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SLC-500 Content Index of all our SLC-500 related articles, videos, and podcasts

By
Shawn Tierney
-

The Automation Blog’s

SLC-500 Blog Index (36)

Updated on 09/10/2018

With the recent slew of SLC-500 questions coming into The Automation Forums and The Automation School, I thought it’d be a good time to post a new Blog Index of all my existing SLC-500 articles, podcasts, and videos.

Note: If you have a SLC-500 question, please feel free to post it in The Automation Forums A-B PLC Q&A forum HERE.

Hardware

Article: The Fixed Style SLC-500

September 6, 2013

Fixed SLC-500 Featured ImageRecently a client called asking what I thought would be the best replacement for a 1747-L40A. But to understand how to size a replacement for this PLC, we’ll first need to understand what that part number represents. In this article I’ll review the models that make up the Fixed Style SLC-500 family of products. Back in …

Read More »

Podcast: Programmable Controller Non-Volatile and Volatile Memory

December 10, 2013

In The Automation Podcast, Episode 7, we discuss PLC and PAC non-volatile and volatile memory as used in the PLC-5, SLC-500, CompactLogix and ControlLogix. Note: You can read more about ControlLogix and CompactLogix non-volatile memory in our companion blog article HERE.   By Shawn Tierney

Listen to »

Software

Article: How to get a free copy of RSLogix Emulate 500

July 16, 2014

Free-Emualte-500-fiFree is good One of the best kept Rockwell secretes is for the last few years they have offered RSLogix Emulate 500 for free. With this software, you can test your SLC-500 or MicroLogix programs right on your PC, without the need to connect to a physical unit. And Emulate …

Read More »

Article: What’s new in RSLogix 500, Micro v11

RSLogix 500 and RSLogix Micro version 11 is out, and in today’s article we’ll take a look at what’s new in this release…

Read More »

Article: RSLogix 500 and Micro Get Windows 8 Release

Just this last week I found out that Rockwell Automation had released version 9.05 of RSLogix 500 and RSLogix Micro.
These new versions add support for Windows 8 and 8.1 while also removing support for Windows XP.

Read More »

Article: RSLogix 5, 500, and Micro support for Windows XP / 7 / 8

Last Wednesday in this article I discussed how to use Rockwell’s PCDC webpage to look up the compatibility of Rockwell Software packages with Microsoft Windows operating systems.
In today’s article we’ll take a look at the results for RSLogix 5, 500, and Micro.

Read More »

Article: How to setup and use RS Emulate

Last week I walked through how to get a free copy of RSLogix Emulate 500, and in today’s article I’ll show you how to set it up.

Read More »

Communication Cables and Adapters

Article: How to add Ethernet to a SLC-500

October 29, 2014

SLC-Ethernet-Options-fiThe SLC-500 is a very popular PLC with over a million installed processors in facilities around the world. Over the years many of those facilities have modernized their sites by adding plantwide ethernet networks, and I often get calls asking how they can add their legacy SLC-500 systems to those Ethernet networks. Note: For our previous articles …

Read More »

Article: USB to Data Highway Plus using the ANC-120e

Today I take a look at the ANC-120e USB to Data Highway Plus converter from Automation Networks.

Read More »

Article: Why the Allen-Bradley (A-B) 1747-PIC always had trouble working in Microsoft Windows

October 9, 2013

1747-PIC Two SidesOver the years I’ve heard more than my fair share of complaints about Allen-Bradley’s 1747-PIC’s lack of Microsoft Windows support. In fact, every time I now hear someone complain I can’t help but say, “It’s a DOS product! From 1990! What other ‘90 products do you have that support Windows …

Read More »

Podcast: Adding DH-485 to your MicroLogix, SLC-5/04, SLC-5/05, and PanelView Plus 6 400 and 600.

March 5, 2014

In The Automation Podcast: Episode 16, we discuss how you can add DH-485 to your MicroLogix, SLC-5/04, SLC-5/05, and PanelView Plus 6 400 and 600.

