Siemens S7-300 Monitoring

Mylo

Member
Mylo
Join Date
Aug 2002
Location
Dublin
Posts
135
Hi all,

On site the other day monitoring a program, and yet again the display was not updating quick enough for me to visualise the ladder operation. This is not something new for me, just yet again frustrating. Now I know my laptop is a slow old beast IBM thinkpad '98 (to which at present I'm re-formatting) but can anyone tell me other aspects apart from the '98 windoze that I can improve?

IBM THinkpad
Windoze 98
Lots of **** installed

Siemens Simatic Step7 V5.2
Protool V6.0+SP2
PC Adaptor
Connected thru MPI

Usually have to un-select "Symbol Information" to monitor ladder.

Is there any comm settings that I can modify??

Cheers

Mylo

:confused:
 
What is the baudrate between the PC and the adapter ? (I dont mean the baudrate on the MPI side).

In the Set PG/PC Interface utility, select PC adapter (MPI) ... Properties ... Local Connection ... Transmission Rate .

Baudrates of 19200 and 38400 are available. Be sure to pick the fastest one.

edit: While online, have only one window open at any time (close windows that are just in the background), dont open VATs if you are not looking at them.

I have a CP5511 and normally have no problems at all. I usually crank up the MPI baudrate to 1.5 M, but that wont help you of course.
 
Last edited:
Yep Baud rate 19.2 alright, didn't realise you could change on the PC Adptor as well

now set to 38.4, I'll test later !!

Cheers Jesper
 
Hi
im pretty sure that a PC adaptor can only support 19.2 baud rate, i believe that there are USB MPI adaptors now which are supposed to be really quick. i had an old ibm myself but had to upgrade,due to the frustration of how slow the S7 software ran.
 
I'm sorry, but you are waiting your time. Try the CP5511, PCMCIA adapter running @ 1.5mb. A NEW Dell Latitude computer with Win2000, 1 gig memory and you should be able to do most anything. I can verify. I am running Step 7 with all windows open, cross references, etc. While running that, open a huge Protool program and Microsoft Excel at the same time. It's smoke'n
 
rrobbins,

May I ask you more about your Dell Latitude.

The reason why I'm asking this is that I'm about to buy a new programming laptop. I'm now running with Dell Latitude C600 P3 850MHz and It's been great so I think my next laptop is also Dell.

What model of Latitude is it?
Which processor is in it?
Does it have a serial port?

It seems that youre running about the same programs I'm running (Siemens STEP7, ProTool, etc.) then same system would be just what I'm looking for.

There should also be enough resources to use WinCC v6 and Visual Basic.

If somebody else knows some better computer for my use feel free to give me information!!!

Thanks,
 
stevo,

the Serial adapter supports 19200 and 38400 baud. Some very old versions only have 19200.
There are some non-Siemens Serial/MPI adapters that go even higher than 38400.
 
I am running a C840. It has 1 gig memory, serial, 2 USB, parallel, 2 PCMCIA, 802.11b wireless, 10/100mb ethernet and 2.4ghz processor P4. I have the extra battery that is hot swappable with the floppy. I am running WinCC ver 6.0 with Web Navigator. I have set this up as the server and had a few other computers logged in and everything runs GREAT. I ordered this one because it is one of the only computer available with serial and floppy built in.
 
I've been fortunate in that all of my projects during the past five years have included S7 Ethernet cards, so I always go online via my Linksys wireless adapter now. It's incredibly fast, I can be truly portable, and I can have a VAT table, plus four or five blocks online at once, even in different projects. Despite these features, I still see people go online with their MPI adapters instead. When I ask them why, they say "Oh, I didn't know I could connect with Ethernet."

Still, I carry my old MPI adapter around for the intial program downloads every few months or so. Even if I worked a project that didn't have Ethernet, I would probably bring one with me and make it part of the hardware configuration during the deveopment phase due to Ethernet's advantages.
 
Actually, I would like to know how good the Siemens USB to MPI/Profibus converter is. If someone would care to comment with some real experience with this one, I would be glad.

NB: It is released fin Win 2000 and Win XP, not Win 98. So you would have to upgrade your windows to use this one stevo.

USB to MPI/Profibus converter:
Advantages:
- Less than half the price for the CP5511/CP5512.
- Can be used with a laptop AND a desktop PC.
Disadvantage:
- Max Baudrate is 1.5 M.
 
Disadvantage:
- Can't be used with OPC Server ( i.e. when tetsing a project on your mobile computer)

Question?
- Is it as performant as a CP5512 or is it just an minor upgrade of the RS-232 PC-Adapter?
 

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