Posted by Mike Fahrion on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 @ 01:51 PM
It's here - the definitive icon of fall has arrived.
Pumpkins are picked, leaves turned to golden hues and giant combines lumber through the Illinois cornfields. But that indeed is subtle evidence in comparison to the watershed event of the season.
That's right, dear reader, you know it is fall because the autumn edition of the B&B Electronics catalog has just arrived in your mail slot. 136 vibrant pages of data connectivity wonders unleashing the crisp exhilaration of the fall season.
So finish your pumpkin carving and wash that pumpkin seed slime off your fingers while I take you on a unique tour. Not some droning, guided bus tour but a journey of ideas and solutions.
Time is short, let's dive in.
The single most ubiquitous language in the industrial world, Modbus, is an elegantly simple and open protocol. Over its 30 year history it's been implemented on RS-232, RS-485 and Ethernet by thousands of manufacturers. That enormous success predicts that you will run into quirky Modbus connectivity issues. Mark did when he got called out to an oil rig that had two RS-232 transducers (both unfortunately hardcoded with an address of 1) that needed to be connected to a PLC via Modbus TCP. A quick call to B&B's support team guided Mark to page 12. When you've got a Modbus conundrum, the Vlinx MESR family of Modbus gateways is the solution and now both of Mark's transducers are connected into his Modbus/TCP control system with no conflicts.
A few weeks back I got a voice mail from plant engineer David, "Mike, I've got a problem" (my favorite kind of voice mail). David's plant had a work cell with productivity problems due to high setup times. Previously masked by high production volumes, now that the plant is turning over products every few days it had constrained the entire manufacturing operation with its long setup cycle. David was tasked with automating the programming process which would allow both operators to focus on retooling instead of futzing with the two aging PLC's. Simple enough, each controller had a serial port (one RS-232, the other RS-485). But the crux of the problem was that the work cell was out of reach of the plant's Ethernet and extensive wiring work wasn't in the budget. David's remedy was on pages 18 and 82. A two port Wi-Fi serial server and an industrial-grade outdoor access point provided the connectivity needed for remote programming and monitoring of the PLC's, eliminating thousands of dollars of wiring costs.
John is a crack SI in New England. He was adding a SCADA system to several wells in a municipality that previously had nothing but local control (and a lean budget). While there were bundles of wires going between the pump house and the control panel, there was no Cat5 cable in this 1980's installation. John was able to leave the trencher back at the shop using the Ethernet Extenders on page 32. Using a pair of extenders and an extra pair of wires in the cable bundle he was able to get full Ethernet connectivity into the pump house.
Jesse called me late in August. Jesse's company had installed three electronic traffic-information signs in Texas and had seven more installations to go. But things weren't going well. In only six weeks they had lost communications to the signs twice due to lightning storms and the contract was in jeopardy. After outage #2 they wisely brought in Jesse to diagnose the problem. He called me to review the two grounding practices he found; the design as intended, and how it was actually wired. And he also called to tell me that he was less than pleased to find that it was not a B&B Electronics RS-485 converter that had been installed. Not only was the converter fried, but it didn't even provide proper connections for grounding. Jesse's solution was on page 49, a triple isolated RS-485 converter that not only provided the isolation badly needed to survive a Texas lightning season, but also had the proper connectors and terminals to eliminate the bad wiring practices he found in the field (B&B is the serial market leader for good reason!).
Matt was another systems integrator with a challenge. He'd been tasked with adding SCADA to 14 water towers in an isolated community. Now, anyone could solve this problem with some brute force and a lot of installation labor. But that's not how you win business or turn a profit - something everyone is well in-tune with this year. Matt found his solution on page 74, where he selected a Zlinx wireless I/O module to beam the information from his level and flow transducers down to the control panel, where it flowed easily into his software thanks to Zlinx native Modbus protocol.
I've run out of time faster than I ran out of pages, so I'll leave it to the powers of your own imagination to conjure the unique connectivity solutions available in the remainder of your catalog.