Listen To »

Upload, Download, Go Online

Article: The SLC-500: Communicate and Download over Serial DF1 using RSLinx and RSLogix 500

So you need to know how to setup RSLinx Classic to communicate over serial with an Allen-Bradley SLC-500 so you can download or go online with RSLogix?

Read More »

Video: A-B SLC-500 Serial Comm Setup & Download

Learn how to setup serial communications to an A-B SLC-500 and then download to it in Episode 16 of The Automation Minute Season 3.

View »

Article: The SLC-500: Communicate and Download over DH-485 using RSLinx and RSLogix 500

So you need to know how to setup RSLinx Classic to communicate over DH-485 to an Allen-Bradley SLC-500 so you can download or go online with RSLogix?

Read More »

Video: A-B SLC-500 DH-485 Comm Setup & Download

January 27, 2017

Learn how to setup DH-485 communications to an A-B SLC-500 and then download to it in Episode 17 of The Automation Minute Season 3.

View »

Article: PLC-5 and SLC-500: Communicate and Download over Data Highway Plus using RSLinx and RSLogix

So you need to know how to setup RSLinx Classic to communicate via USB over Data Highway Plus to an Allen-Bradley PLC-5 or SLC-5/04?

Read More »

Article: Why I can’t connect to my SLC-500

February 13, 2015

SLC-500 Rack On SetToday we dig into our mailbag for another edition of “Insight’s Inbox.” Reader Question: I’ve run into an issue for which I would like to ask your opinion. Here in our plant we have SLC-500, specifically a SLC-5/03, which controls our material handling system. Whenever I connect to the SLC-5/03 to attempt to make a …

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Messaging

Article: How to Message (MSG) data from a SLC-5/05 to a MicroLogix 1400 over Ethernet

In Today’s article I walk you through how to Message data from a SLC-5/05 to a MicroLogix 1400 over Ethernet using the MSG instruction.

Read More »

Video: How to Message (MSG) data from a SLC-500 to a MicroLogix over Ethernet

May 25, 2018

In this episode I demonstrate how to message data from a SLC-5/05 to a MicroLogix 1400 over Ethernet using the MSG instruction (Episode 42 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)

View »

Article: How to Message (MSG) data from a MicroLogix 1400 to a SLC-5/05 over Ethernet

In Today’s article I walk you through how to Message data over Ethernet using the MSG instruction from a MicroLogix 1400 to a SLC-5/05.

Read More »

Video: How to Message (MSG) data from a MicroLogix to a SLC-500 over Ethernet

May 29, 2018

In this episode I demonstrate how to message data from a MicroLogix 1400 to a SLC-5/05 over Ethernet using the MSG instruction (Episode 43 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)

View »

Connecting HMIs

Article: Connecting a PanelView Plus to a SLC-500 Channel 0 Serial Port

June 16, 2014

RSLinx-Enterprise-Config-FiWhen looking to upgrade older PanelView 550 or 600 models, it’s common to consider the PanelView Plus 600 as a suitable replacement. For starters, most of the new PVPlus models will fit in the older PanelView cutouts. And, Panelbuilder32 programs import into View Studio mostly intact. Note: For more information about migrating …

Read More »

Video: Flashback – FactoryTalk View Importing PLC-5 & SLC-500 Tags

July 15, 2014

In The Automation Minute, Flashback Episode 7, Shawn Tierney walks you through Rockwell’s FactoryTalk View Studio importing of PLC-5 and SLC-500 Tags.

View »

Programs and Examples

Article: Flashback Friday! RSLogix 500 “Providence Beer” Demo

October 24, 2014

Providence Beer Ladder FF FiWelcome to The Automation Blog’s “Flashback Friday!” Today I’m highlighting my RSLogix 500 “Providence Beer” demo. The year was 1996 and I was tasked with designing a “hands-on” seminar for the new PanelView 550. The hands-on labs I needed to create would include setting up communications, as well as basic screen creation. In order to do this, I would need …

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Article: Flashback Friday! RSLogix 500 Top Ten Sort

May 23, 2014

FF RSLogix-500-Top-Ten-Sort-FiWelcome to The Automation Blog’s “Flashback Friday!” This blog series highlights automation articles and content that I originally posted on my previous website(s) between 1999 to 2013. Today I’m highlighting an RSLogix 500 program I wrote for the SLC-500. In the early spring of 2000, a good friend of mine asked for help creating a program that would sort racers based …

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Migrating

Article: How To Convert SLC-500 Programs to MicroLogix

In this article we’ll look at converting SLC-500 programs to MicroLogix, including how to address two common errors.

