After getting my electronics degree over thirty years ago, I landed my first job in the industrial automation industry as an Inside Technical Specialist. That job was basically a technical support position with some sales functions mixed-in.
At the time I had no idea that what a PLC was, but since I’d been coding since I got my first PC (VIC-20) at the ripe old age of 11, and I had recently worked building IBM compatible PCs as well as using MACs in an engineering department, I went ahead and applied for that position which required both PC and PLC expertise.
As the story goes, I told my that I wasn’t going to let that fact that I had no clue what a PLC was stop me from applying, since I already had lots of experience using PCs, and it was just an “L” after all.
During the first few weeks on the job, it was quickly obvious that the PLC-5 was the top choice among Allen-Bradley controllers, with the PLC-2 and SLC-100/150 coming in second, and the highly anticipated SLC-500 just coming into stock.
Since then I’ve the opportunity to teach hundreds (if not thousands) of people how to use the PLC-5, and thanks to a recent donation of RSLogix 5 I’ve decided to add a course on the PLC-5 to my upcoming course development schedule, along side updated courses on the ControlLogix, CompactLogix, SLC-500 and MicroLogix.
The thing about all of these controllers is that they share a whole lot in common. So unlike my previous courses, which I filled one at a time, these new courses will be all filmed concurrently.
This approach will allow me to do things like record a generic lesson on Data Highway Plus, which I can then include in all of the courses in which DH+ can be used. Because of this, I’ll continue to offer discounts to those who purchase multiple courses since some overlap is unavoidable.
That said, while I have a very good idea of the topics I want to include in my upcoming PLC-5 course, I also wanted to reach out to you, the readers of the blog, to see what topics or questions you’d like to see answered in this upcoming course?
So if you still work with the PLC-5 and have some things you’ve always wanted to know about it, please take a moment to drop me a comment below, or use this form to send your question in to me anonymously.
My plan is to start answering these questions in the course’s “Ask Me Anything” lesson here, which anyone who pre-orders the course will have immediate access to.
That said, I also wanted to include the following links to content we’ve previously published on the PLC-5 in case any of these existing articles already answer your questions:
Previous PLC-5 Coverage On TheAutomationBlog.com
- Converting PLC-5 Ladder Programs to ControlLogix
- RSView32 to SLC-5/04 & PLC-5 over DH Plus via Ethernet and 1756 Gateway
- Updating Redundant PLC-5 Programs
- PanelView Plus to ControlLogix, SLC-5/04, & PLC-5 over DH Plus
- PanelView Standard to SLC-5/04 & PLC-5 over DH Plus
- ControlLogix Reading Data From PLC-5 and SLC-500 over DH Plus
- PLC-5 and SLC-500: Communicate and Download over Data Highway Plus
- Setup RSLinx and download to a PLC-5 via Serial
- USB to DH Plus Comm Setup to SLC-5/04 and PLC-5
- A-B PLC-5 Serial Comm Setup & Download
- FactoryTalk View Importing PLC-5 & SLC-500 Tags
- Changes I would like to see made to Rockwell’s Translate PLC-5 SLC utility
- Working around the Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 utility’s syntax error
- Add Ethernet communications to a non-Ethernet PLC-5
- RSLogix 5 Sum Integer File using FAL
- Importing PLC and SLC tags into FactoryTalk ViewStudio (or RSView32)
- Ethernet over Blue Hose (9463)
- How to change the RSLogix online animation
Until next time, Peace ✌️
If you enjoy this episode please give it a Like, and consider Sharing as this is the best way for us to find new guests to come on the show.
Shawn M Tierney
Technology Enthusiast & Content Creator
Eliminate commercials and gain access to my weekly full length hands-on, news, and Q&A sessions by becoming a member at The Automation Blog or on YouTube. You'll also find all of my affordable PLC, HMI, and SCADA courses at TheAutomationSchool.com.
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