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Our facility is fully networked. All PLC's are tied to a server using either Allen Bradley DH485, DH+, or ethernet.
But one PLC is contained within a "mobile" machine. It's normally used down at one end of the plant, but every now and then, it's wheeled to the other end of the plant. It's never at the other end of the plant long enought to worry about data acquisition - I'm only worried about data acquisition when it's in its more permanent position. But remembering to plug the PLC back into the DH485 network seems to be a chore that never gets done.
So I'd like to place a duplex RF modem close to the machines permanent location (about 10 to 20 feet away), and another duplex modem directly to the PLC's RS232 port. Thus whenever the machine is in it's "home" position, it will communicate over the DH485 network.
To accomplish this feat, the RF modems would have to be completely transparent, and require no initialization strings, no handshaking etc. In other words, what goes into modem # 1, comes out modem # 2, and whatever goes in modem # 2, comes out modem # 1. It has to be duplex, because DH-485 can't supply any sort of handshaking signal to perform TX/RX control. The modems have to be capable of operating at 19.2Kbaud.
If you know of any product available to perform this task, please advise.
But one PLC is contained within a "mobile" machine. It's normally used down at one end of the plant, but every now and then, it's wheeled to the other end of the plant. It's never at the other end of the plant long enought to worry about data acquisition - I'm only worried about data acquisition when it's in its more permanent position. But remembering to plug the PLC back into the DH485 network seems to be a chore that never gets done.
So I'd like to place a duplex RF modem close to the machines permanent location (about 10 to 20 feet away), and another duplex modem directly to the PLC's RS232 port. Thus whenever the machine is in it's "home" position, it will communicate over the DH485 network.
To accomplish this feat, the RF modems would have to be completely transparent, and require no initialization strings, no handshaking etc. In other words, what goes into modem # 1, comes out modem # 2, and whatever goes in modem # 2, comes out modem # 1. It has to be duplex, because DH-485 can't supply any sort of handshaking signal to perform TX/RX control. The modems have to be capable of operating at 19.2Kbaud.
If you know of any product available to perform this task, please advise.