AD DL06 ASCII out help!

John Deitz

Member
Join Date
Aug 2003
Posts
13
I am trying to talk to an intelligent stepper indexer with a dl06 through port 2 with RS422 wiring. The indexer accepts commands in ascii format using Hyperterminal with no problem (via laptop through FA-ISONET). But i can't get the indexer to accept the ascii output fom the dlo6. I can see the ascii output from the dl06 on the laptop, but the indexer doesn't react. I've tried dozens of combinations of appending characters, port configuration, byte swapping, etc. Very frustrating. Is anyone sucessfully communicating with ascii devices this way? Any help would be appreciated. Feel free to email me directly. Thanks!

[email protected]
 
I replied to John's question over at the A-D forum, but it's a heck of a lot easier to 'chat' around here, so with the 'magic' of cut and paste, I'm dragging it over here... :D

My initial response:
  • I recently was sucessful using ASCII with a DL06 to change parameters in a PacSci PC800 servo drive, so it CAN be done!
    It would have been a LOT easier if I used a BASIC module, but it didn't take long to get the 06 to work. I had to embed a variable in that data string, so I also had to use the VPRINT command to get the variable in my string.

    I was sending this string:

    "255W10093=########" (The # was my variable)

    So my VPRINT command looked like this:

    Byte Swap" All
    "Print to" Address: V3000
    Message:
    "$02" "255W10093=" V2023:B V2022:B "$R"

    Now my string resided in 22 bytes starting at V3000. To send it out port 2, I used the PRINTV command with the following parameters:

    Port Number: K2
    Start Address: V3000
    Number of Bytes: K22
    Append: None
    Byte Swap: All
    Busy: C61
    Complete: C62

    Port 2 was set to use the "Non-sequence" protocol.

    Before connecting to the PacSci drive, I connected the DL06's port 2 to the COM2 port on my computer, then used Hyperterminal to watch what string got sent from the DL06. I kept fiddling with the program (using COM1) until I got the string I wanted.

    Make sure you're sending the correct "Start of message" character, and including any needed carriage returns.
To which John replied:
  • Thanks for the reply. The output from the dl06 looks Ok in hyperterminal, but indexer doesn't get it. Some dumb questions:
    1. Why use the byte swaps? The AD techie I talked to today said he thought byte swapping would help, but I don't know why.

    1a. Why use byte swaps in both the PRINTV and the VPRINT commands. Don't they just cancel each other out?

    2. Doesn't the example in the manual say the VPRINT command memory location (V3000) = the PRINTV location + 1 (V3001)? But you used V3000 in both places sucessfully?

    3. Is "$02" your start of message command? I thought a single $ indicates a special character code will follow ($L=LF,$R=CR, etc.) and to print a single $ you would use $$. So what does $02 print?

    Sorry for the picayune questions, but I've spent 3 days on this already (Sat, Sun, Mon). Customer will start kicking my a$$ Friday!

1 and 1a. Someone else can probably better explain about byte swapping. Perhaps I didn't need to do that, but in any case, it worked!

2. Yeah, I remember reading 'bout that, but my example DID work, so I'll have to get back to you on that... :D

3. My "Start of message" and "carriage return" don't show up in the forum because they are control characters. If I 'fix' them, my string now reads:

"<STX>255W10093=########<CR>"
Notice that the "<STX>" and "<CR>" are now viewable (which is why we like Phil's site!)... :site:

I have a feeling this is your main problem. You're not sending the right 'control' characters, because you don't notice that they're missing in hyperterm.

beerchug

-Eric
 
Now I think I'm on to something! "$02" = STX = Start of text! Can't wait to try that tomorrow. Where'd you ever get the idea to include that?

P.S. Funny that we bumped into each other while perusing that both this forum and the AD forum. Small world!
 
John Deitz said:
Where'd you ever get the idea to include that?

PacSci actually has a great description of how to use their SAP (Simple Ascii Protocol) in the manual. This info should be included soomewhere in the manual for YOUR drive as well. What brand stepper are you using?

beerchug

-Eric
 
Not control chars after all...

A fractured saying I sometimes use is "if it's not one thing, it's two things." It's hard enough to track down one problem, but two problems can increase the difficulty expotentially.

Here was my 422 test network: PLC-indexer1-indexer2-422/232card-laptop(running hyperterm)

Here was my 2 things problem

Thing one: PLC output would not appear on laptop unitl I wired it to the network "backwards". Everthing else was wired TX+ to TX+, TX- to TX-, RX+ to RX+ and RX_ to RX-. But the laptop had to be TX+ to RX+, TX- to RX-, and so on, to be visible on hyperterminal. So I figured that must be right. But the indexers didn't react to PLC commands.

Thing two: in the 2 day process of trying every possible combo, I hooked up the PLC the "normal" way, TX+ to TX+, etc. But still the indexers got nuthin'.

Solution: Several times I tried the network with the 422/232 interface card (FA-ISONET) removed, but no luck. But today I removed the inteface card and ACCIDENTLY hooked up the PLC the "normal" way and it works!

So just by luck I discovered my 2 problems.

One (minor): PLC can't be seen on hyperterminal through interface card when hooked up correctly for indexers.

Two (biggie): indexers can't recieve from PLC when interface card is on the network. For some reason the card hold the transmit line high all the time, apparently preventing another device from controlling the line.

Not very elegant, but I thought I'd document my solution for posterity. Thanks Eric for your help.
 
I didn't say it would be EASY. Only that it CAN be done!... :D

I haven't used the FA-ISONET adapter yet, only the F2-UNICON when connecting to a DL240. The DL06 speaks RS-422 on port 2, so you don't need an adapter. Thanks for the 'heads up' if I ever need to use one... utoh

Could it be something as simple as an incorrect location of the termination resistor?... :confused:

I see you also posted your solution over at the A-D forum.

[sarcasm]
Boy, you sure got a ton of help from THEM!... :rolleyes:
[/sarcasm]

IOW, nowadays I rarely get any questions answered over there.
Tom and Bernie seem to be the only real 'help' over there lately, so it's just easier to ask HERE... :site:

beerchug

-Eric
 
A_D forum and tech support are both lame. I tend to reasearch a problem to death before contacting them, so my questions are always hard ones and they have never solved a problem for me yet. I just hear the techie flipping pages in his loose leaf binder, just flipping and flipping.

I have called Facts Eng'g and they are more knowledgable. But I still wind up solving my own problems, as in this case. That's life!

I'm really glad I found this forum. I spend a lot of time on an "older sports car" (944) forum. Both forums give me comfort that I am not completely on my own with my arcane interests.

I am using the FA-ISONET to connect the laptop to the network. What are you using, the F2-UNICON?

I tried every combination of jumpers, but I could not solve the "transmit high" condition. So I worked around it.
 
Last edited:
I don't know that I would use the term 'lame', but they aren't nearly as good as they used to be. Back when they were 'PLC Direct', they were able to concentrate on one thing... PLCs. Now that they're 'Automation Direct', they have a whole lot more stuff to support, and their support service has suffered. IMO, I think they should have stuck to PLCs ONLY... :nodi:

I haven't had to connect my laptop to an RS-422 network yet. I have only used the F2-UNICON to connect a few GS2 drives to a DL240. I used RS-232 for the ASCII comms to that PacSci drive.

Your 'transmit high' problem is probably best answered by A-D tech support... :rolleyes:

Actually, the FA-ISONET is made by Facts, so maybe THEY could offer a suggestion?

beerchug

-Eric
 

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