plc-5 connectivity

Hey all

Question, I am trying to connect a lappie to a plc 5/15 via a pcmk card. I have tried to configure in rs linx (2.40) and have moderate success.

The plc's are part of a network scheme that they had setup at one time, but now I can't connect remotely with the one I am tapped into. For example, I am seeing the other 2 systems networked on nodes 1 and 2, but unable to find the third one. I would guess with the scheme they used, that it should be node 3, but rs linx will not find it. I have not tried to remotely connect with the other 2 setups, nor am I able to see them online in real time in remote run.

Hopefully, this is a simple question, I'm not real swift on the plc 5 series and connectivity. Is there something that I am overlooking? Is there a physical way to see what node they setup?

Please, start with some basics and I'll decipher from there, thanx in advance to all you gurus!

Hoot

Start with the simple stuff.

Make sure in RSLinx that you have a "Station Address" that is not in a range that you are using. The Maximum is 77 and is often used. Defualt is 0 which can caues a problem because defualt for a PLC5 processor is also 0. I generally set mine to 75.

Doh!

Great thought, 9, and ty for the quick response! I'll give that a go when I go in today, you just saved some hair on my head...

Hoot

Address Conflict?

When you set up RSLinx, you had to give your card an address on the data highway. What address did you use (default = 0?).

I usually stay away from 0, 1 through 12, and 77 and 76 (the other end of the radio dial). These get used frequently by programmers when there are multiple PLCs, HMI or SCADA on the network, and go with something like 22 ("The Sting"/"Lost in America") or 47 ("Star Trek").

If you assigned your card to have the same address as Node #3, then you will have "moderate success" with the DH+ network, and won't be able to find Node #3 as well.

Another possiblity (I've seen it) is that one node is communicating at a different baud rate than the other two.

I would normally recommend getting online with each PLC via it's DF1 port and determining the settings that way, but the PLC 5/15 doesn't have the built-in KF2 - that 25-pin Channel 0 port is a true RS-232 serial port, not DF1, so that won't work.

Still, you might try isolating it from the DH+ network and seeing if RSLinx can detect it (also pull the processor and check the DIP switch setting to see what the address SHOULD be)

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And this time, I got beaten - and badly

Hey Allen

You hit what I was wondering right on the head. Did research this a bit, and found that there is supposedly the rs232 25 pin connection, but it's not on the plc... so that idear is out.

Thank goodness they have the pcmk card, that does help some, but I think what I'm missing is the node addresses that you and 9 posted. I kept getting an error dealing with that, and missed the boat completely

I have not been given permission to remove the network, these machines run 24/7 (mostly) and afraid of what will happen with a disconnection, plus, the hmi's and scadas are all over the freaking place and no literature on setup (go figure... lol).

More than anything, trying to get setup to monitor, but they are all over the place, from ai setups to control logix... hopefully I can talk them into some control logix training

Thank you very much, great help!

Hoot