AB low cost alternative

http://www.xycom.com/cms/products/35812b309191a392/index.html

We have a couple of these in use now and seem to be working good. If you find one with the right I/O count and screen size it may save you some $. They also have special promotions for first time users.

Bob

Thanks for the link to Xycom. I was just looking at these on Friday and waiting on pricing for my Zycom sales rep. How was the software to use?

Actually, meaning PLC practically any other brand is better value than AB.
And the display does not have at all to be of the same make.

I use Panasonic GT series displays (a.k.a. Aromat) with Mitsubishi, Omron and Allen Bradley PLC.

In AB the action or even status of the accumulator (math register) is mostly hidden as most math operations immediately send the output to a destination register. But the operation is still the same:

An operand is loaded into the accumulator.
An operation is performed using another operand.
The result is sent to a destination.

In AD these are simply 3 seperate instructions

LD V2000
ADD V2001
OUT V2002

This would be equivalent in AB to a single ADD instruction

Don't let the idea that taking 3 instructions to do the work of 1 is somehow inferior. Let's say you have to add up 5 numbers. In AB this would be 4 ADD instructions with the destination of all but the last some dummy storage register.

In AD it would be

LD V2000 - this brings the initial operand into the accumulator
ADD V2001 - add, leaving the result in the accumulator
ADD V2002 - ditto
ADD V2003 - ditto
ADD V2004 - ditto
OUT V2005 - send the result to a destination

In some cases the accumulator (math register) in AB must be referred to directly. A DIV instruction provides a rounded answer. But, hiding in the math register are the unrounded quotient and the remainder for those who need it.


If you have any other AD questions please post them or even go to the AD forum

Thanks Bernie,
After reading your post and some repeated attempt, I got the hang of it. I had some issues with the Optipanel mapping. Just couldn't figure out how to write to the pushbuttons and the text dispaly after looking thru the Automation direct manual.

Finally, I downloaded the Optimate manual from manufacturers website. I found it much easier to understand and was up and running in about 15 minutes.

Not a bad little setup for apx. $250.00 but I wonder how long the dispaly will last in the field.

Thanks again,
Akim Reforsado

arefor32 said:

Typically, I use AB components but would like to find a low cost alternative. Any recommendations for a PLC with a small I/O count along with an operator interface?

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You didnt state what i/o count ?
"small i/o count" could mean anything.
I think that with the ML1100 AB hos a strong product in the low range. Of course the qualifier is if you can squeze the i/o into the maximum onboard i/o + 4 additional i/o modules.

I have a DL06 with an Optimate 413 that has been out in the field for about three years with no problems, and I have a customer with DL250s and 1510 panels that have been in operation for about 6 years now with no problems. The Optimate units seem to be pretty robust, and the AutomationDirect PLCs are definately good units.

arefor32 said:

Not a bad little setup for apx. $250.00 but I wonder how long the display will last in the field.

Click to expand...

I had one die in 6 months, but the system wasn't vented properly - too much heat. I suspect the backlight failed. The part I hate about these small displays is the programming. It gets to be a lot of work with multilevel menus. Probably not bad after you get used to it.

I wondered if the Blue series from Maple was a better deal, but I haven't checked it out yet.

I much prefer the C-More to the Optimae. The software for the Optimate, at least a few years ago when I used it, to be a little cumbersome and the support wasn't great. You can easily recoup a few hundred dollars in purchase price difference by cutting your configuration time.

arefor32 said:

Thanks for the link to Xycom. I was just looking at these on Friday and waiting on pricing for my Zycom sales rep. How was the software to use?

Click to expand...

Not too bad, a small learning curve and of course I got the project with only 3 days to do program on a plc/hmi I had never used. Thankfully it was a small project. About a month later did another Identical system and got a couple weeks to play around with it.

arefor32,

I like the DL line, I just started getting into it myself, I got the 06 instead of the 05 for the money it was a better buy...looking into the future, I would rather have a few spares then change out a plc later. I have not tryed there HMI (C-More?), I like the Redlion's, but I have more PanelViews then anything else. They are both good.