panelbuilder 32 communication set up

[blueyedpeter]

Before i start today i will apologise for the last post as it was very messy .

I will keep it short i am having trouble with the panelbuilder 32 software and the communication ports and there set up.

The micro300 panelview i have is set up for Dh485 communications , and when i try to up load the program from the panelview terminal , the choice of comports is limited to only Df1 communication ports . And excludes the communication port that i need to use.

At the moment i am not sure how to make the software communicate in Dh485 the communication port is not listed because it is not a DF1 port.


I am able to configure rslinx and the 1747-uic driver properly and when i use rswho the terminal appears as node 2 and the workstation as node31 .

In tools and options in the panelbuilder software this is wear it appears that you select the default terminal set up but it appears not to work though .

And by the way thank you for the previous advice, night shift tends to aggravate things a little but thanks again.

 

[sthompson]

This is much better, and I know what you mean about graveyards. It would have been good if you had included the full Model Number of the PV300, but I saw your earlier post, and Ken's repost. So I grabbed it from there.

According to Allen Bradley this is a RS-232 Unit, with a DH-485 Protocol. It is important to understand the difference. It also uses the 8 Pin Mini-DIN. So the Cable you want is 1761-CBL-PM02, 1761-CBL-PM05, or 2711-CBL-PM10. These are DB9 to Mini-DIN Cables.

The Driver you want is the standard DF1 to SLC/MicroLogix/PanelView. An AutoConfigure should work.

http://www.ab.com/en/epub/catalogs/12762/2181376/1239781/1670480/1681260/tab4.html

Hopefully you haven't damaged the RS-232 Port with the UIC Interface.

Stu....

PS Do you have access to the Allen Bradley Knowledgebase?

 

[Ken Roach]

Welcome back ! I hope you're feeling a little better rested. I could use a strong cup of coffee myself.

When you select Upload in PanelBuilder32, the software lets you select either "DF1 Point-to-point Internal " drivers or RSLinx. Those "Point to Point" drivers were made for older computers and they will allow only COM1 through COM4 to be selected.

Since you have your aftermarket 1747-UIC device working in RSLinx Classic, that's the driver you should use.

RSLinx takes care of the connection between PanelBuilder and the PanelView terminal; PanelBuilder32 doesn't care if RSLinx is using COM8 or COM20 or anything else, as long as it can browse the terminal.

 

[Ken Roach]

About the "Autoconfigure" feature in the DF1 Full Duplex driver:

This works well with built-in serial ports and true DF1 Full Duplex devices.

It only works sometimes with USB/RS232 converters. My favorite, the Keyspan/Tripplite USA-19HS does support that feature.

To my knowledge, it doesn't work with the 1747-UIC. That device has specific DF1 port settings, or you use the 1747-UIC specific driver in RSLinx Classic.

I don't know how a third-party 1747-UIC works; you'll have to specify the model and get some installation/configuration information from them.

 

[sthompson]

Ken:

Did I lead the OP astray? I though the 1747-UIC was a USB to DH-485 Interface/Converter, and did not have an RS-232 Function?

Stu....

 

[Ken Roach]

The 1747-UIC has three physical ports: USB, RS-232 and DH485.

On the USB side, it emulates a Windows COM port and uses the DF1 Full Duplex protocol. For this reason, it uses the same drivers that are used when DF1 Full Duplex protocol is run on a Windows COM port.

On the network side, you can connect to RS-232 devices or to DH485 networks. The protocol is always DH485, but it can run on either electrical standard because there are both ports.

My most recent post was specifically about the Autobaud function; it doesn't work with every USB device on the market, and because the 1747-UIC has a specific fixed set of configuration parameters, it doesn't make sense to use it.

What I don't know is if this third-party "1747-UIC" does all the same things that A-B's 1747-UIC does.

If it's from Ind-Concepts, it's probably fine.

If it's from some other vendor, I don't know what it does.

 

[sthompson]

Thanks for the clarification Ken.

So, in RSLinx he would Configure DH485 UIC Devices which becomes named AB_UIC-1, and the only Configuration is Com Port, and Station Number.

Then the Driver will automagically default to the proper Baud, Stop Bits, Parity, and Error Correction.

Does that sound about right?

Stu....

 

[Ken Roach]

Yes.

The 1747-UIC driver is just a DF1 Full Duplex driver with only two options (Node # and COM Port).

The other characteristics of the driver (speed, parity, data bits, stop bits, error correction, duplex, device type) are fixed at the correct values for the 1747-UIC (19200, 8/N/1, CRC, Full Duplex, SLC-500 devices).

 

[sthompson]

Thanks Ken. Hopefully all this will help the OP.

Stu....

 

[alan_505]

Is this a new micro300 or a second hand one, they can be flashed to be either DF1 or DH485, unless it is new or you know its history you cannot believe the label, someone could have flashed it to be a different comms.

Alan

The firmware to flash it is usually on the PB32 CD.

 

[Ken Roach]

A good point, Alan.

Peter's first post in this thread includes a description of being able to browse a DH485 network using the 1747-UIC driver in RSLinx Classic, with the PanelView 300 Micro terminal as Node 02 and RSLinx as Node 31.

That's consistent with a properly operating PanelView 300 Micro with DH485 protocol.

I'm not sure I understand Peter's entire problem; I *think* his problem was in selecting the proper driver to perform an upload from the PanelView terminal.

But he also mentioned, in his last line, the Tools -> Options menu. That menu is for setting PanelBuilder32 options for the defaults when you create a new project; it has no effect on the current project or the terminal application.

Hopefully Peter will post some followup information or further questions.

 

[blueyedpeter]

All is well after many failed attempts to up load from the panelview and much belly button gazing i did notice every time i started rs linx the display on the panelview changed slightly from error code 612 no active nodes found to error code 613 required nodes not found.

As this gave me new hope , i investigated the running of rslinx as a service again , and i also opened up the panelview settings and confirmed the communication nodes for the unit and the type of communication set up was dh485.

And a quick computer reboot.

In rslinx useing rswho the panelview started to appear as node 2 and the workstation as node 31 as this was reset earlier in panelbuilder 32.

Looking at the picture of the panelbuilder32 transfer type i tried rslinx network setting and all is now cured .

Although when i upload the program it appears to upload fine , but i am not sure were it lands ?
It dose not appear in the applications folder or in my documents .

Enough mountains have been climbed today tomorrow is another day onwards and upwards .

And a very big thank you for all your kind advise and help .

 

[sthompson]

When PanelBuilder32 does an Upload, it saves the file as a PVA. The default when you do a File Open is PBA. Click on the File of Type Drop Box, and select PVA, and you should see the File you uploaded.

Stu....