DirectLogic by KOYO

[Hester]

Using RS 232 serial connection.

I guess the RS232C connection is really slow. That must be why all the time delay.

 

[testsubject]

RS-232 is very slow. You are restricted to 9600 baud from port 1 and cannot program from port 2.

 

[bernie_carlton]

That's very strange, I program through port 2 (DL-240, 250, 05, 06) a lot.

 

[testsubject]

Bernie,

That is strange. I never tried to program from port 2 because I was told many years ago that I could not and never tried since.

Maybe you can now.

Although I usually have a touch panel hooked up on port 2 and it is more trouble to have to connect and reconnect it each time I have to program. After programming from the ECOM I love it. It is much faster than serial (no big surprise)

Bob

 

[bernie_carlton]

I too have used the ECOM. It's especially fun monitoring through a wireless gateway from my office. And it is fast. Our data gathering tests using OPC really fly. But port 2 does work and I haven't found one of their CPU's which have 2 ports in which is doesn't work for programming. One difference in most is that the 1st port is locked in its parameters and only understands K Sequence while the other is free to be changed. That way you can always trust that port 1 will operate in an expected manner for programming.

 

[elevmike]

What about configuring port 2 at a higher baud rate and doing updates via port 2? (if not in use)

 

[testsubject]

It sounds like this is entirely possible. Like I said before though, for me this is really not an option. I use Port 2 for my HMI.

Bob

So Mike, did you get much rain on your side of the pond? We got hammered over here. The DesPlaines river is higher than it has been in years.

 

[Eric Nelson]

It sounds like this is entirely possible. Like I said before though, for me this is really not an option. I use Port 2 for my HMI.

Years ago, I used to use Port 2 for my HMIs. I figured the faster 19.2 would make the HMIs more 'responsive'. Actually, 9600 is usually plenty fast for an HMI, so I now use port 1 for the HMI, and always program through port 2 (setup for 19.2). MUCH quicker for programming!... :nodi:

That is, unless port 2 is needed for other peripherals, which I'm doing more often. I often multidrop VFDs, servos, etc. off port 2.

So, unless you need the extended capabilities of port 2 for your HMI, try using port 1, Bob.

beerchug

-Eric

 

[testsubject]

Eric,

I have mine cranked up to 38.4. I wanted the touch panel screen (DirectTouch) to react as quickly as possible to the changes selected through the program. I am now shifting over to EZTouch, which I have fallen in love with, for all my touch panels now. Maybe it will respond faster. It sure seems to. I am able to use more screen select buttons than I could from teh direct touch. I was able to consolidate 16 different screens to just 1 with the use of visiblity tags and the decimal tag!

 

[elevmike]

Bob,

The weather has been interesting. We've had the worst flooding in my memory on the east and north east side of town. Funny, we have flood insurance but never seem to get flooded ourselves. At work the water was about 2 inches below the top door step.

About 9 years ago I went ouside the grab the patio furnature blowing around the back yard and noticed a potted plant doing circles in the sky. I left the furnature to fate and headed to the basement with the baby and dog. We got a new roof out of the deal. Another "twist" of fate as we were getting quotes on a new roof at the time. My wife also got a new paint job for her car. It looked like a big red golf ball after the storm passed. They call Kansas, Oakloahoma, etc. "Tornado Alley" but Michigan still holds the all-time record for more tornado deaths in one storm. Some of the local fallout shelters are still maintained, and now they call them tornado shelters. I brought my kids to work yesterday and they asked me to show them the tornado shelter. I told them to "duck and cover"; or was that just for an A bomb? That's right. When I was a kid you were supposed to hide under your desk to survive an A bomb attack. But tornados were really serious and we all ran like h*ll to the school basment like rats running from a burning ship.

Back to subject.. I'm going to try that port 2 thing myself. I was actually guessing but Eric seems to know something...

Bob, What's the learning curve like on that EZ touch?

 

[Eric Nelson]

Bob, What's the learning curve like on that EZ touch?

I'll temporarily play the role of 'Bob' in answering your question...

The EZ-Touch is exactly what the name describes, very "easy". You should have very little trouble using one, especially if you've used any EZ-Text displays. The software looks quite similar. Since they are so "EZ", they also have some limitations. My main gripe is no overlapping objects (see THIS post).

Oh, and I agree with using port 2 with a touchscreen. Since more data is transferred, you want the higher baud rate... :nodi:

beerchug

-Eric

 

[testsubject]

Thanks for picking up on that Eric.

Mike, if you had any experience with the DirectTouch Panel, Using the EZTouch is like night and day. It is very easy to set up. I do wish that there was a way to make the label display on the buttons bigger (you'll know what I mean when you see it). I especially like how the screens displayed is 2 way. The PLC and the Touch panel both can direct screen changes and the PLC knows when a screen has been changed. On the DirectTouch this was one way only from PLC to TP. I now can have an event happen when the screen changes in the PLC instead of having to program the screen change from within the PLC. This one thing alone really simplified my PLC program. That and I really to love visibilty and decimal tags. These also made my job easier.

So, all in all, I am very glad I switched. (Kind of had to since the DirectTouch was discontinued...)

Bob

P.S.
Eric, I went back to the post you showed and I have something to add about recipes. I found out from ADC that recipes are stored in the same memory that the screens are stored in. So, if you want to modify a screen, the recipes are wiped out. Also, if you send someone a FlashRAM with an update to the screens, the recipe storage is blown out. I decided that in the meantime I would continue to do my recipe storage in the CP-128. I am still not happy with this either, but at least I can extract the data if I need to.

 

[gbradley]

Another thing to consider...

Automation Direct has a really Cool Cover on the new catalog.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Another thing to consider...

Automation Direct has a really Cool Cover on the new catalog.

Yes, very cool, and it sure beats that stamped metal thing they had a few years back...

beerchug

-Eric

 

[testsubject]

It is very cool (got mine today.)

Eric,
Tell me about it. I skinned the meat off a knuckle trying to get a book next to it on my bookshelf. The cover was ripped off the very same day!