WHich SCADA to use for siemens PLC ?
what are things I need to look out for while buying one?
Does it cost a fortune ?

We need for monitoring boiler control panel for adjusting the PID settings.

 

1) What kind of Siemens PLC are you using (S5, S7)?
2) Which network? (Serial link, MPI, Profibus, Ethernet...)
3) Which protocol (3964R, Profibus DP, Profibus FMS, TCP/IP...)?

When you will have these informations, then you can search the best SCADA for your application.
About the price... it depends on lots of parameters.

 

Naturally you will want to use WinCC 6.0 with the Siemens PLC. The two main reasons are comprehensive support and integrated database. If you do not need the sophistication of SCADA and you only need local machine control then use one of the Siemens panels - TP170, 270 or MP270, 370 with ProTool. The database is integrated as well. If you need a PC but do not need the SCADA then use ProTool/Pro. Of course you can use any one of the plethora of HMI and SCADA systems out there and I am sure that they will all pipe in to give their opinion, but none of them can claim that they have access to the S7 symbol database. None of them can claim that they will give you better support and they will support you if there is a PLC problem. What they will tell you is that IT IS A PLC problem and you need to call Siemens. If you are going to have to call Siemens anyways during the course of your project you might as well make it only one phone call.

Things to look for:

Ease of use, flexibility, openness, support, integrated database, local as well as global support if you are shipping out of country, knowledge of your local support, a vendor that knows the PLC as well as the SCADA they are selling you.

Does it cost a fortune:

Depends on what a fortune is to you. If you choose to use a panel instead of a SCADA then the cost could be as low as $500 and as high as $4300. If you choose a SCADA, depending on your tag count the cost could be as low as $1500 to as high as you want to go. Not knowing your overall solution cannot give you a concrete answer on what it will cost you. The price is really up to you.

Ron

 

I would get WinCC. It doesn't require a seperate opc server to connect to a s7 or s5. If you are connecting over profibus to an s7 with a siemens profibus pc card (cp5611) it is a simple setup. Ethernet is also pretty simple. WinCC 128 runtime and config software costs around $1800 Canadian.

 

There is protool pro and wincc (from siemens there are also other vendors of this kind of software but i prefer siemens due to its total intergration)

protool pro enables you to change and monitor values and visualising it

i recomend Wincc when you want to do more complicated things.

if you look at the price protool pro is less expencive than Wincc, i can not tell exact prices but i think you will pay about 1000€ for protool pro.

i hope this helps you out, if you want more help you are welcome to e-mail me at [email protected]

 

citect SCADA maybe.