Recent content by David Peterson

Dave is right, you are best to contact the supplier or E+H directly, but usually, radar ToF sensors reflect off the surface of the medium (liquid or a solid dust, etc.), not off of a purpose-built reflector like you would use for a thru-beam optical sensor.

From my experience with many communication formats, it's less about what numbers the VFD could use to perform arithmetic, but more about how it interacts with the other devices on the network. Most controllers are based on registers of either 16 or 32 bits, which directly translate to integers...

I don't know what contactor you are using, but I just checked the datasheet for an Eaton DILMP63 (as a quick example of a 240 V contactor) and it lists a sealing power consumption of only 14 VA at 60 Hz. That means that if it is provided with 181 volts, it only needs about 75 mA to remain in the...

Taking your question a bit further, if 4-20 mA has so many advantages for analog signals, why is voltage (0-10, etc) still a common practice? We just put up an article about that on the editorial side of the Control house, might want to check that one out. I've been doing a lot of work with...

What is your crossroad situation? Looking for a new adventure? Do you want to branch out into something new? Have your sights set on an industry that looks amazing? I'm sure there are tons of people here who would like to provide encouragement or advice if they can.

You can usually set a VFD for the drive's rated voltage using parameters, usually in the basic motor setup parameters -- as long as the VFD is capable of supplying the power! If this is a really big motor (in terms of HP rating), there may not be a 1-phase option. However, for many VFDs, you...

I wonder if there was any update or resolution to this issue from the original author? That would be nice to know if they found the source of the intermittent problem. My first thought, when network communication seems to send signals randomly, is to check the routing of the network cables...

Sure - first, it's the red "PDF Version" button at the top of every textbook page: https://control.com/textbook/ Just choose a page and download. Second, you could go straight to one of my favorite pages (we totally rebuilt the PLC chapter) and the link is there at the top of the page as well...

The textbook is back online and available for download (link is at the top of all textbook pages)! If you've seen some of the chapters, we've been working on a pretty major update throughout the entire book, focusing on the most popular chapters first. Once this update is done, we'll be...

Good catch! We just updated the entire navigation for the book, and are in the process of adding new chapters. Something must have broken the link, but we'll get it back online!

These ones don't appear to be used for protocols, only for sensor signals. The pin arrangement on each of the connectors (M8 or M12) is a result of how many pins are available in the main harness. For example, the one you linked to has a panel-mount plug in the back, and each of the M12...