RS-232 I/O from Koyo DL105

I am new to the forum so hopefully this isn't too obvious a question.

I am hoping to interface an external computer with a Koyo DL105 PLC (the choice of PLC cannot change) to pass information and control back and forth. It would seem that the obvious way to do this is to use the 105's serial port, but having looked at some documentation I'm not sure if a program running on the PLC can read from and write to the serial port.

If anyone knows if this can or can't be done - or has other ideas on how to do this sort of thing I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks
-Stu

Sure it can. There are numerous ways to do this. If you wish to use a spreadsheet, then you could use a program such as DSData from Automation Direct, or you could use third party software such as KEPWare from KEP.

Most all SCADA packages will work although some will require a server application, again such as DSData or KEPWare.

Alternatively you could write your own application with Visual Basic using DirectNET protocol.

Icky is correct with one minor exception. The 105, unlike the rest of the Koyo line, only has one communications port, and it only supports the K-Sequence protocol. However, there are a lot of products out there that support the K-Sequence protocol. The main disadvantage is the port address is fixed, and I don't believe you can support multiple PLCs on a single communications link.

Darn Tom, ya caught me red handed! <As always>

You are absolutely right. The DL105 does not support DirectNET. I always forget that. You are also correct that the communications port is fixed at Station 1 and cannot support a multi-drop network.

Aha! The K-Sequence protocol was the piece of the puzzle that I was missing. Much thanks!
-Stu

Tom, I'm set to be in your area in Nov for the AB fair...Are you planning to attend?
David
beerchug

I will be at the A-B fair for at least two of the days - along with most of my crew. We are going to take advantage of some of the training sessions. This looks to be a major blowout for A-B, and our local distributor has indicated there will be a lot of new products and concepts being shown to "test the waters". I have the impression that a lot of A-B bigwigs will be at the show looking for customer feedback.

I have to say, I have sensed a change in the A-B attitude in the last year or so, and they are becoming mnore responsive to the customer than they had been. They still aren't back to the attitudes prevalent when the company was owned by the Bradley family, but then, those days are probably gone forever.