Ethernet comms. from SLC5/05 to PC

Not for programming purposes though...

I need to get a heartbeat signal from a SLC 5/05 to monitor/track machine downtime on a PC. I was originally going to use RS232 to send strings and catch them with my VB program ( MSComm OnComm event ), but that idea is out the door as there's an RS232 PanelView hooked up.
So I need to somehow get the heartbeat over the ethernet port...

What is the easiest way of doing this?

Thanks in advance!

Nobody's replied...

Ok, what I've tried so far is to send anything from the PLC via ethernet to the PC, and just having the PC detect activity on the ethernet port (port 2222 on the PC ), but I haven't been successful with that...

What I did basically was try to send MSG to the PC's IP address, and I had a VB program to "listen" to port 2222 ( I used catalyst freeware )

Is there any way to just detect activity on the ethernet port of the PC( not actually understanding what's being transmitted )?

I'm just looking for a quick fix until I can get something that's more proper in place...

Later on, I know I've got several options:

-multiplex the Serial port on the SLC ( this sounds interesting , as I would still have the ethernet port for programming purposes )
-OPC ( I have no idea about this, so any comments on this would be really helpful )
-AB ActiveX controls on the PC.

Again, any comments/tips are helpful...

There should be possible to use sort of handshakeing>>
PC reads one register every second for example: if it is 0, then it will write 1. PLC checks same register and if it is 1, then it will write 0. Now you add a watchdog for PC and if there is no change lets say for a 10 sec, there is error.

I hope this helps

BR

The problem is accessing the PC from the SLC w/o any additional software...

Which I'll have to do sooner or later anyway, but I need to get this part done soon...

I don't even need 2-way comms... a signal from the PLC is enough. And I can set the watchdog on that.

So, in case you do not have RSLinx Single Node or better in the PC, it does not help. New models of SLC505 have sort of WEB capabilities-you can monitor status by ordinary Explorer. That should do the same job, if I understand you right...

I haven't heard about this WEB capability yet... I'll have to check the revision of the 5/05... Off the top of my head it's Rev. C...

I only have RSLogix500 Standard and the Linx lite that comes with it.

How would RSLinx Single Node work? From what I understand it would allow me to access the SLC's memory from the PC?

You can read about web server : http://www.ab.com/manuals/cp/1747-um011d-en-p.pdf
page E-12.
RSLinx SN will allow you to create OPC server for one PLC. Then you can read and write values by using Excel etc...

I have another question, would a 1747-KE help in any way?

I just thought of this, there's an RS232 printer port on the PanelView. Doesn't that one send out ASCII ?

If you're comfortable using an RS-232 port's incoming ASCII stream as an annuciator, then the printer port on the PanelView might be of use.

You can define an Alarm in the PanelView as a "print only" alarm that will not appear in the Alarm display, but rather send it's text out the Printer port on the terminal instead. The PanelView will periodically scan the SLC-5/05 for the value you define as the Alarm trigger.

The PV polling the SLC , how often would this happen ( i.e. more than once per sec. ) ?

If I can get ASCII from the PV, I should be able to use the OnComm event in my VB app to catch it... I hope...

The PanelView's polling rate is configurable. I usually set up my alarms to scan every 1/2 or 1/4 second or so.

Somehow, I'm not catching the ASCII that the PV is sending out through the printer port...

I've set up a small VB program ( on COM2 ) to test my application before incorporating into my project. When I run it with an another test program that sends out strings on COM1, it's getting the strings.

So I know it's not the VB...

I set up the PV to monitor a certain bit in the SLC ( this bit comes on for 1/2 second , then off for 1/2 sec. - later on I also tried 1 sec. on/1 sec. off with the same results ). Then send "1" to the printer every time the bit comes on...

I wasn't getting anything though in COM2 ( the port the VB app. was pulling from ).

Do I need a null modem cable, or a straight one? ( I used a null cable ).

Is the printer port sending out pure ASCII strings?

Thanks for all the replies!