Read More »

Video: Converting SLC-500 Programs to MicroLogix

In this episode I discuss how you go about converting SLC-500 programs to MicroLogix, as well as how to deal with a couple of common errors (Episode 24 of The Automation Minute Season 4:

View »

Article: Replace a Fixed SLC-500 (1747-Lxxx) with a MicroLogix

September 9, 2013

Fixed SLC-500 Featured ImageRecently a client called asking what I thought would be the best PLC to replace a Fixed SLC-500. Specifically he was looking to replace a 1747-L40A. To pick a replacement we first needed to understand what this part number represents, and we covered this in detail in our last article here. We found that the 1747-L40A consisted of (24) …

Read More »

Article: Changes I would like to see made to Rockwell’s Translate PLC-5 SLC utility

February 4, 2014

Having used Rockwell’s Translate PLC-5 SLC utility on multiple occasions, and having discussed it’s practical use with other programmers time and again, I recently sent the following recommendations to Rockwell: INTs vs. DINTs One of easier things I would like to see changed in the “Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 utility” is the automatic …

Read More »

Article: Converting your RSLogix 500 program to RSLogix 5000 using the Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 utility step-by-step

January 22, 2014

If you have a PLC-5 or SLC-500 program you would like to import into RSLogix 5000, look no further than Rockwell’s free “Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 utility.” This utility can save you hundreds of hours of manually re-entering code, and is available free of charge from the public Rockwell Tech …

Read More »

Article: Working around the Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 utility’s syntax error

January 20, 2014

Translate PLC-5 SLC 2.0 Step 4_2A few weeks ago, a client asked me to review his SLC-500 program files. He wanted my advice on how difficult it would be to convert them to CompactLogix. When I received his files, the first thing I did was power on my primary Windows 7 64bit virtual machine. Then I opened each of …

Read More »

Learning and Misc

Article: Get A-B Programmable Controller data into Microsoft Excel using RSLinx

In Today’s article I’ll walk you through how you can bring Allen-Bradley Programmable Controller Data into Microsoft Excel 2016 using RSLinx Classic.

Read More »

Article: Getting Started With Programmable Controllers (PLC)

January 26, 2015

PLCs on workbenchI often get asked what is the best way to learn how to program PLC’s? In my opinion, there’s nothing like first hand experience. Therefore, I always recommend buying a small Micro PLC to use at home as the best way to learn. But then comes the obvious next questions: Which Micro? What …

Read More »

Podcast: Beginner’s PLC

August 7, 2014

In The Automation Podcast: Episode 26, we discuss two different options when choosing a Beginner’s PLC.

Listen To »

Article: Beginner’s PLC

August 26, 2013

Micro 810So you’re new to the world of PLC’s (Programmable Logic Controllers) and are looking to buy a beginner’s PLC to work with at home. I’m going to assume you’re on a budget, so getting the most “bang for your buck” will be important. You also may not own a 24vdc power supply, …

Read More »

Article: Flashback Friday! The SLC-500 Blue Demo Case

Today I’m highlighting a piece of legacy hardware, the SLC-500 blue demo case.

Read More »

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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System Design – How To Use Rockwell’s New Ethernet/IP Capacity Tool

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In today’s article I’ll show you how to use Rockwell’s new Ethernet/IP Capacity Tool.

The replacement for Rockwell’s discontinued Ethernet/IP Capacity Tool can now be found inside of Integrated Architecture Builder (IAB.)

Note: To learn how you can get a free copy of IAB, check out my previous article HERE.

To access the new tool, first create a new workspace inside of IAB.

