i just started working at my company and all my machines have Allen Bradley plc5/20, and plc5/40. How do i hook up our laptop to them and what program do i need to run ladder logic?

 

Hi,

PLC5/20's and 5/40's have both DH+ (Data Highway Plus) and serial hook-ups. Initially I would use a serial connection, via the DB25 socket on the processor using DF1 RS232. The mini din on the processor is linked to the DH+/RIO A channels from memory, the 5/20 only has 2 channels CH1A and CH1B, and the 5/40 has 4 channels CH1A, CH1B, CH2A and CH2B. You will need to determine if CH1A is set to DH+ or used as RIO (Remote I/O).

The serial cable is a null modem style, and can be easily made, just get a PLC5 manual from the Rockwell web site and the you should find a connection diagram. To use DH+ you need a comms adapter, which generally are expensive. For a notebook you could use a PCMK (PCMCIA) card, or get a USB to DH+ adapter. Note that this is not PCI express compatible.

With the software you will need RSLogix 5, which is available in several versions. You will need to determine which suits your budget. RSLinx lite will be bundled with RSLogix 5, and is used to communicate to the PLC.

Look at the Rockwell web site, there is plenty of information here to help and all the manuals are there to download.

Regards,
Trevor

 

Hi,

The programming software is called "RSLogix 5". You can connect through its RS232 port or "DH+" port. You will need "DH+" communication adapter for your laptop to connect to "DH+".
See:

http://www.ab.com and http://www.rockwellautomation.com/

for more info. Product manuals are all available there.

Hope this helps