PanelView/PanelBuilder Help

Hi everybody! I recently found these forums and they have been a great help, you guys have got me through quite a bit! But, today I'm unable to figure it out.

I have a work cell that has been working fine, but my boss would like a button added to home it properly. I've written the logic and it works fine, now to add the button to the PanelView. My issue is, I cannot connect to upload to my PC!

Here is what I have:
MicroLogix 1500 through a 1761-NET-AIC interface converter, into my PanelView 600 (2711-B6C5).
I have PanelBuilder32 (3.83.01), a USB to serial adapter (as I have no serial ports on the laptop), straight through Serial Cable (DB9), and the usual AB cables to connect to the PLC, along with RSLinx.

I'm not sure what else I need to connect, as the company has never had anybody to work on automation onsite (so specific cables and such are scarce).

I have tried to connect with what we have and I've gotten nowhere. If I am reading everything correctly, since there is only the 1 DH-485, It needs to be powered.

So... I'm thinking I'll need to at least order a 1747-PIC. But is that all I will need?

I appreciate any help you can give, and once again, Thanks!
Matt

BeachStrat said:

Hi everybody! I recently found these forums and they have been a great help, you guys have got me through quite a bit! But, today I'm unable to figure it out.

I have a work cell that has been working fine, but my boss would like a button added to home it properly. I've written the logic and it works fine, now to add the button to the PanelView. My issue is, I cannot connect to upload to my PC!

Here is what I have:
MicroLogix 1500 through a 1761-NET-AIC interface converter, into my PanelView 600 (2711-B6C5).
I have PanelBuilder32 (3.83.01), a USB to serial adapter (as I have no serial ports on the laptop), straight through Serial Cable (DB9), and the usual AB cables to connect to the PLC, along with RSLinx.

I'm not sure what else I need to connect, as the company has never had anybody to work on automation onsite (so specific cables and such are scarce).

I have tried to connect with what we have and I've gotten nowhere. If I am reading everything correctly, since there is only the 1 DH-485, It needs to be powered.

So... I'm thinking I'll need to at least order a 1747-PIC. But is that all I will need?

I appreciate any help you can give, and once again, Thanks!
Matt

Click to expand...

Welcome to the Forum Matt!


What is the exact Model Number of your PanelView?

What Operating System and Service Pack are you running on your PC?

What Version of RSLinx is installed?

What RSLinx Driver are you trying to use?

What USB to Serial Adapter are you using?

What Comm Port is it set up for?

Have you successfully gone Online with your PLC with this setup?

Stu....

Welcome to the Forum Matt!
Thanks!


What is the exact Model Number of your PanelView?
Here is everything I've gotten off of it:
PanelView 600
CAT 2711-D6C5
SER C
FRN 4.46


What Operating System and Service Pack are you running on your PC?
Windows XP, Service Pack 3

What Version of RSLinx is installed?
RSLinx Classic Lite 2.57.00.14

What RSLinx Driver are you trying to use?
I have tried RS-232 DF1; 1747-PIC; DH485 UIC


What USB to Serial Adapter are you using?
It is from Cables To Go (Port Authority 2) which has been working fine for getting me online to the different PLCs around the plant

What Comm Port is it set up for?
Comm2

Have you successfully gone Online with your PLC with this setup?
Yes I have, using the RS-232 DF1 driver

Stu....

Thanks for the reply Stu!

Welcome to the Forum, and thanks for posting so many details. It really helps when folks lay out the important facts at the beginning.

As you'll read a great deal on this Forum, the old A-B DH485 network is notoriously difficult to interface with from Windows. The classic "1747-PIC/AIC+" serial port driver has been patched and tweaked and revised ever since Windows 95. It will not work at all with Windows Vista, Windows 7, or with any general-purpose USB/Serial converter. Making it work with XPSP2 is difficult, with XP3 very difficult.

You have two options for the system you've described.

1. Purchase a 1747-UIC. This device is the same retail price as the obsolete 1747-PIC but embeds the DH485 protocol in the unit and connects to the computer over USB. It supports all modern operating systems except Windows 7x64 (at the moment).

2. Use a CompactFlash card. You might have the same problem of not having a PCMCIA or CF card on your computer, and CF cards under 2 GB (and therefore formattable as FAT16) are scarce. But this is definitely a cheaper way to get the *.PVA file from your PC to the PanelView.

If you have more SLC-500 and MicroLogix systems using DH485, or if you're going to have to monitor that MicroLogix 1500 online at the same time as you're running the PanelView, then go ahead and get the 1747-UIC.

Matt, for all my Panelview standard operator interfaces, I use a compact flash card along with a USB compact flash reader to plug into my computer.

You will need the CF card and an adapter (http://www.jr.com/product/productListing.jsp?Ntt=1134+Compact+Flash+Adapter) and a compact flash card (CF Card the smaller the better http://www.jr.com/category/cameras-and-optics/digital-memory-cards/cf-compact-flash/n/4294605738/ ), and a USB card reader (http://www.jr.com/iogear/pe/IOR_GFR210/)

You can plug the CF card into the back of the panelview and load the program to the panelview, then use the reader to changed it on your computer (using panelbuilder) and save it to the card. Then you can plug it back into the panelview nad download the program.

I actually bought a card for each and every panelview we have and leave it in the panelview for a backup. The one time one went blank in the middle of the night and it took the techs just minutes to download the new program (instead of getting out the computer and hooking up to the network and getting the right file and then finding a cable and downloading it), it more than paid for itself.

Matt, you are lucky. Ken is the Guru when it comes to these issues.

Ken:

He stated he has a 1761-NET-AIC. I have used the PIC Driver to communicate with a PanelView through the Interface in the past.

Would he be able to use the UIC Driver to do this?

Matt, the PIC Driver does not work with SP3. There are work arounds by DMRoeder and others though. Use at your own risk.

Stu....

The 1761-NET-AIC and the 1747-PIC are electrically identical; they convert from RS-232 to RS-485 with the timing and handshaking pins that are necessary for DH-485 networking.

Therefore the protocol driver that is used is the same; in RSLinx Classic, it is listed as the "1747-PIC/AIC+" driver.

If you had a built-in RS-232 port on your computer, then the "serenum.sys" tricks that Forum member dmroeder has packaged and tested might work.

But you don't, and the 1747-PIC/AIC+ driver will not work with any general-purpose USB/Serial interface device.

So that leads us back to the choice between a 1747-UIC so that you can work with any DH485 protocol connection (both over RS-232 or the ordinary RS-485 wiring), or a CF card just for moving applications to and from the PanelView terminal.

Wow guys, you are awesome! Something so simple as using the CF card worked just fine! I really appreciate it. Hopefully one day, I'll be able to contribute around here!

Thanks again,
Matt