Then select, “Ethernet/IP Capacity Subsystem,” as shown below:

After a few moments you should see the below screen:

The first step is to choose your Controller.

In this example I chose an L16:

After you select a Controller, if you put your mouse pointer over the question mark to the right side of your controller, you’ll see a popup that lists your controller’s specifications.

In the case of my controller, it shows the L16 only supports a total of four Ethernet Nodes:

Next, I add some I/O to the system by clicking on one of the “Select I/O” buttons:

Then I choose 1734 Point I/O, and enter a chassis count of two to indicate that I have two chassis with the same configuration.

Next I add the number of discrete and analog modules I intend to install, along with their RPIs, and then click on OK to add my I/O to the system:

Back in the main window I now click on “Compute” to calculate how much of my L16’s “capacity” these two racks of Point IO use with the results are shown below:

In the next block I add three drops of Flex I/O, each with several digital and analog I/O modules.

Note: If you attempt to add more modules to a product than it supports, you’ll see a red warning messages like the one shown below:

With my above errors corrected, I clicked on OK to close the I/O screen, and then clicked on the “Compute” button again.

Below you can see the results which show that I’ve exceeded my L16’s max Ethernet Node count of 4:

After reducing my Flex I/O racks from three to two, I decided to add four PanelView Plus HMI’s to the system, each with 1000 tags updating at 50ms:

When I recomputed the results, I found those four PanelView Plus’s exceeded the L16’s HMI “packets per second” (PPS) limit by a whopping 200%!

In an attempt to reduce the required HMI PPS, I changed the PanelView Plus update rate from 50ms to 100ms, and lowered the tag count to 800, both of which helped get my system under 100% utilization.

That said, there was very little bandwidth left, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend designing a system with limits in the “yelllow” caution zone:

The last feature I want to show is accessed using the “Generate” button:

When you click it, IAB creates a project based on your configuration:

Note: While IAB does create each drop on the network, all the I/O modules used are the defaults, leaving it to the user to update them with the desired modules.

To watch a video of the above, check out Episode 52 of The Automation Minute Season Four below:


If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues and on social media.

And if you’d like to post a comment or question on the above, just click on the “Click HERE to post a comment or question” link below.

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

How To Use Rockwell’s New Ethernet/IP Capacity Tool (2018) (M4E52)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

Can’t find Rockwell’s free Ethernet/IP Capacity Tool? In this episode I show where it is and how to use it (Episode 52 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

How To Enable Legacy PLCs In Integrated Architecture Builder

By
Shawn Tierney
-

So you’ve updated Rockwell’s Integrated Architecture Builder to gain access to new devices like the 5580 and 5380 Controllers.

Then later you realize you can no longer create projects with older controllers like the ControlLogix 5560, CompactLogix L23 and L3x, and the PLC-5.

Fortunately, the good folks over at Rockwell provide a means to launch an older version of the software for just those occasions.

To access it, from within the current version of IAB select File, and then select “Launch previous IAB version”:

Once the previous version launches, you’ll have the ability to create new workspaces with those legacy controllers.

For the ControlLogix line, that provides access to the 5560 Family:

For the CompactLogix, it provides access to the L3x and L23 lines:

And you also have the ability to create PLC-5 workspaces:

To watch a video of the above, check out Episode 51 of The Automation Minute Season Four below:

If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues and on social media.

And if you’d like to post a comment or question on the above, just click on the “Click HERE to post a comment or question” link below.

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

How To Enable Legacy PLCs In Integrated Architecture Builder (M4E51)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In this episode I show you how you can use legacy PLCs like the PLC-5, L6x, L23, and more in the latest version of Integrated Architecture Builder (IAB) (Episode 51 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

How To Download, Use, and Update Rockwell’s Integrated Architecture Builder

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In today’s article I walk you through how to find, download, install, use, and update Rockwell’s free Integrated Architecture Builder (IAB) software.

