Connecting Cell Modem to Micrologix 1500

willsee

Member
Join Date
Jul 2015
Location
Kentucky
Posts
10
We are in the process of upgrading (by force) our wired system to a wireless system. We have numerous pump stations and tanks throughout the city that we interact with.

We have converted over all of our pumpstations that use CompactLogix.

All of our tanks use a Micrologix 1500 though (thus no ethernet port). We have successfully connected with a 1761-NET-ENI as well as swapping one of the 1500's out with a ML1100.

I then found this post:
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=77776

and wondered if that could be a more economical solution.

We have about 40 sites total so paying $1000 per site to install the 1761-NET-ENI + cable is not something we would like to do, same with swapping out for the ML1100's.

The only thing we use the ML1500 is gathering the tank level with the analog input card and passing it to the CompactLogix at the pump station. So if we could add the ML1500's on the network we would just pass that value to the IFix software as an analog input then perform an analog output to the pump station.

Thank you
 
If you’re looking to gather data and/or access the MicroLogix (or CompactLogix) then I’d look at Spectrum Control’s WebPort (http://www.spectrumcontrols.com/webport.htm). It gives you the ability to access the controller via a Cell and/or Internet connection and connect to it as if you were connecting to it locally with RSLinx and RSLogix 500 (or equivalent software). I’ve not personally worked with WebPort (yet) but I’m very familiar with Spectrum Controls but they’ve been a Rockwell partner for years and the WebPort has been around for a few years now so it’s gotta be a solid product (Spectrum doesn’t cut corners).
If you need to interconnect the controllers (have them talk to each other or have them connect to a central PLC/PAC and/or HMI) and you can get line of sight to your locations then I would look at some of the radio modems from Data-Linc Group (http://www.data-linc.com/products.htm). But again, they do require line of sight at any range outside of a few thousand feet.
 
You may want to take a look at Sixnet and give them a call. Their cell modems have RS-232 ports which may be helpful.
 
I am somewhat new to the water/wastewater world and I have an upcoming project with the DataLinc PLR6430 for a very similar system. There will be a Micrologix1400 at each booster station and a master radio PLR6435, so the booster station will control its associated well sites using the radios. This eliminates the need for a PLC at each wellsite, but does make them more dependent on good radio communication. There are also tower level panels involved in the over all scheme and each of those is going to have a PLC and IP radio (to keep with existing systems the customer already owns).

The DataLinc group I/O radio appears to be (in my freshman opinion) about the most well built radio among the types I have worked with so far, but it is not cheap. If you had it all to do over again, it would save a lot of money and panel space. I have not gotten too deep into the programming of them yet, but the manuals are good and they play well with Rockwell Automation gear.

Also, if you already have a wireless internet scheme and just need to get the Micrologix hooked up to existing Ethernet infrastructure, the Digi One IAP can do the same thing as the NET-ENI for a lot less money and panel space. The IAP is also more reliable in my experience. I think they run about $750 for the HAZ version which handles moisture and temperature better.

http://www.digi.com/products/serialservers/digioneiapfamily

EDIT: $638 from digikey for the "hardened" version.

Get your 1761-CBL PM02 cables from PLCcable.com and save another fistful of dollars. You can chop off the ends and hardwire them to the 2nd serial port on the digi.
 
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OkiePC, well said on the need for a good radio link but one thing to keep in mind (because you’ve got an application coming up) is that in the PLR6435 file system, for each remote there are status bits so if the master (6435) loses a particular remote, four status bits go high so you can program the PLC to react to that. On the PLR6430 remote side, you can program the outputs to react to a comms loss. The discrete can be programmed to either stay at last known state, go high or go low and the analogs can be programmed similarly, last know or a defined value. The thing I like the most is that at the PLC you treat the PLR6435 as if it were another PLC (reading and/or writing “N” files).
 
OkiePC, well said on the need for a good radio link but one thing to keep in mind (because you’ve got an application coming up) is that in the PLR6435 file system, for each remote there are status bits so if the master (6435) loses a particular remote, four status bits go high so you can program the PLC to react to that. On the PLR6430 remote side, you can program the outputs to react to a comms loss. The discrete can be programmed to either stay at last known state, go high or go low and the analogs can be programmed similarly, last know or a defined value. The thing I like the most is that at the PLC you treat the PLR6435 as if it were another PLC (reading and/or writing “N” files).

Yep, and in our situation, with no tower level or booster data, the pumps needs to shut off anyhow. If the radio gets hit by lightning or an antenna blows over, you are done pumping for a bit anyhow until someone drives out there and flips the "Hand" switch, so it would not do us much good to have a logic controller (aside from this fail safe feature).

