DL05 FYI

I recently posted a thread about using some DL05's to act more as timers in a circuit to iniate a delay and alarm/horn prior to a press start.

I received the 4 DL05's this morning and connected the power cable to one of them then the comm cable (using an XP laptop with a USB adapter), the software (DirectSoft32) knew the plc was there before I had setup the connection to connect.

I have connected to Koyo/automationdirect PLC's before to monitor/edit programs but never really programmed one. I spent maybe 30 minutes connecting the power and comm cable then looking at the instructions to write a program for this application. The ladder was 5 rungs including the END command (which I initially forgot to include).

The main point of this post is to state how SIMPLE it was for a "semi programming" type individual to use. I am deeply involved with using PLC's but as most here know I am not an adept programmer and seek the chance to do more programming. No comm software needed to establish a connection, simple to understand instructions for the Ladder/IL etc. The simplicity of using this "cheap" PLC that allowed online viewing amazed me.

These things were so simple to program/implement they make other brands that I deal with look really bad (the % symbol mean anything to anyone?).

I had to state this because I couldnt believe it myself, this was dealing with the DL05 and isnt meant to state that ALL models they offer would be this easy.

Thanks for listening to my little rant/praise, I plan to post this on the automationdirect forum and another forum that I am part of.

Welcome to the fan club, Ron. I too find the AutomationDirect.com / Koyo products the simplest to use and program of all the brands I use. Their entire product line is just a easy to use - you don't have different programming or memory structures for different models. That's one of the thngs I like about them - if you've done one, you can do them all!

Is the programming software free by any chance? If not, do you know if it is very pricey?

The full version for all models is $495 US but you can buy versions just for certain models. Its all listed on the automationdirect.com website
http://www.automationdirect.com

Hi All, I just had the pleasure of removing from service a AD 405 that I put into a mold stacker that I designed and built in Aug 2000...it was ment to be a temperary prototype thing...and it was the first time that I had used a PLC to control a bank of VFD's...and it was still clicking away this morning when I pulled the plug. I'm replacing it w/ an AD 250-1 and 2 expansion baseson a whole bunch of stacking/ destacking/mold palletizing/ depalletizing/mold filling and vibrating stuff...lots of fun!!!!!! What pleased me most of all was /is how easy it is to setup the remote bases...3 # 12 wires and some good shielded cat 5 wire and two plugs...neat stuff.....now if I can unload all those ab micrologixs I have, I'm going for the farm/house automation thing. Maybe I can figure out how to shear my sheep from the living room, or zap the coyotes when they try to eat my lambs.... Count me in as a diehard AD fan!!!!

David

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Just maybe that's why you don't see alot of posts about problems with AD on this board. I just ordered 10 DA-05DD units today to replace all the no can / no lid controllers on our seamers. Now to figure out how to communicate to them using the DeviceNet module to collect can count data will be a real plus.