UPDATE – June, 2022: Rockwell made some changes to their website and I documented the new procedure to download IAB in the below article:

– How To Download Rockwell’s Integrated Architecture Builder (2022)

(The above new article replaces steps 1 – 5 below)

1) Start by navigating your web browser to http://www.ab.com:

2) Once there, search on “Product Selection Toolbox”:

3) From the search results select “Product Selection and Configuration”:

4) Then click on the “Download the Toolbox” button:

5) At this point you’ll be prompted to save/download the PST install file.

Once it completely downloads, open and run it:

6) If you receive this “UAC” prompt, click on Yes to continue:

7) Now click on “Install” to load any required prerequisite software:

8) After the prerequisites install, you’ll need to step through a few more pages to accept the license agreement, choose a locale, choose a language, enter you name and company, and choose an install directory:

9) Then you’ll need to choose which Toolbox software packages you want to install. Check to be sure “Integrated Architecture Builder” is checked, and then select “Next”:

10) Finally, click on the “Install” button to install the software you selected:

11) Once IAB finishes installing, go ahead and launch it. When it opens it should look something like this:

12) IAB includes many different Wizards to assist you in creating a system, but if you’d like to quickly create a system from scratch, first select “File” and “New” from the menu:

13) Next, select “Blank” from the list on the left, give your workspace a name on the right, and then click on OK:

14) After your new blank workspace opens, select “Action” and “Add New Hardware” from the menu:

15) Here you select a hardware platform from the list on the left, then make any required selections to the right before clicking on OK.

Note: Below I chose “ControlLogix” and a chassis size of “17”:

16) Once your new workspace loads, you’ll see the hardware you selected in the previous step. You’ll also see a list of hardware directly below it:

17) In this example, to add 1756 modules to my 1756 chassis, I simply find those modules in the hardware list below, and then drag them to the chassis slot I want to put them in.

18) If you can’t find a new or current product in the list, you’ll likely need to update IAB to gain access to those products.

To get an updated version, first close IAB, then run Rockwell’s “Current Program Updater” and click on “Check For Updates”:

19) Once the Current Updater is done checking for updates, the product list will be updated to show which of your installed PST software has updates available.

You’ll also have the option to choose which of the available updates you’d like to download and install:

20) After you’ve selected the packages you’d like to update, click on the “Get Selected Updates” button, and you updates will be downloaded and installed.

To watch a video of the above, check out Episode 50 of The Automation Minute Season Four below:


If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with your colleagues.

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.

shawntierney avatar
Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

How To Download, Use, and Update Integrated Architecture Builder (2018) (M4E50)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In this episode I show you how to download, install, use, and update Integrated Architecture Builder (IAB) (Episode 50 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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.

shawntierney avatar
Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

ViewSE – TechED 2018: What’s New in FactoryTalk View Site Edition

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In today’s article I’ll review my top five FactoryTalk View Site Edition announcements from the “What’s New in Visualization” TechED presentation.

Note: You can get your own copy of the full presentation by following the steps in my previous article here.

1) First up is expanded client support for multi-monitor setups. This new feature allows a single client to be configured to support up to six monitors natively:

2) Next up is Trend Pro which has been enhanced to allow the tracing of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, as well as the creation of Trend Templates:

3) RecipePro+ Recipe Management was also updated adding support for RSView32 Recipe Pro migration as well as CSV Import/Export:

4) Redundancy saw many enhancements in this release, including automatic project replication during project creation, and the added ability to forced failovers from within View Studio.

5) And in addition to the new features, Redundancy system sizing recommendations have also been scaled up to include 80 ViewSE clients, 100 ViewPoint Clients, and 10 HMI, Alarm, and Database servers.

To watch a video discussion of the above, check out Episode 45 of The Automation Podcast below:


Well, those are my picks. If you’d like to share your own picks, you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

And if you’d like to get a copy of this or any of the other Rockwell Automation TechED 2018 presentations, you can do so by following the steps in my previous article here.

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

ViewSE – TechED 2018: What’s New In FactoryTalk View Site Edition (P47)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

I review the “What’s New in FactoryTalk View Site Edition” in Episode 47 of The Automation Podcast.

Watch the Podcast:


The Automation Podcast is also available on most Video and Podcasting platforms, and direct links to each can be found here.

