defcon.klaxon
Lifetime Supporting Member
Hi guys,
Awhile back I mentioned in another thread that my client wants to use an existing Profibus connection between the water treatment panel and a remote pump station as backup comms if the new fiber ever goes down. Well, the original plan was to implement that in the distant future once everything was running but problems with the fiber has made it potentially necessary to tackle this first.
I called Prosoft on Friday for some basic tech support info and am still trying to figure out just what to do. I'm hoping you might be able to help sort out my questions and concerns.
First off, there is only one remote site (lake intake pump station) so just one master, one slave. Primary comms is through ethernet/ip via a fiber connection, and I'm using MSGs.
First question: can you send MSGs through Profibus? I looked through the manual, and called support, and am *still* confused. Prosoft has a whole chapter on using something called a "MSG mailbox" but is that the same as AB's MSGs as far as method of communication? When I asked about it, the tech support rep told me I "shouldn't waste my time" with the mailbox, said something about it being "not worth the effort" because I would, "have to set bits". Is that true? I mean why would they provide a feature that tech support immediately says not to use? I would really love it if I was able to get MSGs to be sent, because all the packing/unpacking programming is already done.
Second question: if MSGs can't be done, it sounds like I'd have to pack/unpack data into the Profibus data arrays manually. Because all my MSG data is DINT and REAL arrays, could I use this to my advantage and just COPy it directly?
Third, general question: if you guys were faced with the same problem, how would you tackle it? Am I missing anything I should know?
Thanks!
Awhile back I mentioned in another thread that my client wants to use an existing Profibus connection between the water treatment panel and a remote pump station as backup comms if the new fiber ever goes down. Well, the original plan was to implement that in the distant future once everything was running but problems with the fiber has made it potentially necessary to tackle this first.
I called Prosoft on Friday for some basic tech support info and am still trying to figure out just what to do. I'm hoping you might be able to help sort out my questions and concerns.
First off, there is only one remote site (lake intake pump station) so just one master, one slave. Primary comms is through ethernet/ip via a fiber connection, and I'm using MSGs.
First question: can you send MSGs through Profibus? I looked through the manual, and called support, and am *still* confused. Prosoft has a whole chapter on using something called a "MSG mailbox" but is that the same as AB's MSGs as far as method of communication? When I asked about it, the tech support rep told me I "shouldn't waste my time" with the mailbox, said something about it being "not worth the effort" because I would, "have to set bits". Is that true? I mean why would they provide a feature that tech support immediately says not to use? I would really love it if I was able to get MSGs to be sent, because all the packing/unpacking programming is already done.
Second question: if MSGs can't be done, it sounds like I'd have to pack/unpack data into the Profibus data arrays manually. Because all my MSG data is DINT and REAL arrays, could I use this to my advantage and just COPy it directly?
Third, general question: if you guys were faced with the same problem, how would you tackle it? Am I missing anything I should know?
Thanks!
