Redlion, Modbus and AB Micro830 PLC

I was wondering if anyone has tied a Redlion device (modular controller or HMI) to the Micro830 PLC. I'm trying to get it working over Modbus, and after calling RA Tech Connect, not much help there either. They make it sound like it so new and no one there has connected to anything other than a Panel View Component. Thanks for any input.

I've done it, with a G304K and the Micro 830 controller.

I had to make my own cable by cutting the end off a 1761-CBL-PM02. I could probably dig up the pinout (at least for the G304K).

Defining Modbus registers in the Micro 830 was laborious; you have to do it one at a time, and they don't support arrays (at least they didn't in CCW 1.0 software).

One gotcha I ran into was that the Red Lion Modbus Universal Master wants to ping the first Holding Register, and I hadn't defined a "40001" register, so the G3 reported a timeout.

So, I can assume that you connected the RS485 port on the redlion to the onboard serial port on the micro830? I ordered and installed the serial/comms module, thinking it would be easier, then made my cable up. My problem is getting anything from the device. I set the micro to slave, and seems nothing I would do would show the device online, or any tags. Any files or copies of your programs might help, if that would be alright with you.

Right now, i have the micro giving Inputs to a modular controller on an I/O modile, then OPC'ing it to the touchscreen. Not what I really want, want to get rid of modular.

wutnots said:

So, I can assume that you connected the RS485 port on the redlion to the onboard serial port on the micro830? I ordered and installed the serial/comms module, thinking it would be easier, then made my cable up. My problem is getting anything from the device. I set the micro to slave, and seems nothing I would do would show the device online, or any tags. Any files or copies of your programs might help, if that would be alright with you.

Right now, i have the micro giving Inputs to a modular controller on an I/O modile, then OPC'ing it to the touchscreen. Not what I really want, want to get rid of modular.

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Were you able to make it work?
I'm thinking about using a Red Lion (G3 or Kadet) and a Micro 830 in a small project, but I don't want to deal with communication issues. I have no experience with PanelView either, so I don't know what option would cause me less pain.

I was finally able to get it to work. I was trying to wire it for Modbus 485, instead of using it over RS232. I initially wired it to the onboard serial port, then moved it over to the optional Comms module, which has terminals on it. It just takes 3 wires from the redlion to the module, RS232 Tx, RX and a ground (common). After setting up the redlion for the master, and the Micro830 for the slave, and setting up the modbus mapping in the micro, it works like a champ. Easy to program. I would stay away from the panelview as much as I could. I don't think anything takes as long as a panelview to boot up. We have processes that can't for it to boot up. Redlion makes it too easy. I do like the Micro PLC's though.