Listen to the Podcast:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Vendors: Would you like your product featured on the Podcast, Show or Blog? If you would, please contact me at: https://theautomationblog.com/contact

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.

shawntierney avatar
Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

What’s New in Studio 5000 (TechED 18)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In today’s article I’ll review my top five Studio 5000 announcements from the “What’s New in the Integrated Architecture System Software” TechED presentation.

Note: You can get your own copy of the full presentation by following the steps in my previous article here.

1) First up is that Studio 5000 now has tabbed windows, much like you find in modern browsers. These new tabs can be re-ordered, grouped, and even pulled out for viewing on a second monitor:

2) Next, Rockwell has moved to standard error indicators for all languages, and also supports filtering of messages in the error window:

3) Function Blocks got a welcomed visual overhaul which added the ability to force tags, enter operand values, and change sheet sizes while online:

4) Structured Text also got some welcomed new features like the addition of line numbers and bookmarks, multi-line select and mouse scrolling, smart indenting, collapsible code segments, and in-line value monitoring:

5) Finally, a powerful new alarming feature was added to Studio 5000 version 31. Known as “Logix Tag-Based Alarms,” this new feature allows alarms to be added to nearly any tag, has a very small memory footprint and does not require adding alarm instructions or code, and automatically integrates into a FactoryTalk Alarm and Events system.

To watch a video discussion of the above, check out Episode 46 of The Automation Podcast below:


Well, those are my picks. If you’d like to share your own picks, you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

And if you’d like to get a copy of this or any of the other Rockwell Automation TechED 2018 presentations, you can do so by following the steps in my previous article here.

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.

shawntierney avatar
Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

Studio 5000 – TechED18: What’s New with Studio 5000 from TechED 2018 (P46)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

I review the “What’s New in Studio 5000” software presentation in Episode 46 of The Automation Podcast.

Watch the Podcast:

Listen to the Podcast:

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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Logix, View – TechED18: What’s New with Logix and View from TechED 2018 (P45)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

I review the “What’s New in Logix and View” hardware presentation in Episode 45 of The Automation Podcast.

Watch the Podcast:

Listen to the Podcast:

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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CCW – v11: Feature Pack – Will Add “RSLogix /Studio 5000 Like” Ladder Editor

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In Rockwell’s recently released TechED presentations, new information has surfaced about how they plan to make CCW look more like RSLogix and Studio 5000.

This planned “Logix look and feel” feature will be made available to CCW 11 users via a small and easy to install update which they’re calling “Feature Pack Version 11.”

When released, this Feature Pack will be made available on Rockwell’s Compatibility and Downloads website.

Below I’ll include some excerpts from the above mentioned TechED presentation, CL22, which you can download by following the steps in my previous article here.

The ability to switch from CCW’s standard IEC Ladder View to one that’s more like RSLogix and Studio 5000 will be made available through a new “Themes” feature:

When you switch from the “Default” theme to the “Logix” theme, IEC instructions like “+” and “-” will be replaced with Logix equivalents like “ADD” and “SUB”.

This also enables coping and pasting Ladder between CCW and RSLogix 500 or Studio 5000

In addition to the new Ladder View, the Instruction Toolbar also changes with the theme to closely match the standard Logix ladder toolbar:

Rockwell has even added an “ASCII Text Input Pane” to the “Logix” theme for those of us who prefer directly typing our ladder code into the editor:

Personally, I’m looking to trying the new Feature Pack 11 when it releases later this year, and hope to cover it both here and in my video series, The Automation Minute.

Note that you can get a copy of the full presentation from which the above information was gathered by following the steps in my previous article here, and then searching for presentation CL22.

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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How To Find and Download Rockwell TechED 2018 Labs and Presentations (M4E49)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In this episode I show you how to quickly find and download Rockwell Automation TechED 2018 Labs and Presentations (Episode 49 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

Firmware – How to Find and Download A-B PLC, PAC, and HMI Firmware in 2018

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In today’s article I walk you through how to find and download Allen-Bradley Programmable Controller and HMI Firmware.

