Need help locating inexpensive Allen Bradley Communication Hardware

Hi,
My former company has 'downsized', and I've started my own business.
I've been fortunate to have a number of friends who are helping out tremendously.

I need to communicate with Slc 5/03s and 5/04s. Currently I use my laptop's modem to communicate, but when I'm onsite that's not really feasible. The laptop doesn't have any serial ports.


Does anyone know where I could find a decent 1784-pcmk card, and the required cables at a reasonable price?
I have a slew of references I can give out if anyone like. In a few weeks (4-5) I'll be in a much better financial position. The P.O.s will have been returned and the checks cut. (I can't wait!!!)...

but right now I'm entering that 'dead' zone. Where the accounts get low before the new money starts flowing in.


Anyone that might be able to help out, please drop me an email at [email protected] (yep my new company). I can give my direct cell phone number if you'd like.
And again, I have a lot of references.


Thanks for reading this.. sometimes the little guys do win.

Not sure what your definition of reasonable is but E-Bay has one for about $700 which is about a thrid of the cost for a new one.
You don't need a PMCK card to talk to a SLC5/03 or SLC5/04 a USB to Serial adapter will work just fine $40
http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/usa19hs/homepage.spml

plccenter has them for around $1000 http://www.plccenter.com/buy/ALLEN+BRADLEY/1784PCMKB

A few on ebay: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=1784-PCMK&category0=

If it is just DH485 then you maybe able to get by with a 1747-UIC,
http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/in/1747-in063_-en-p.pdf cost around $300 I think, but with the 03 and 04 you may be able to get by using a PCMCIA/USB to serial adapter for DF1 on channel 0.

The PCMCIA/USB adapter to the PIC will not work (normally) but for serial it can.

If you go for a PCMK then try and get a series B and not series A.

I got mine from ebay, had to wait to bid on the right auction but got a series B for $200 (from memory)!

All i had to buy extra was the cable.

Russ said:

(yep my new company).

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Like the website

yes nice website...

Russ said:

.... please drop me an email at rfriend@rhzenvironmental.com (yep my new company). ...

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The key word here being a tad bit mental ....

Congrads Russ on you new adventure, hope you do great and I also got one from e-bay but I paid 400usd, is DF1 being used by a HMI or something?

geniusintraining said:

yes nice website...



The key word here being a tad bit mental ....

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LOL.. yep..you're right about the Mental part.

geniusintraining said:

Congrads Russ on you new adventure, hope you do great and I also got one from e-bay but I paid 400usd, is DF1 being used by a HMI or something?

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The DF1 would be for a serial, or a pic cable. Though it seems that the pic doesn't work properly... that's fine, cause a serial cable is pretty cheap, and easy to replace.
The 5/03 uses DH485... hence I'd like to use the DH485 communication. But... at the same time I can use the DF1 and just set the serial to match what that port on the slc is configured at (9600baud/bcc/etc...).
However the other processors are slc 5/04s which use the DH+ communication protocol.
All of them have HMI's, which would work with the respective communication protocols. Though I should be able to see all of them via serial.

As a temporary work around I think I'll snag a keyspan usb-serial connector. That should work fine until I get the cash flow in, and find the right auction on eBay.
Eventually I'd like to get the 'proper' cables.


Hell, eventually I'm hoping to set up a pc box dedicated to the network and be able to access all of them via my cell phone.
But that's a bit down the road. There's a lot of things that need to be in place before I can do that. But eventually I'll get there.
I'm fortunate to have the support of some great people. They're making this transition much easier than I expected it to be. They really want to see me succeed, and that's a great feeling.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm really looking forward to this.


Now if only I can find an RSLinx developers kit at a great price..lol..

Russ said:

LOL.. yep..you're right about the Mental part.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm really looking forward to this.


Now if only I can find an RSLinx developers kit at a great price..lol..

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I've found a series A card with both cables for just under $400... is that a pretty good deal? How does series A compare to series B?

Nice web site ya got there Russ. Kudos to the developer.

lol.. my friend is a C++ developer and has given me unlimited server space. He linked the domain to the server and threw the pic up for grins. It was taken during an internal inspecion of an RTO.


I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with the site. Especially since I have unlimited space.


and..ok.. I'm going to put up a few pics.. lol.. showing some of the stuff I've worked on, yadda yadda yadda....
I didn't expect ppl to actually Go to the site.. lol..
Programming/Burners/HMI/Ops.. blah blah blah..

For my laptop without a serial port, I have used this product to successfully communicate with an SLC 5/03 serial port using DF1 protocol.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=91042

I know its not recommended by Rockwell, but it worked for me....and the price is right!

By the way, this definitely won't work with all Rockwell products, but I used it specifically on a SLC 5/03.

$

Money4Nothing said:

For my laptop without a serial port, I have used this product to successfully communicate with an SLC 5/03 serial port using DF1 protocol.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=91042

I know its not recommended by Rockwell, but it worked for me....and the price is right!

By the way, this definitely won't work with all Rockwell products, but I used it specifically on a SLC 5/03.

$

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Thanks for the link.. I was fortunate and snagged a keyspan for $21.50 (+5.50 shipping)... and it's on it's way here.. that should work until I figure out which card/cable set up to go with...
Series A or B? Hmmmm... I can snag an series A with both cables PCM4/5 for just under 400... but.. is that a good deal?

Russ said:

I can snag an series A with both cables PCM4/5 for just under 400... but.. is that a good deal?

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I think so...unless your Dave

Dave said:

I got mine from ebay, had to wait to bid on the right auction but got a series B for $200 (from memory)!

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Hey Dave was that USD?...or your 'Euro' thing that's $250.98USD
but anyway 400 is a good deal

I think it's a pretty decent price.. however someone emailed me saying that they wouldn't recommend using a series A card to communicate with their PLC, SLC, or CLX.
Is there something wrong with series A?

yes, it only work at 57kbps. 230k is only supported by series B.