Connection to SLC-5/03 with RS-232

danmart1

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Join Date
Jul 2011
Location
Mid-West
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I seem to be having troubles connecting to a number of PLCs that are used where I work.

The main problem I have is connecting to the SLC-5/03 using an RS232 cable. The connection is a DF1 Half Duplex Slave. I have attempted to connect using the standard DF1 Driver, the DF1 Master Polling Driver and the Slave (just because), but I can never see the PLC in RSLinx. I believe that I have made I have attached the Channel Configuration page from the report, but I made sure to set the baud rate at 2400, changed it to CRC, and Parity to none. I may just be missing something, but this is very annoying.

If anyone knows of anything else I can try, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


[EDIT] I also forced the driver to check all nodes 0-255, as it was unable to find #12.
 
Last edited:
The correct driver in RSLinx for your SLC5/03 configured for DF1 Half Duplex Slave is the "DF1 Polling Master Driver".

The key configuration for that driver are under tabs:

Define Polling List = your 's is 12
Port Configuration, check the offline file under channel configuration to be sure.
General Driver settings leave at 0 for your PC's node address
DF1 Protocol Settings= error checking

Is your RS232 cable a null-modem cable? 1747-CP3
 
Last edited:
Those are the first settings I tried. After it didn't worked I moved to semi-organized "random" combinations of drivers and settings, but they didn't work either. I even have the correct cable.

I believe I have the Port Config correct. I know that the COM port is correct.
Baud: 2400
Stop Bits: 1
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None

Is it possible that going through a PCMCIA card for RS-232 is causing problems?
 
danmart1 said:
Those are the first settings I tried. After it didn't worked I moved to semi-organized "random" combinations of drivers and settings, but they didn't work either. I even have the correct cable.

I believe I have the Port Config correct. I know that the COM port is correct.
Baud: 2400
Stop Bits: 1
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None

Is it possible that going through a PCMCIA card for RS-232 is causing problems?
Click to expand...

Have you tried Auto Config ? how do you know the COM port is correct? Yes it is possible that the PCMCIA is your problem, do you have a USB to serial adapter?
 
I had a lot of problems in my past just using a pcmicard to serial adapter. Had to call Allen Bradley. They make a usb to serial adapter. It solve the communication problems.
 
geniusintraining said:
Have you tried Auto Config ? how do you know the COM port is correct? Yes it is possible that the PCMCIA is your problem, do you have a USB to serial adapter?
Click to expand...

Auto-Config doesn't work with Half-Duplex, and when using the DF1 Master Polling Driver I don't even have the option.

I use Windows Device Manager to get the COM port, and I can connect to other, Full-Duplex, devices.

I do have a USB adapter, but it had given me some problems in the past which is why I went to the PCMCIA card.
 
Just for kicks I set up an SLC-5/05 with the Channel 0 settings you described, and the basic DF1 Half Duplex master settings (put Node 12 in the scanlist, set the port for 2400/8/N/1).

Using a 1747-CP3 cable it browses rapidly.

I couldn't get it to work with an Ubuntu host and an XPSP3 guest OS, but it worked right away with a native XPSP2 OS.
 
This may be a stupid question.... but why don't you use DF1/RS232 devices and auto configure (full duplex)
 
geniusintraining said:
This may be a stupid question.... but why don't you use DF1/RS232 devices and auto configure (full duplex)
Click to expand...

The simple answer is because the PLC is programmed for Half-Duplex, and as far as I can tell a Full-Duplex driver will not possible with a Half-Duplex configuration.

The longer answer, and what I assume was what you will be getting to, is that the PLC uses an Analog radio unit to communicate with a SCADA system. The ratio requires the current settings in the PLC to function, so even if I was able to connect and change the Driver, it would no longer function with the SCADA system, which is even less ideal than my current situation.
 
How about the other port... if you have a older PC you can use a 1747-PIC or the USB version 1747-UIC if the RJ45 (DH485) port is open, then you will have a easy hook up, just giving you other options
 
Check series on PCMCIA

danmart1 said:
Those are the first settings I tried. After it didn't worked I moved to semi-organized "random" combinations of drivers and settings, but they didn't work either. I even have the correct cable.

I believe I have the Port Config correct. I know that the COM port is correct.
Baud: 2400
Stop Bits: 1
Data Bits: 8
Parity: None

Is it possible that going through a PCMCIA card for RS-232 is causing problems?
Click to expand...

Is the PCMCIA series A or B If I remember correct series A had driver problems with win xp and up.
 

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