Step 1) Open you web browser and go to http://www.ab.com:

Download A-B PLC Firmware Step 1

Step 2) Then click on “Compatibility and Downloads”:

Step 3) Now you can perform a text search for your product as I do below for the “PanelView Plus”:

Or you can type in a catalog number like I do below for the “1756-L61”:

Step 4) From the search results, choose the download link for the product you are looking for.

Below I choose downloads for the PanelView Plus 7 Standard:

And here I choose the downloads for the 1756-L61:Step 5) Now from the list if versions, select the “down arrow” on the side of the firmware you want to download.

Below I select version 9.00 for the PanelView Plus 7 Standard:

And here I choose version 20.019 for the L61:Step 6) Then in the popup window, click on the firmware link:

Step 7) At this point, if you have not logged into Rockwell’s website you’ll be prompted to:

8-Login-with-free-accountNote: If you don’t have a free login, you can create one quickly if you provide a valid email address.

Step 8) Now click on the “Accept” button to agree to the license:

MicroLogix to Micro800 Download 8

Step 9) At this point I typically choose “Direct Download”:

Step 10) And then I select the link to download the firmware file(s):

Step 11) When prompted, I save the file(s) to my PC:

If you need help flashing your PanelView HMI or Logix Controller, check out one of my previous articles below:

To watch a video demonstration of the above, check out Episode 48 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:


I hope you’ve found this article on how to download firmware for Allen-Bradley PLCs and HMIs helpful.

If you have any comments, questions, corrections, or suggestions please don’t hesitate to leave them with us by filling out the “post a comment or question” link below.

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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Firmware – How to Find and Download A-B PLC, PAC, and HMI Firmware in 2018 (M4E48)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In this episode I show you how to quickly find and download Allen-Bradley / Rockwell Automation Firmware for PLCs, PACs, and HMIs (Episode 48 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

Logix – TechED18: What’s New with Logix from TechED 2018

By
Shawn Tierney
-

Of all the Rockwell Automation TechED 2018 presentations made available last week, the first ones I went through were the “What’s New” presentations, as I’m always looking to find out what’s new and coming from Rockwell.

In today’s article I’ll review my top five Logix announcements from the “What’s New in the Integrated Architecture System Hardware” presentation.

Note: You can get your own copy of the full presentation by following the steps in my previous article here.

1) First up is a recap of the new L37 and L38 controllers that recently became available for use with version 31 of Studio 5000:

CompactLogix 5370 Memory Local I/O EIP I/O Nodes EIP Motion
1769-L37ERM 4 MB 30 64 16
1769-L38ERM 5 MB 30 80 16
Compact GuardLogix STD/SAF Mem Local I/O EIP I/O Nodes EIP Motion
1769-L37ERMS 4/1.5MB 64 16
1769-L38ERMS 5/1.5MB 80 16

Those same processors are also available in “on machine” versions:

On Machine 5370 Memory Local I/O EIP I/O Nodes EIP Motion
1769-L37ERMO 4 MB 30 64 16
1769-L38ERMO 5 MB 30 80 16
On Machine Guard STD/SAF Mem Local I/O EIP I/O Nodes EIP Motion
1769-L37ERMOS 4/1.5MB 64 16
1769-L38ERMOS 5/1.5MB 80 16

2) Next was a reminder of the increase Ethernet/IP limits of several of the 5380 controllers when used with v31:

CompactLogix 5380 New EIP I/O Node Count in V31
5069-L330ER/M 60
5069-L340ER/M 90
5069-L350ERM 120
5069-L380ERM 150
5069-L3100ERM 180

3) Then we have two new 5059 Safety Modules due out this September: The 5069-IB8S and OBV8S:

4) Rockwell also announced the release of a 5069 ASCII module that programs like the 1769-ASCII, and in version 31 of Studio 5000 it currently supports Modbus RTU, Modbus ASCII, and Generic ASCII:

5) And my fifth pick is Flex 5000 I/O due out later this month. Note: There is also a separate and quite detailed presentation available on Flex 5000:

To watch a video discussion of the above, check out Episode 45 of The Automation Podcast below:


Well, those are my picks. If you’d like to share your own picks, you can do so by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

And if you’d like to get a copy of this or any of the other Rockwell Automation TechED 2018 presentations, you can do so by following the steps in my previous article here.

