Micro 1000

[dmelect]

I have a micrologix 1000 that I cannot seem to connect to. I don't think the com board is bad but I just cannot seem to connect. I am using Links and auto configure. I also tried df1 polling master driver but I don't seem to get anywhere. Is there something I am missing?

 

[jaden]

What cable are you using?

 

[dmelect]

Pm02

 

[dmelect]

PM02 with a converter to usb but the converter works fine. I am replacing the micro1000 with an 1100. I was hoping to get the program from the 1000 but its not going so well

 

[OkiePC]

We work on a lot of systems that used the ML1000 analog with radio modems. Many of them are set up as DF1 Half Duplex Slaves, and sometimes it is difficult to get the settings right to upload them. Someitimes I have to try more than one baud rate and RSLinx makes me delete the driver and recreate it each time. Sometimes I have to set the driver node number to the right one from the DF1 Half Duplex Master and then put all the possible slave numbers in the polling list in order to get a response. I have spent as much as an hour and 5 different trials before succeeding. All of that is a waste of time unless you have a good reason to believe that the ML1000 is set up as a half duplex slave.

"Regular" DF1 and RSLinx Autoconfigure doesn't work with all makes of USB serial converters. I have one that it does work well with, but if in doubt, I will try 1200, 2400, 9600, and 19.2k baud rates. CRC should be the error detection setting.

 

[Ken Roach]

Unplug the cable and watch the COMM LED. If it blinks at 1 Hz, then the port is set for DH485, not DF1.

I agree that quite a lot of USB/RS232 converters don't change serial port framing fast enough to work with Autoconfigure. Try the usual 19200 8/N/1 CRC settings first.

 

[dmelect]

I will try that

 

[dmelect]

No good as of yet

 

[dmelect]

Yes this PLC came out of a lift station that did have a radio modem

 

[OkiePC]

Yes this PLC came out of a lift station that did have a radio modem

Can you get the program from the polling master? That will tell you most of what you need to know about how to talk to it. Also, programs for sewer lift stations tend to be relatively simple to create from scratch. If you can reverse engineer the comms settings and data layout from the polling master, you can probably write a completely new program that will drop right in with no changes to the master PLC.

I once spent a half hour prying my way into a ML1000 Analog on a water tower only to find two lines of code:
MOV I:0.0 > N7:0 //Digital inputs
MOV I:0.4 > N7:1 //Analog input

A lift station will have a lot more going on if it is doing pump alternation and control, but not more than a couple of hours worth of work to recreate once you have the other end (master PLC) documented.

 

[dmelect]

I am trying to connect using the polling master driver but no luck yet. I am thinking I don't have a setting correct in the driver setup screen?

 

[OkiePC]

Go to every tab on that driver config sheet and check all the settings.

You want the Driver's Station Number to be the same as the master PLC station number (not sure about the ML1000, but I think it's possible to set up some slaves to only respond to messages initiated by the master node number)

On the Polling Lists tab, you want to add the numbers that you think are the node number of this PLC. Most people number them 1, 2, 3, etc, but I had one site that had random crazy node numbers and without the master PLC program to inspect, I would have never guessed what they used. If you don't get the right number in your polling list, the driver will never "see" it. I usually put them in the Priority Stations list.

The port config tab is where you make sure you pick the right windows COM number, baud rate, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits, None for parity. The baud rate should be something that you can figure from the radio modem capability. Most of the old UHF radio modems work at 4800, but we have a couple that use 9600. Most 900Mhz will be 9600. If I remember right, I had to delete the driver and set it up again when I needed to try a different baud.

On the DF1 protocol settings, you want to change the error checking option to CRC. I think I leave the rest of the settings on this tab at the default.

I don't recall changing the settings on the other tabs. I have to delete this driver after each use, to avoid port conflicts with other drivers and I am normally only using it in the process of an upgrade to ethernet or DF1 radio protocol, so I have not kept good records of these settings.

Once you get the driver running, give RWSho some time to populate the results. If the PLC does not appear after 2 minutes, something isn't right and it is certainly possible the PLC serial port is fubar. This is made more likely by the fact it is (was) attached to to a radio modem which is attached to a piece of metal sticking up into the electric sky.

 

[drbitboy]

... The port config tab is where you make sure you pick the right windows COM number ...

This is the one I almost always forget on the first pass; the program default seems to fill this in as COM1, but any USB-serial device usually shows up as COM3.


My guess is that COM1 and COM2 hang around (like stale f*rts) from the days when every PC had one or two built-in serial ports, so any add-on serial port device drivers configure themselves as COM3.

 

[OkiePC]

This is the one I almost always forget on the first pass; the program default seems to fill this in as COM1, but any USB-serial device usually shows up as COM3.


My guess is that COM1 and COM2 hang around (like stale f*rts) from the days when every PC had one or two built-in serial ports, so any add-on serial port device drivers configure themselves as COM3.

I force all mine to COM1. Windozer says it's already in use. I tell Windozer to "shut up and do what I told you!" It works. Once you go into advanced and set the COM number to what you damned well please and make your OS slave obey you, it will remember that for that device on that USB port. Repeat this for each different device you have and each USB port until you have driven windows into complete and utter but temporary submission.

 

[drbitboy]

until you have driven windows into complete and utter but temporary submission.