Modbus data log to excel when it changes

R

Thread Starter

Ratan

I want simple solution for logging on time & off time of VFD with time stamp in excel sheet.

I am using Danfoss VFD which has in built MODBUS RTU. when i am using Modbus poll it send this message 02 03 3F 01 00 01 D9 ED & receive data from drive.

should i use VB language to do this?
or Excel VBA or anything else

i can use RS485 to RS232 or RS485 to USB converter if required
 
I'd use whatever language you know and has Modbus drivers. Then simply save the data to a CSV file that Excel can open. If this is something you need to do long term and/or use with multiple users consider saving the data to a SQL or Access database and view it with a reporting tool or even natively in excel or access using an ODBC connection.

I like C#.NET and I know there are drivers for .NET for Modbus.

Ken
 
You're thinking about this the wrong way - How will your solution work when someone shuts down the excel worksheet for example? how will you save the data? how will you share the data later ?. Excel is not a data logger. And writing a serial interface on Win XP is quite complex and probably won't be portable when you upgrade to Win 7

There are standard off the shelf solutions for what you want to do. Use a MODBUS RTU OPC interface to collect the data, use a simple logger to store the data then open an excel sheet to read the data from the logger. Don't underestimate the time required to write all of these components yourself when someone else has already done the work for you....

http://www.opcdatalogger.com/

Rob
www[.]lymac.co.nz
 
This is not exactly true, it depends on the individual. I can write a simple serial application in the time it takes to download, install, and read the manual on an OPC server. It will also run on windows XP/Vista/7/Linux (with mono) without any modifications. It just depends on what you are doing to see if that makes sense or not. If it's a quick experiment who cares how you do it. If it is a mission critical piece of software a lot more is involved.

Ken
 
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