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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How To Get Rockwell TechED 2018 Labs and Presentations for Free

By
Shawn Tierney
-

If (like me) you didn’t have $2,000 in your training budget (and a week to spare) to attend Rockwell Automation’s TechED 2018 last week, you’ll be glad to know that the good folks over at Rockwell Automation have once again made many (if not most) of their TechED presentations and lab manuals available free of charge.

And fortunately this year it’s easier than ever to get these downloads.

As of now all you have to do is click on the below link to go directly Rockwell’s TechED 2018 downloads page:

If the above link stops working, just follow these steps to find the latest link:

1) Start at http://www.RATechED.com, which redirects you to the official Rockwell Automation TechED home page:

2) Then select the “San Diego, California, USA” link under North America:

3) Now select the “Access the Session Materials” link under Session Materials:

4) Once the next page loads, select “Click here to access the materials” on the right:

5) And from there you’ll see a listing of all the sessions along with any sessions downloads that are available:

And that’s all there is to accessing this year’s Rockwell Automation TechED presentations and labs for free!

To watch a video demonstration of the above, check out Episode 49 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:


I hope you’ve found today’s article about downloading this year’s TechED labs and presentations helpful.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to leave them with us by clicking the “post a comment or question” link below.

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

Parameter Files Not Working in ViewStudio Site Edition

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In Today’s article I discuss why your FactoryTalk View Studio Site Edition Parameter Files may not work.

While I was recording lessons for my View Studio Site Edition course, “ViewSE Basics,” I ran into a new issue with Parameter Files.

I was demonstrating how your can use the same Graphic Displays with multiple different PLCs and Tag sets, when I found most of my Parameter Files were not working.

After reviewing the files, I found that the first line of each Parameter File had this extra line of text: @!=1

I was pretty sure I hadn’t added that extra line myself, and that it wasn’t needed, so I went ahead and removed it from all of my Parameter Files and re-saved them.

Then I ran the application again, and this time I found that all of my Parameter Files worked.

Unsure if this was just a v9 bug, I opened View Studio v10, v8 and v7, and in each of those I created a new Test application as well as a new Parameter File.

Surprisingly, I found the same erroneous first line of text was present in the Parameter Files I created in v10, v8, and v7.

So while removing the “@!=1” did solve the issue I ran into with v9, I still have no idea why Rockwell would add this first line of text to all new Parameter Files in so many different versions.

In my experience, it’s unlike Rockwell to ship multiple versions of a software product with what appears to be a feature breaking bug?

PS – If you have any experience or information about this, I’d love to hear from you! Just click on the “post a comment or question” link below to leave a comment.

UPDATE: A kind reader informed me that the !@=1 disables inline comments.

In my course I use a lot of inline comments, and with the !@=1 present ViewSE was interpreting them as part of the command string.

Not sure who needs to use the “!” symbol in their commands, but since I want to include inline comments for my students, I’ll continue to remove the !@=1 from my parameter files so they’ll work 🙂

To watch a video demonstration of the above, check out Episode 47 of The Automation Minute Season 4 below:


If you found this article helpful, please share it with your colleagues on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Goggle Plus!

And if you know anyone who would benefit from Allen-Bradley PLC, HMI, or SCADA training, please let them know about my affordable courses over at TheAutomation School.

You can also share your own thoughts and opinions on this subject by clicking on the “post a comment or question” link below.

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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Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

Parameter Files Not Working in ViewStudio Site Edition (M4E47)

By
Shawn Tierney
-

In this episode I discuss why your ViewStudio Site Edition Parameter Files may not be working (Episode 47 of The Automation Minute Season 4:)


If you’ve found this video helpful, checkout my training courses here.

Check out our Video Collection #1 here, which includes the first five seasons of our shows for just $30!

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.

shawntierney avatar
Latest posts by Shawn Tierney (see all)

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