Very old logic systems replaced

Just remembered another one in 1984, we were doing a overhead conveyor system using a symax300, we had to interface with a trallfa robot (I think it was called) spray system, The system had to tell the robot what program number via coms (232), only problem was the coms card for the symax had to be come from the US & it would be 3-6 weeks (we were not informed of this link until on site commissioning), so my boss's brother in-law who owned a company who designed video games for the gaming industry came up with the idea of a small Z80 board off the shelf that had a UART & enough inputs to take an 8 bit binary input & convert it to the required string, we called it a PSCON (parrallel to serial converter), on commissioning this guy had to set the baud rate at 150 baud, that's all this robot would work on, interestingly, this robot was I think a 68000 processor with half a megabyte bubble memory the menory card was as big as an A2 sheet, it held the programs for the spray sequence that was tought by an operator holding the robot, switching a combination of switches i.e. start recording, rotate (tells us to rotate the part), then at the end finish, it was some fun trying to get a good spray pattern, you held it & moved it just like you would with a handheld one These were lorry wheels with many awkward places, the trouble was is getting a good coverage, not missing any places, in the fastest time possible & remembering to flick the right switch at the right time, we all had a go & with 30 possible recipes we probably hand teached over a 150 wheels, these then went on through the oven.

Ken Moore - yes I cut my teeth on 5TI and PM550... eventually switched them all over to TI505 and most recently to CTI 2500 processors.

My first exposure to PLC was an Allen-Bradley 1742 MAC. Strictly relay replacement and programmed with a hand-held device. Soon after we installed PLC-2, and SLC-100's.

Does anyone else remember backing up or loading PLC programs to GE Series-1 using an actual music cassette recorder? They were programmed using a handheld unit but later GE came out with actual PC based software for both programming and backup/restore functions.

Also, someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think the Series-1 has gone thru several manufacturers (Texas Instruments TI-305, Koyo, Automation Direct and maybe others).

Yes. I remember the GE Series One well. I probably have a couple backup cassettes in my stash of stuff. They were made by Koyo, sold as GE, then TI 305, then Siemens 305, then Automation Direct sold the 305 line until it was discontinued a few years ago. I never used software, just the plug-in programmer in those days.

I also have a backup cassette from a large 5TI program. That was me reading off the instructions to a recorder as I scrolled through with the big old programmer with the insert button removed and covered to not mess up the addresses. Insert moved everything back an address, but delete only wrote a NOP. Later I transcribed that to paper, named everything, sectioned it out, and re-entered everything with NOP spaces between program sections starting at xx00 or xx50 addresses to have room for modifications without shifting everything after that.

We’ve come a long way baby.

The product formerly known as the Series One has always been manufactured by Koyo. It has been sold by GE, TI, Siemens and now Automation Direct, which is a subsidiary of Koyo.
And yes, I have used a tape recorder to back up Series One Programs. I have also been around long enough to have used a STR-LNK tape recorder in the big silver suitcase for backups of AB PLCs.

Interesting the Series One is well over 30 years old I worked on a few of those using the hand held programmer no tape backup back in the day. I am surprised that Automation Direct marketed then for that long it just shows that they are just copying old technology.
I was told that they were designed and developed by GE and Toyo was contracted to manufacture it for GE but somebody in GE messed up on the contract with Toyo and forgot the exclusivity clause in the contract so Toyo marketed them to others, I know of TI and I assume others as well. When GE discovered the mistake they pulled the plug on that line and replaced it with a different model. It only ran for a few years.
The parts were interchangeable, I have seen a few systems with both GE and TI modules in. The only difference was the color of the plastic used to mold the parts.

I'm not that young (in my fouties) and this has been a great thread to send me down rabbit holes and checking out old technology for industrial controls.

I'd pay good money for a book with a lot of these described and with pictures along with some of these stories.

I was told that they were designed and developed by GE and Toyo was contracted to manufacture it for GE but somebody in GE messed up on the contract with Toyo and forgot the exclusivity clause in the contract so Toyo marketed them to others

Click to expand...

I was working for a GE distributor around the time when GE and Koyo parted ways. The reason for the split was that GE and Fanuc had teamed up to design the 90 series of products. The 90-30 was the successor to the Series One. Koyo wasn't ready to end production of the product, so they found another marketing partner in TI. TI later sold their PLC business to Siemens.
Eventually, KOYO formed PLC Direct to market their PLC products in the US. They later changed the name to Automation Direct.

Steve Bailey said:

I was working for a GE distributor around the time when GE and Koyo parted ways. The reason for the split was that GE and Fanuc had teamed up to design the 90 series of products. The 90-30 was the successor to the Series One. Koyo wasn't ready to end production of the product, so they found another marketing partner in TI. TI later sold their PLC business to Siemens.
Eventually, KOYO formed PLC Direct to market their PLC products in the US. They later changed the name to Automation Direct.

Click to expand...

I was one of the first PLC Direct customers. I'd been using the Series 1 as remote I/O with an Optomux card tied to an industrial PC over RS 485. In those days the president, Tim Hohman(sp?), used to answer the phone and take orders himself. They have always been good to work with.

Memory Architectures

The PLC Class outline at Corsairhmi.com has a section starting on page 43 about PLC memory architectures that have been used over the years. Many of us have been involved with all of them at various times. It's a way to show once again that things have gotten much better.

Not exactly the same topic as I did not install this system but upgraded it to a newer system. In the mid-90's a major pharma company had a couple of Modicon 184 PLC's and wanted to upgrade to a Modicon 984.


The 184 had what I believe was called "4-node logic". Every rung had to have 4 inputs (NO or NC) and a coil output. Many rungs in their program had 4 contacts of the same address triggering a coil. Very, very primitive by today's standards.


Several years later I upgraded some Modicon 384's to AB PLC-5's for an automotive company. Same sort of deal except here I was allowed to revise the logic quite a bit more. The pharma company wouldn't permit many changes because of FDA regulations, cost, etc.