Multiple PLC's to Single PV+

Yes this is possible. In the RSLinx Enterprise communications setup you define "shortcuts" to PLC's. You will add one for each PLC that you wish to communicate to. Part of the address for an object is which shortcut the tag is going through.

While 11 Shortcuts is a higher number than usual, especially for a small terminal, this should be fine. I don't know of a limit on TCP connections for PanelView 600 terminals.

You can make communications fairly efficient by packing your HMI data into just a few data tables (for MicroLogix) or array tags (for CompactLogix).

I often make N10:x the "Output Data to HMI" and N11:x the "Input data from HMI". Pack the boolean data into bits of a word, and keep the table size under 120 elements (just under the single-frame limit for SLC data table reads).

@Ken, demroeder
Sorry for a slow response, been talking with AB and they are going to get back at me, but they are speculating that no more than 5 PLC's be connected to one HMI (PV+). As far as TCP limit Ab said it's 64. I'm trying to see if I connect all the controllers to a PC running RsLinx and pick up the tags from there. Just don't know how to quite get there yet.

The number "5" shows up in the conventional wisdom as the number of CIP connections an individual PanelView Plus will make to a single Logix-family controller.

My rule of thumb was to use that as the worst-case scenario when adding up the number of PanelViews that could connect to a single PLC (CIP Connection capacity).

But I've never seen, in writing or in the conventional wisdom, a limit on the number of active Shortcuts a PanelView Plus terminal can have. I would be floored if they made the PV+ capable of 64 TCP connections then restricted it to five MicroLogix controllers. A MicroLogix or SLC can only use once CIP connection to a PV+, not five like a ControlLogix can.

Certainly the active technical support guys at RA are going to know more than me.

Certainly the active technical support guys at RA are going to know more than me

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Not something i would like to put my money on!!

Not something i would like to put my money on!!

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Got that right.

Give the guys (and gals) a break - they are only human.

Certainly the active technical support guys at RA are going to know more than me

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They are trained to solve the problems, that training obviously involves technical knowledge, but no-one knows everything, and if that means they are seeking advice from other quarters, at least they are doing their job and trying to get the answers to your problems.

First-line support is like that in many places. Few organisations will put an "expert" as front-line support. They are more valuable elsewhere.