Micro Linx 1500 set up for Bar code reading

I am attempting to set up a Micro Linx 1500 LRP for comunications with an ascii bar code scanner and need help.

I know my way around in regards to general programming but setting up a program to monitor CH-1 on the LRP processer is new.

Does anyone have any helpfull hints or sample programs?

Yes it perfectly doable. The key step is to configure the serial port you are using to be in ASCII mode (in system mode it does DF1, DH-485, or Modbus) and then start implementing the Ascii instructions to manipulate the strings that arrive.

You haven't given much detail so it is hard to say much more. The usual hint is to use Hyperterminal first to ensure that you can see all the control characters and data formats, and then engineer it into the PLC. Hyperterm is better suited to displaying serial data than the PLC.

Scanner works great in hyper terminal

Thanks for the suggestion of checking the data stream in hyperterminal. My set up communicates well with hyperterminal. I read the values "V000", "V001", "F000" and "F001" individually when they were scanned.

Each one of the above bar code values will simply need to be read into the PLC and to turn on a few corisponding out puts based on which of the codes it reads.

The Allen Bradley Micro Logix 1500 LRP came with a extra dedicated serial port called CH1 and provides easy set up for same.

My challenge will be to set up an appropriate set of commands "ladder logic" to pull the information in (from what it think is a buffer), verify the scanned information (string length), convert the data to a usable form (i think), check it against the 2ea "v" or 2ea "f" codes mention above, complete the appropriate output actions, clear the input buffer and prepare for the next scan which will arrive some 50 seconds later.

I am not fully comfortable with
*Allen Bradley's adressing for the above
*The requirments for handling the input buffer
*ETC...

Thanks