Don't have your own copy? Click over to the web site and request one before they run out, that would lead to a dull fall season to be sure!
Happy Connections,
Mike Fahrion
e-support@bb-elec.com
815-433-5100
Posted by Mike Fahrion on Mon, Oct 05, 2009 @ 01:23 PM
I'm a glass is half-full sorta guy, an optimistic skeptic if you will.
Sure I'm a bit cynical about "irrationally exuberant" claims (late-night TV infomercials don't sway me), I also write off Chicken Little squawking about calamitous prophecies of the future.
So if you're looking for a shoulder to cry on about some ominous prediction, I'm not your guy. Honeybee extinction, global warming, ice ages, the banana apocalypse. I file them all into my mental Chicken Little folder. I'm not saying they're right or wrong, just that you're not gonna work me into a tizzy about them.
In fact, the harder you ring the doomsday bell, the faster you'll lose me.
Last year, a reader named Gary animatedly enlightened me on the consequences of irrational borrowing and exuberance combined with lax credit oversight. His position was passionate and educated, perhaps bordering on a tizzy. Gary was hugely frustrated that he hadn't inspired me to leap out my ground floor window (and into the adjacent cornfield).
Hey, if you tell me an acorn is gonna whack me in the noggin, I'm not going to run around screaming. I'll pull on my favorite helmet (a Shoei) and go about my business.
Gary was right. Pieces of the sky did fall. Some of those pieces deserved to fall, and some hapless stargazers got whacked in the process. But strong companies with strong products survived and are in the process of emerging stronger and better than ever.
Here in the hallowed halls of B&B Electronics, I've learned more than ever about our business. Hey, when someone comes and erases 20% of your market, you can learn a lot if you're willing to listen.
I'm a product guy, so one thing I've been particularly fascinated by is a set of products that have been defying economic gravity for the last twelve months. Products that keep climbing up and up with seemingly no regard for economic headlines.
What are some of the key B&B recession-busters? Why are they doing well? And most importantly, what might they be able to do for you?
Ilinx - seems there is no end to the demand for an absolutely rock solid serial converter. If you've ever had a serial communications link take down your system as a result of surges, lightning or ground loops you understand why Ilinx is hot. Triple isolation, surge suppression, -40 to 85°C. These serial and fiber converters survive the worst of the worst.
Elinx Ethernet Extenders - Ever run into the 100 meter limitation of Ethernet? How did you solve it? Fiber? WiFi? Both solid and traditional solutions, but pulling new fiber isn't always cheap, and WiFi isn't always easy. If you're the sort that would like to have your cake and eat it too, bookmark this Ethernet extender. You can run Ethernet over 1 mile on most any pair of copper wires - an extra pair of conductors in an old phone line or an extra pair in your I/O bundle. A pair of Ethernet Extenders will bridge Ethernet into that remote location - no hassles
USB Mini's - If you connect your laptop to instruments or devices in the field to grab data or do programming, these mini USB to 232 and 485 converters are handy little devices. 9 pin D-subs, terminal blocks, RS-232, 2-wire and 4-wire versions.
Vlinx Modbus Gateway - Modbus is the most prolific industrial communications protocol on the planet. Simple and public, it's a great fit for at least 80% of every automation application out there and is one of the few protocols available on virtually any manufacturers equipment. Sometimes it's serial based (Modbus RTU, over RS-232 or RS-485) and sometimes it's Ethernet (Modbus/TCP). What to do when you want to mix and match several, or dozens, or hundreds of Modbus nodes from many suppliers? The MESR Modbus gateway will solve virtually any Modbus conflict. Lots of software elbow grease went into this one to create what I believe is the best Modbus problem-solving product available.
Vlinx Mini Ethernet to RS-232 Converter - a bit unfair since this little bugger was just hatched a couple months ago, but it sure took off like a banshee last month when I last wrote you and told you about its small size and low (too low?) price.
What are your recession busters? Have you engineered something clever that's helped save your companies bacon this year? I'd love to hear about it.