Scada

Ignition starts at $1k

Pounds or NZD? I didn't convert to the OPs currency!

To be honest i haven't looked at their stuff for while now and the system I'd priced up did have a DNP3 driver too.

At 1k maybe i will for the next. I have a heart attack every time i see a quote from Schneider for the smallest upgrade to Wonderware System Platform...
 
Just my 2cents worth. If i was you i would use a tm241 or tm251 schneider plc or basically any codesys based plc that has the web visualization option which is most of them these days. You can build your own displays which is hosted on the plc and any pc can connect to it via its web browser. The plc are inexpensive. The software as well, a lot of them are free.
Data can also be logged to memory cards and also to sql databases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eB5OE_feb4

There are videos showing all the above functions for most of the different codesys based plcs
 
Pounds or NZD? I didn't convert to the OPs currency!

To be honest i haven't looked at their stuff for while now and the system I'd priced up did have a DNP3 driver too.

At 1k maybe i will for the next. I have a heart attack every time i see a quote from Schneider for the smallest upgrade to Wonderware System Platform...

Thats not the pricing i see on their website...Maybe im missing something

ignition.JPG
 
Thats not the pricing i see on their website...Maybe im missing something


Those prices, although not cheap in the sense of traditional HMI's (although you can get modules to create something like that), are dirt cheap when it comes to normal SCADA packages from the usual vendors.



I have GE on my plant... 1000 point historian license costs 5000£. This is without the historian license or the server license with runtime and comms drivers which are all licensed separately.



Siemens WinCC at market prices is 10k£ for a 8192 tag SCADA Server license (not sure if it includes runtime).



For its capabilities, Ignition is actually dirt cheap. It looks expensive because it's a lump sum payment, but if you add on what you need to pay on a traditional licensing model you'll quickly see how cheap it actually is.



But as I said, this is only valid when comparing apples to apples.
 
For your information:
Siemens WinCC RT Advanced with 128 tags and logging costs approx. 800 €,
For the programming package for the above you would need another 1500 €.
It has native support for both ML1100 and ControlLogix.

Even when this is early and you want cheap now, you should consider that whichever solution you go with now you will end up using that also in the future. So dont decide on something just because it is cheap.

About Ignition from 1000 US$, I would like to hear about that too. I have queried Ignition before about a less expensive solution with acceptable constraints, and they essentially turned me down. My guess is that the 1000US$ is for a fixed, very basic solution and huge volume of licenses.

edit: Since you are at the stage of deciding platform, vendors will be eager to offer you a very affordable solution at a steep discount.
So the cost for getting started will be less than you think based on list prices.
So again, I suggest that you find 2-3 solutions that suit your need (not based on price), and contact the vendors and get their best price for the 1st license.
 
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My $0.02

The A/B ML1400 has a builtin web page and the IO you need. Find them on Ebay. Its not SCADA but it's visualization.

The Automation Direct stuff is cheap and better than you would think.

You can build a SCADA screen using Excel and DDE/OPC . OPC-UA has opened a lot of doors for developers, or at least promises to.

Stay clear of GE Proficy iFix. We use it too and it was OLD technology 12 years ago (8 character limit to node names is revealing) They are squeezing all the life they can from it and it shows. VERY expensive. Crappy support on west coast. Need to be fluent in .NET and VBA to make it sing.

Ignition is very promising, I use it for SMS messaging and you can make it dance all you want to with just code. But you wont get anywhere for $1k. They have a Java problem coming in 2019 since Oracle takes Java back private then so I would expect some hiccups during that transition. But for now they are committed and I'm sure they will make it work. ... Then they will get bought by someone bigger and turn to c r a p like always happens to good developers.
 
Stay clear of GE Proficy iFix. We use it too and it was OLD technology 12 years ago (8 character limit to node names is revealing) They are squeezing all the life they can from it and it shows. VERY expensive. Crappy support on west coast. Need to be fluent in .NET and VBA to make it sing.

I agree.

Also, I'm not sure what exactly is GE Digital, but GE is looking to sell it.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...mull-sale-of-digital-assets-wsj-idUSKBN1KK24S


I should add that on their website, GE Digital is Predix, iFix and so on...
 
I think thats the MCC cabinets etc. But nothing would surprise me.

Looking at GE Digital's website, it seems MCC's aren't really involved.

https://www.ge.com/digital/

The news do mention Predix, which is their attempt at collecting rent and nothing else, but should be interesting to see what happens.

Them selling off iFix might just be enough of an excuse to move away from that steaming pile of dung.
 
Thanks Guys

Thanks so much for all your advice and suggestions!
Just a little more background: I have been working with plcs and drives and such for a good many years as a maintenance tech. in different industries, and I like to flatter myself I'm pretty damn good at it. But all my experience has been troubleshooting and repair. "Get my machine running, NOW!"
I have recently taken a position with a small but growing factory, sort of a "mom and pop" shop, and now I'm the "electrical engineer", lol!
In other words, I'm now being asked to "build" stuff, which is exciting, but it takes a whole different skill set to design and implement than it does to troubleshoot and repair.
We have a variety of plcs and frequency drives in operation, Allen Bradley, Siemens, Automation Direct, Emerson and some others I haven't even stumbled across, I'm sure. I don't even have software and cables for all of them yet. I'm basically starting from scratch, because they've always hired integrators before now. Two of these lines I don't even have schematics for!
Which is why I became a Lifetime Member, I'm gonna need a LOT of help, LOL!
You guys are great!
 

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