Siemens S7-200 Newbie Question

I am faced with supporting a Siemens S7-200 based system, with some digital IO and and Analog input block. The system is about 5 years old. It appears we did not specify system or programming documentation when we bought this thing.

What is the minimum I need to access this system for program UL/DL, programming and documenting (a la RSlogix 500 with a SLC 5/01)?

Software? Hardware? (cables, cards?) I will be using a laptop with a serial port available. USB is also available.

I think Step7 Micro/Win might be the thing I'm looking at.
Siemens also has something called Step 7 Lite. Will it suffice?

Do I need to provide more info?

THX for your help.

Yeah, use Step7 Micro/Win.

It is cheap. You may need it instead of lite in order to upload data blocks. (Recipe management) I think that lite is very limited,
You need a PPI 485 cable also. (PN 6ES7 901-3CB30-0XA0
It plugs into your serial port, and into the S7-200.

Keep in mind, that the Siemens stuff is quite different than what you are familiar with (RSlogix500).

Good luck,

I would recommend USB PC adapter, because rs232 serial ports will disapier soon. There's also an advantage to get connected to S7-300/400 series (if you have one on your factory).
Connecting to S7-200 can be done also via CP5xxx cards, but they are not you are looking for (too fragile in industrial enviroment).



6ES7972-0CB20-0XA0 SIMATIC S7, PC ADAPTER USB F. CONNECTION OF S7-200/300/400 C7, WITH USB-CABLE (5M) CAN BE USED UNDER WIN 2000/XP

6ES7901-3DB30-0XA0 SIMATIC S7-200,USB/PPI CABLE MM MULTIMASTER, FOR CONNECTING S7-200 TO USB PORT OF PC, FREEPORT NOT SUPPORTED


Edit: Be aware that there is no symbols in PLC. When you upload the project you get only the code and you don't get even that if program is read protected in PLC.
If possible, ask for the supplier if they could send you the program code (with symbols).

Edit: There you can download a full working demo of MicroWin 4.0. It works for 60 days or 100 starts. Link.

Thanks for the info, folks! I've got a familiarization course at the local distributor next week. I can get some pricing then..

This will be the umpteenth time I've had to redocument a running program. So far it's only given me grey hair. Someone else is going to see if we can get the documentation on this system, but my impression is it's a money thing. The system isn't really that complicated, if we can just access it.


Again, thanks for the info.