Programming Siemens WF470

Dear reader,

I need to program an Siemens S5 "WF470" card. To do so I have an old cable, one side marked "AG S5" (25 pin subd male) and the other side marked "WF 470" (25 pin subd female). I gues the "AG S5" side would fit in an siemens PG port, witch my laptop doesnt have .

I do have a ms-dos program to program the WF470:
WF470 - PROJEKTIERUNGSPAKET FUER PG 685 und PG 7xx
BESTELL-NR.: 6FM1470-6BA80-0AC0 (deutsch)
6FM1470-6BA80-0BC0 (englisch)

Can I use this to program an WF470 from an "normal" PC (laptop)?
Does anybody knows the specification for the Siemens PG port?

yours sincirly,

Sander Bosman

There are so many different online cables for the old S5 system. The most regular "PG" cable has a 15-pin DSUB male plug on the PLC side. The "AG S5" would be the PLC not the PC. But the 25 pins are a bit special.

Edit: The cable you have is probably some kind of "monkey-swing". To connect an S5 CPU with the WF470.

As to which cable applies for a connection between your PC and the WF470 card, I recommend that you scan the manual carefully for a cable type number.
Notice that there is a difference between a cable for a regular PC, and a cable for a Siemens programmer (aka PG).

What IS a WF470 actually ?

>The "AG S5" would be the PLC not the PC. But the 25 pins are a bit
>special.
>
>Edit: The cable you have is probably some kind of "monkey-swing". To
>connect an S5 CPU with the WF470.

There is an antique Siemens PG685 laying around here where the cable fits on on an port marked "AG S5". I haven't got an id if the machine still works, but it's on the addict and it's so heavy I'd rather not move it

>As to which cable applies for a connection between your PC and the
>WF470 card, I recommend that you scan the manual carefully for a
>cable type number.

Did you say manual? What manual? I'm used to rtfm, if I have one

>What IS a WF470 actually ?

It's a "Video Display Module"
quote from http://www.mrcontrol.co.uk/siemens.htm:

(Obsolete) This is a very common character based system. it is complex to program but was one of the first PLC graphics systems to use colour.

(end quote)

U can also connect an serial printer (PT88) to it.

Yes, on the PGs, the online port is 25 pin. And it makes sense to mark the port on the PG with "AG-S5". But on the same cable side it should say "PG" shouldnt it ?
Maybe the cable IS for the PG685 as you say. But I dont know.

That PG685 probably uses S5-DOS (on top of CPM). You can try if you can install the software on the PG. The text description of the software package clearly states that it is for a PG685.
Maybe the software con work as standalone. But most software packages for S5 is supposed to be loaded into the S5-DOS/STEP5 environment, so the chances for that is not good.

Fire up the PG685 and check if the software isnt installed allready. I am guessing that is is. Then try if the cable is correct (and cross your fingers that you dont fry something).

>Yes, on the PGs, the online port is 25 pin. And it makes sense to
>mark the port on the PG with "AG-S5". But on the same cable side it
>should say "PG" shouldnt it ?
>Maybe the cable IS for the PG685 as you say. But I dont know.

I'll give it a try
Do you (or anyone else) have an discription of the pin assignment for this "online port"?

cable PG to WF470

I do have this kind of card here in some machine.But I don´t know how to program that, I just know how to reload the card if it miss the program or you need to reply that. To reload the card I use a PG 740 and the cable is the same that you use to connect a PG to PLC (6ES5734-2BD20),but I need to connect an adapter DB 15 female to DB 25 female. Actually, I don´t know the pins assigments of this adapter, but if you would like to know, I can find for you...

Some of the older PLC's needed an external current loop adapter to talk to the PLC processors. The PG's have a current loop adapter built in and have a 25 pin connector. The WF470, I think just uses RS232 and I think you can use a 9 to 25 serial adapter from your laptop to connect. You may have to build your own adapter. If you need a current loop adapter, I bought one from B&B electronics in Ontario, Canada. Somewhere I may have soom of the old pinouts. I have that stuff staored away, since I am in the middle of moving.

WF470 Software

Does anybody know if is it possible to run "wf edit program" in a laptop, because I only have this software using a PG 740. Another doubt, is it possible to upload the program from WF470 modulo

Hi jesper

Where can I find software for my Pg750

Grahamj said:

Where can I find software for my Pg750

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I dont have it and I am afraid that even Siemens doesnt have it any longer.

Consider "S5 for Windows" from http://www.ibhsoftec-sps.de/. It is relatively affordable and much easier to use than the old Siemens software. You will need a serial/TTY adapter and maybe a prommer as well.

Pg-750

Grahamj said:

Hi jesper

Where can I find software for my Pg750

Click to expand...

Which software, do need???

talunik

WF470 cable

Hi, it's easy to connect from a laptop to a WF470, you just need an active RS232 to TTY converter or if you allready have a TTY converter to connect from your laptop to a siemens plc then maken an adaptercable from the 15 pin connector to a 25 pin connector and add a 2 wire cable that connects to the ps2 port or a usb port or connect it to a 5v power supply. The WF470 is passive so the TTY converter wouldn't work otherwise.

I haven't programmed a WF470 for years and I'm afraid my memories not what it should be, Parky maybe able to shed more light.

I don't think you can upload the software, I believe you need the developement code and the WF470 package.

The last time I used it was with a PG685 under the CPM platform, that's going back a long way, 89-91'ish.

You cannot upload the program unless you use a ram card inside, but when you take off the power it will be empty. With wf470 (or better WF470win) you can make the configuration and the program and then write the eprom(s) that go inside the wf470 card. (don't forget to make an eprom list if you use 2 eproms!) The ram card comes in very handy when you're first programming the device or when you need to change something, it's possible to see the online change directly this way, without the need to burn the eprom first(SLOW!!)
WF470win works ok but you need a license otherwise it gives a nag screen all the time.
If anyone knows a way to pass the activation please let me know!
(I had a valid license but it is not transferable to another computer, so now I don't)