There are a ton of ML1100 and ML1400 CPUs in this industry in my area with about five lines of code in them (scaling and heartbeat).

We are trying to keep things simple for upgrades and new sites as well as save money, so if all you need is a heartbeat and a handful of I/O, the DataLinc stuff is a good fit.

My boss has used a lot of RFScada (data delivery devices) too, and they are quite powerful with up to 32 I/O. They are hard to beat for the price, but the software interface needs work to be replaced and the manuals are pretty weak. So with RFScada, the money you save on I/O and hardware gets spent scratching your scalp. The hardware is pretty salty though, so hopefully the software/firmware and books will eventually catch up. RFScada needs some one like Archie and perhaps a firmware engineer to make it into a polished product, but there are a boatload of them in use around here in the oilfields for simple tank level control and remote access.

http://www.datadeliverydevices.com/
 
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With the ML-1500 being discontinued on 06/30/2017. does it even make sense to spend any money on keeping the ML-1500? The The ML-1400 has 2 serial ports, an Ethernet port, analog I/O, and is less than $1000.00
 
Just re-read my originial post and I thought I mentioned that we already have the cell modems (Sierra Wireless ES440) that have a console port, ethernet, and usb. So perhaps just a matter of configuring the serial on the modem and channel 1 on the ML1500 to get it going?

Our setup is something like this:
ML1500 -> Cell Modem -> Wireless World -> Gateway -> RSLinx on server

With the ML-1500 being discontinued on 06/30/2017. does it even make sense to spend any money on keeping the ML-1500? The The ML-1400 has 2 serial ports, an Ethernet port, analog I/O, and is less than $1000.00

With this being the case we might start swapping out ML1500 for ML1100 as they go bad. Just didn't know if there was a cheaper temporary stopgap in the mean time.
 
Alright so I purchased a Startech RS232 Serial over IP Ethernet Converter (NETRS2321P) and I can't get it to see my Micrologix 1500 in RSLinx.

On my 1764-LRP I have the following settings:

Channel 0
DF1 Full Duplex
Baud: 19200
Parity: None
Source ID: 1
Control Line: No Handshaking
Error Detection: CRC
Embedded Responses: Auto Detect (Duplicate Packet Detect selected)
ACK Timeout: 50

Channel 1
DF1 Full Duplex
Baud: 9600
Parity: None
Source ID: 9
Control Line: No Handshaking
Error Detection: CRC
Embedded Responses: Auto Detect (Duplicate Packet Detect selected)
ACK Timeout: 150

Startech Serial to IP Converter
IP Address: 192.168.x.x
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.x.x
DNS: same as gateway
IP Configure: Static
VLAN Tag: Disabled

TCP Mode
Telnet Server/Client: Server
REverse telnet: off
CLI Mode: Disabled
Port Number: 23
Control Protocol: Port Number 6000
Remote Server IP Address: 10.1.1.2
UDP Mode: Disabled

UART Control:
Baudrate: 9600
Character Bits: 8
Parity Type: None
Stop bit: 1
Hardware Flow Control: none

I installed the virtual COM drivers (similar to how I installed the USB to serial Drivers so I can connect to the round serial port on the front for programming)
If I go to device manager I have:
USB Serial Port: COM9
Virtual Serial Port: COM20

I use the virtual COM software to map the Startech device and the settings are:
COM Port: 20
TCP/UDP: TCP
Server/Client: Client
IP Address: 192.168.x.x
Remote Port: 23
Local Port: N/A
NET Status: Connected
COM Status: Open
Baudrate: 9600
Databits: 8
Parity: None
Stop Bits: 1
Flow Control: None
Control Port Connection: Connected

Settings on RSLinx Classic Lite:
Add new driver type -> RS-232 DF1 Device
Comm Port: COM20
Device: SLC-CH0/Micro/Panelview
Baud Rate: 9600
Station Number: 09
Parity: None
Error Checking: CRC
Stop Bits: 1
Protocol: Full Duplex

Autoconfigure (similar to what I would do with the USB-to-serial converter) receive failed to find the baud and parity. Check all cables and switch settings.

I'm connected with ethernet cable from my computer to converter device. Then a 9 pin female to female to Channel 1 on the Micro.

Do I need a null modem cable for this connection? Or is it something wrong in the settings?
 
I can’t speak to the configuration of the terminal server but you do need a null adaptor when going from a PC’s serial port to the channel 1 port on the 1500 (or any DF1 port with a DB9 port).
 

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