HART(do you use it)

I was wondering if anyone else is using HART data in PLCs (PACs) and what are they using it for. My employer is currently using HART enabled analog inputs for secondary level signals.....just wondering....

I'm an instrument guy so I see lots of HART used for configuration, primarily for generic setup: tag name, range, engineering units, LRV, URV, damping.

It's very valuable for radar and ultrasonic level troubleshooting where echo profiles are sometimes needed for setup.

I see 275 and 375, Meriam and Yoko Handhelds for the text setup; Siemens PDM or Pactware as software packages.

The Bluetooth Hart adapter is a recent innovation where it can be connected and the HART signal read on a laptop via bluetooth without remaining where the connection is.

I have never seen a HART multidrop/multiplexed installation, but I understand that the paper mills use it for primarily for diagnostics.

There are HART break-out boxes to get more than the primary PV out of a HART device as analog, like Moore Industry's HIM box or Rosemount's TriLoop (be warned: the Triloop 333 is DOS or Windows 3 setup routine).

There is significant diagnostic data in many devices, but Siemens, for one, turns most of it off by factory default. Almost like they're embaressed by it.

There are very few devices outside the DCS world have HART capability on the analog inputs. A-B's Flex I/O is one, but I've always wondered whether that wasn't really a private labeled European offering.

What brand/model inputs are you using to get the secondary variable?

HART wireless is out there and there are people who are using the wireless HART adapters to get the diagnostics from their legacy wired HART devices. There does not seem to be a moderate cost Asset Manager system that can deal with diagnostics at the moment though.