Red Lion Data Station Plus connecting to Mitsubishi FX

I seem to remember you mentioning that you have tried Ethernet.
Some time ago I had an existing system on a Q series where the Scada driver was part of Mitsubishi badged Ifix system & they were also using MX Component for other data handling.
I was tasked with replacing the Scada to an updated IFix plus use Kepserver as the I/O driver. I found that I could not connect using TCP but found it worked a treat on UDP. I also had a work colleague who had the same problem he contacted Kepware & they said UDP was the way to go.
I have used the FX Ethernet adapter with kepware & it worked a treat even in TCP mode, As far as I can remember the setup of the adapter was simple & did not need any plc code.

Peter
I think you missed how this started. Originally I contacted Red Lion with the question I need to connect 1 compactlogix to up to 6 FX plcs. Yes we can do that with a DSPSX. They have serial drivers that should work with an FX plc. At no time was modbus an option. Their FX driver must of been tested at some point for them to say it works, correct? So they should be able to show how they did it. The only reason we are try modbus because that is their suggestion on how to get their product to work. If I had known that we would need to use modbus I would of gone in different direction. Mitsubishi has no input into this, do I like Mitsubishi no but the never told me they could connect to Red Lion. I appreciate your input but this turned into an issue because Red Lion claimed the could do something they can do.

Thanks
Kevin

klauricella said:

Peter
I think you missed how this started. Originally I contacted Red Lion with the question I need to connect 1 compactlogix to up to 6 FX plcs. Yes we can do that with a DSPSX.

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That is possible with serial card using N:N or Modbus RTU. I have never used N:N. I don't think the N:N protocol has been published. The N:N allows N FX3U PLCs to talk to N FX3U PlCs. I see no mention of being able to use 6 FX3U PLCS. The obvious choice is using the DSPSX as a Modbus RTU master and the 6 FX3Us as slaves.

They have serial drivers that should work with an FX plc.

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They are probably the Modbus RTU driver.

At no time was modbus an option.

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It is one of two options.

Their FX driver must of been tested at some point for them to say it works, correct?

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I bet the Modbus RTU option was.

So they should be able to show how they did it. The only reason we are try modbus because that is their suggestion on how to get their product to work.

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Yes

If I had known that we would need to use modbus I would of gone in different direction.

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What protocol were you expecting to use? The N:N protocol?

Mitsubishi has no input into this, do I like Mitsubishi no but the never told me they could connect to Red Lion.

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The documentation is clear that the FX3u can be a Modbus RTU slave.

I appreciate your input but this turned into an issue because Red Lion claimed the could do something they can do.

Thanks
Kevin

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I still think they can if you use Modbus RTU.

Did you know what options were available or did you just assume?

Peter Nachtwey said:

Did you know what options were available or did you just assume?

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Peter

I assume when a company says they can do something they can do it. Maybe you should look up the specs to the DSPSX and see what they say it can do. It has built in drive to communicate with a FX plc. Not sure how I should know what protocol they are using when they do not seem to know. I would also assume it is not RTU because if so why would they need and have separate drive just for the FX that maps directly to FX registers. I know alot of things should work and I guess I am not a Modbus expert such as your self and that is why I didn't want to us a 40 year old protocol to begin with.



Thanks
Kevin

I have used a Red Lion Kadet to talk to a FX2 series PLC over a RS232 link. What I needed was very simple (a few integers) and it worked. I never pushed it further.

With that said, I have often complained about the lack of documentation that Red Lion provides, and have found that their Danfoss FC protocol has some significant holes in it. Like you, after making contact with them I find out they never really fleshed it out thoroughly, and that protocol is rarely used, so the likelihood of them fixing the problem is low.

I am a big fan of Red Lion products and software but will call them out when they come up short. I would expect Mitsubishi to be a popular enough PLC maker that Red Lion should fully vet all their claims and drivers in at least the most common configurations. I would keep pressing them to make it right if I were in your shoes. And I would keep squeaking until I got greased. We make money by being able to quote work based on published specs. We lose money when we find out we can trust those specifications.

We did complain and I guess it was heard because they had a new support engineer get a hold of me. He new what I was trying to do and even had documentation to show how to set it up. Had to use the FX3U-ENET card and not the rs485 but it works. He even told be that the FX3U-485ADP-MB card had never been tested and wasn't in their list of approved devices. Would have been nice to see that list of approved devices when I was talking to them about my application. The best part of all this was didn't have to use Modbus. Thanks for all the info.


Kevin

Here is the link for the description on how to set up a DSPSX to a FX3U-ENET.


https://www.redlion.net/sites/default/files/media/G3-MITAQFX-TCP.pdf


Kevin