital input points (I don't need 24V, just contact closure detection)
- 4 built in digital output points
- 4 0-5V analog input points
- 2 relay outputs 230VAC 5A
- Rs232, Rs485
- You don't have to buy special software to program
- total cost of $295

If I tried to get the above with Beckhoff for instance it would be something like $270 for their BC9000 ethernet controller, $40 for 8 digital inputs, $30 for 4 digital outputs, $180 for 4 analog inputs, $40 for relay outptus, $150 for Rs232, $??? for TwinCAT software? And no HMI capability.

Does anyone know of an established industrial PLC manufacturer that can match the Barix deal? Has anyone actually used the Barix stuff before? Seems like a pretty good deal, but I'm not sure if I want to use it on a large project if no one has ever seen the stuff before.

Thanks.

If you need analog * E-net I cant think of a better deal..

I recently saw a little demo on these units from proface.
http://www.xycom.com/cms/resource_library/products/cbc47077a10983bf/index.html

Not sure about pricing though.

Bob

Thanks Bob! I'll check it out.

I think Entertron can do this with their SmartPak series, with an Analog input option, and I do believe that itis HMI compatable.

Entertron "LINK"

Call them for more info, and please mention plcs.net.

Reasonably Priced, FREE Software and Tech Support.

Offline program simulation, test program without PLC.

regards.....casey

Try these guys, they have some neat things to offer when it comes to web based control of thier plc.

http://www.tri-plc.com/xserver.htm

I havent tried the Xserver yet, but I am very happy with the PLC.

Willpower

Here is the link to the Triangle Research PLC webpage,

http://www.tri-plc.com/t100md.htm

Should have put that in the last post.

Willpower

Thanks for all of the good info everyone. Definitely good products all around. I didn't find anything that matched the BarioNet functionality for the price though.
I am going to go ahead and order a few of them and see what they can do. I would still be interested in hearing from anyone that has used them before.
Thanks again for all of the ideas.

Barionet - Works Great!

We bought 2 Barionets from some company called GridConnect and easily got them setup to monitor some temperatures and humidity. We were struggling with getting the points to alarm and contacted GridConnect to get help and found out they no longer sell or support them. We were passed on to DataNab and they helped us get the alarming going even though we didn't buy the original controllers from them. We bought 2 more from DataNab and everything works - End story - great price - great features - great support. We have plans to try Barionet's for something more complicated then our original basic app., but haven't yet.

We've used the barionet for a number of apps and we like it. Typically just for some simple control sequences but also to add visualization capabilities to our older or low cost systems that wouldn't otherwise have that feature. Throw one of the controllers on a machine and then you can use any PC with an internet browser as your front end...
I heard that our IT guys started using them as well to monitor for temp, humidity, or water alarms in their server rooms. I guess they can have the barionet send an email to their cell phones & pagers when something goes into alarm state.
If you are wondering how to progam the thing, check out www.datanab.com. They are the guys that we buy the units from and they have a pretty solid amount of reference material available for the barionet on their web-site.
good luck.