Future FAQ section...

Hi Folks,
Please post a link(by replying to this thread) to threads you think belong in the new(soon to be) faq section of this forum.
Details of what I'm talking about are here: Details

For reference, old forum is here:Old Forum

And for you 'super oldtimers' an even older forum(memories...) is here: "Old-Timers" Forum

The old grey cells are a little weak, but here are a few topics and some posts that I recall as frequently brought up. The list isn't all inclusive for any topic, by a long stretch. I also suspect you will have to put some effort into separating the wheat from the chaff, but at least this is a start.

Thanks again, Phil, for this great forum!

PLC compared to DCS

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172&highlight=DCS


Scaling analog inputs

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=397&highlight=engineering+units

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99&highlight=engineering+units

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=909&highlight=EUOffset


PID Tuning

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2619.html

http://www.plcs.net/cgibin/bbs/bbmat.cgi Posted By Joe On 05/11/00

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2244.html

Filtering analog inputs

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=971&highlight=filter

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2730.html

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/1891.html

Wire Colors and Types

http://www.plcs.net/cgibin/bbs/bbmat.cgi Thread Number 1373

http://www.plcs.net/cgibin/bbs/bbmat.cgi Thread Number 1284

I think Tom has selected some excellent posts that should ideally be grouped into specific topic areas. PID topics grouped together would be a god send even for old timers like myself, but I'm not so sure I'd put them in a section geared at the rank novice. Too much information can sometimes be worse than too little. If overwhelmed many students often elect to just give up when first starting out.

It's really a matter of information overload, and although we may view topics such as PID, indirect and indexed addressing as fundamental concepts, any experienced trainer can tell you that they certainly don't belong in a basic level course. You have to build a student's confidence slowly during the early stages, and attempting to introduce such advanced topics too early, can result in far more harm then good. There's plenty of us who can dazzle the novice with our knowledge, but doing so only serves to feed our own egos, and does little for the struggling student who can't yet remember what the term "PLC" stands for.

If this new FAQ section is truly for the novice, then it might be wiser to limit the content to those posts that truly address the basics. With that in mind, I've listed a few quick picks from the old board:

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2835.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2841.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2845.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2779.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2796.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2718.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2806.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2792.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2767.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2775.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2768.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2755.html
http://www.plcs.net/cgibin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=2645&forum=DCForumID1&omm=0
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2736.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2751.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2678.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2634.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2684.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2696.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2687.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2688.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2666.html
http://www.plcs.net/cgibin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=2661&forum=DCForumID1&omm=0

If you want to include section on 'flame bait', or questions not to ask:

http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/359.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/391.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/395.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/394.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/250.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID4/270.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1333.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1345.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1348.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/918.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1170.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/980.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1009.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/938.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/725.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/906.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/612.html

There are ample additional examples.

Phil- I see you have links to the "old" forum and the "old old" forum, Is the "old old old" forum still around?

I guess there was an "old and a half" in there somewhere.....
But I was thinking there was a even older version, or was there?

I seem to remember that a lot of stuff got lost in the Y2K rollover.

93lt1 said:

Phil- I see you have links to the "old" forum and the "old old" forum, Is the "old old old" forum still around?

Click to expand...

The old old old forum bit the dust a few years back. Actually I don't remember if I deleted it or that was when the server bit the dust (and took the whole site with it). Good memory.

And yes Steve, the Y2K bug also took some data with it to be gone forever. I think that's when I switched forums to the 'old' one.

If you're bored check out the wayback machine for some flashbacks from here... and everywhere.(15,006 visitors here in 'all of 1997'. Times do change...) You can spend hours there poking around at internet history.

This isn't particularly on subject for this thread, but I gotta post it somewhere.

Phil, I think that there should be, whether in the beginner's section, the "new here?" section or not, A general request not to post questions like: "What is the best PLC brand", "I think that PLC xxxx is the best brand, what do you think?",or "I hate PLC xxxx because xxxx" Only in the rarest of cases do these topics result in anything other than flaming back and forth. I know that this site (tutorial) promotes non-brand specific info, therefore new posters shouldn't be veered off when they see a post about how crappy their favorite PLC brand is. I am not trying to say that there should be no brand specific questions, just not the ones that always end up with the old "mine is the best", "NO!, mine is the best"battle.

Whew, I feel better!

Somewhere in there could we put in "PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST THE SOFTWARE FOR PLC'S".

I dont want to get into issues like morality, price etc but there are legitimate ways to obtain software, it would not be legitimate for me to "email a copy".

Phil maybe an area for everyone to post links to commonly used or interesting sites. Maybe even different categories like

PLC's
Soft plc's
Drives
scada
hmi
communications
devicenet
manu. links
opc/dde

And most importantly FUNNIES





Some of these links might help some of the common questions from coming around and around. But we still need them to come around once in a while but I'm sure that will happen.

Bill Simpson: I think Tom has selected some excellent posts that should ideally be grouped into specific topic areas. PID topics grouped together would be a god send even for old timers like myself, but I'm not so sure I'd put them in a section geared at the rank novice. Too much information can sometimes be worse than too little. If overwhelmed many students often elect to just give up when first starting out.

Click to expand...

I agree to a point, maybe put this in an area that you have to be a registered user to get into (maybe a minimum number of posts? ), that might help a little for the novice not to be able to get there unless they are a little serious about things.

Sites like this one that has a Great little conversion program

That is a great conversion program

I've been waiting for Terry to post the link to his outstanding NPN/PNP discussion, which is a frequently seen topic. The link is Thread Number 2645. There are alos several others on this subject that might be useful.

Links

Here's some more useful links, grouped by question. There may be some duplicates with those who've already posted.


<center>Getting Started</center>

How Do I Write My First Program? Where do I Start?
http://www.plcs.net/contents.shtml
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1240.html


Is there Demo Software available, so I can practice programming?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2107.html
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=845


Are there any Standards in Wiring?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1373.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1284.html
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=369


Which PLC should I buy?
- still looking for good "here are some things to consider" or "find the one with the best support" thread(s)


I'm thinking about a career in PLCs. Any advice?
- although we get this one a lot, the threads I've looked at seem pretty tailored to the poster. It should possible to find a "buy a cheap PLC and play", as well as a general comment on what a career in PLCs is like. I just haven't found them yet, and wanted to turn this into Phil now.


PNP/NPN - which is which?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2645.html


<hr>

<center>Intermediate Topics</center>

How do I scale my analog inputs (to engineering units)
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2755.html
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99

How do I totalize my flow rate (or other analog input)?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1128.html


Understanding analog input filtering (low-pass filter)
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2730.html


Understand PID
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=237
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2619.html


What is indirect/indexed addressing
AB: http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2634.html
GE: http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/737.html

How can I program a sequencer?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1050.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2688.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2402.html
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188


What is Gray code?
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID5/1277.html

<hr>

<center>Humor (or something like it)</center>
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2114.html
http://www.plcs.net/dcforum/DCForumID1/2297.html
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1032


Some of thses threads may need to be edited for tangents before becoming FAQ answers