Q & A

PLCs vs PACs: Did Digi-Key get it right? I’m not so sure… (qa230316)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 03/16/23: There's no question that Digi-Key has contributed to the industry with its many high quality (and completely free) technical articles. But the question today is if they got the difference between PLCs and PACs right in their recent article, a...

CompactLogix – Why Does Its IP Address Keep Changing? (qa230221)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 02/21/23: A reader recently asked why does his CompactLogix's IP Address keep  reverting back to the old value every time he cycles power, and I share my thoughts on that in today's Automation Q&A. NOTE: You'll find the articles mentioned in this...

PanelView Plus – .MER Runtime: Unable to load ActiveX control, Newer version required (qa230214)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 02/14/23: A reader recently asked why he's getting this error on his PanelView Plus: “Unable to load ActiveX control. Cause: Newer file version of ActiveX control required,” and I share my thoughts on that in today's Automation Q&A. NOTE: You'll find the...

BOOTP-DHCP Utility – Why Won’t It Disable BOOTP? (qa230210)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 02/10/23: I was recently asked by a community member what to do if the BOOTP-DHCP Tool/Utility wouldn't disable the BOOTP setting in a PLC and HMI, and I share my thoughts on that question in today's Automation Q&A below. NOTE: For our...

Message (MSG) – ControlLogix to PowerFlex 525? (qa230208)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 02/08/23: Recently I was asked by a community member if they could use a MSG instructions in a ControlLogix to communicate with a PowerFlex 525, and I share my thoughts on that question in today's Automation Q&A below: NOTE: If you need...

Micro800 – Can I use the USB Port to Read Data? (qa230202)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 02/02/23: Recently I was asked by a community member if they could use the USB Port on a Micro800 to connect to a third party RFID device to read data into the PLC, and I share my thoughts on that question...

PanelView Plus – .MER Runtime: Terminal Cannot Find File? (qa230131)

Automation Q & A from the Morning Show dated 01/31/23: Recently a community member ran into an issue with a newly purchased machine where the PanelView Plus was showing an error that it could not find the .MER Runtime file, and I share my thoughts on what might be happening...

PLC-5 – Why is 1771 I/O Addressed in Octal? (qa230130)

Automation Q & A for 01/30/23: Recently I was asked why a PLC-5's I/O is addressed in Octal, and I answer that question in today's Automation Q&A below: NOTE: If you need to learn how to use and program the PLC-5, check out my Ultimate PLC-5 online course. It comes with support...

PanelView Plus – Firmware: “Your PanelView Plus Firmware May Be Corrupt…” (qa230125)

Automation Q & A for 01/25/23: I was asked by a member of our community recently what he should do now that his PanelView Plus 600 is booting up to an error like, "Your PanelView Plus Firmware May Be Corrupt," and I discuss the answer that question in today's Automation...

Three Questions Answered: Studio 5000, PanelView 800, CompactLogix (M5E37)

I answer three reader's questions on Studio 5000, the PanelView 800, and CompactLogix in Episode 37 of The Automation Minute, Season 5. [vimeo 741145429 w=750 h=420] The Automation Minute, Season 5 Episode 37 Show Notes: Episode Links: - Pickup our TAB1 Collection at TheAutomationBlog.com/tab1 Join our new community at Automation.Locals.com! Become part of our community...

Sharing Data Between A-B Programmable Controllers (MSG)

Recently, one of our community members asked how he could go about sharing data between various Allen-Bradley PLCs. First he needed to share Tag Values between two ControlLogix controllers, after which he needed to read data into his ControlLogix from various legacy A-B PLCs. Over the last thirty years I've found...

Community Q & A: Questions of the Week

Over the last few weeks many of our readers made use of our "submit a question" link to send us topics they'd like to see us cover, and today I'll share a few of them along with my take on how to resolve each question. Note: Readers can ask submit...

Community Q & A: Questions of the Week

Over the last few weeks many of our readers made use of our "submit a question" link to send us topics they'd like to see us cover, and today I'll share a few of them along with my take on how to resolve each question. Note: Readers can ask submit...

S7-1200, Profinet – Communicating to a Third Party Device (Q&A)

In this edition of "Community Q & A," one of our readers sent in a question about how to go about using a third party product on Profinet with an S7-1200. Note: To see a list of all our ControlLogix videos and articles, click HERE. Community Question: What is the easiest way...

Community Q & A: Questions of the Week

This week a lot of readers made use of our "submit a question" link to send us topics they'd like to see us cover, and today I'll share a few of them along with my take on how to resolve each question. Note: Readers can ask submit questions directly to...

Community Q & A: Questions of the Week

This week a lot of readers made use of our updated "submit a question" link to send us topics they'd like to see us cover, and today I'll share a few of them along with thoughts on how to resolve each. Note: Readers can ask me questions directly at Automation.Locals.com,...

Studio / RSLogix 5000 – Can’t Go Online (Q&A)

In this edition of "Community Q & A," one of our locals community members needs help connecting to his ControlLogix Controller. Note: To see a list of all our ControlLogix videos and articles, click HERE. Community Question: I have an A-B ControlLogix controller that I tried to go online with using Ethernet...

FTLinx, RSLinx Enterprise – DH+ / Data Highway Plus Timeouts (Q&A)

In this edition of "Community Q & A" (formerly "Insight's Inbox",) I discuss with one of our community members at automation.locals.com what might be causing one of his Data Highway Plus devices to keep timing out. Note: To see a list of all our Data Highway Plus videos and articles,...

PanelView Plus – Error on Replacement Unit: Kepware Drivers Missing

In this edition of "Community Q & A" (formerly "Insight's Inbox",) I discuss with one of our community members at https://automation.locals.com what might be causing the issue he is having with his replacement PanelView Plus. Community Question: Our PanelView Plus 600 went bad, so in it's place we installed a PanelView...

Automation Q & A for February 25, 2020 (qa200228)

In this episode of our Automation Q & A Show, I review twelve of the questions which came into The Automation Blog and Forums over the last several weeks: For more information, check out the "Show Notes" located below the video.  Automation Q & A Episode 4 Show Notes: If...