Easy analog output, internal memory etc.

[Kalle]

Hi all,

I am planning to use EASY as a control system for home lighting management. As I have not used that controller before and my last PLC experience dates back 10 years, I am a little uncertain of a few things. Most controllable lamps will be switchable, a few dimmable. Now I presume, that relay outputs can directly drive incascadent lamps or transformers (just like a regular switch). But dimmers is another story. With 1 analog input on EASY820-DC-RC I most likely need to build an external analog MUX with hold. Now this is not hard to design and solder together, but... I would need to control that MUX somehow (either sacrifice two outputs or use something else). About that "something else":

- is there a COM port I can communicate to from the ladder program? I mean sending simple messages, even one character or something similar?

and a few other more or less related questions:

- is there enough internal memory to save my analog values to? Is this some eeprom, ram or something else?
- is the analog output 0...10V voltage output or something else?

- does enyone know from where I could find wall mountable push buttons instead of traditional light switches? I have not been able to find any reasonable manufacturers. I know that this forum is probably not the right place for this, but I guess it doesn't hurt anyone if I ask...

- does anyone have experience in doing something similar with Easy?

Thanks in advance!

Kalle
a simple engineer

[boppel]

Hi Kalle,

I will try to answer some of your questions:

- is there a COM port I can communicate to from the ladder program? I mean sending simple messages, even one character or something similar?

There is a COM port. But (as far as I read in the German part of this forum) you should use the OPC-Server option of EASY. In older times, there were DLL's available for programming own data access programs, but they are not available any more.

- is there enough internal memory to save my analog values to? Is this some eeprom, ram or something else?

Depends on your application. EASY 800 or MFD has 96 DoubleWords (32 bit) for user defined data available. Half of them may be splitted into Words (16 bit). Part of the memory may be definded for safe storage during the EASY is without power supply (EEPROM).
It would be helpful for you, having a look to the technical description of your EASY.

- is the analog output 0...10V voltage output or something else?

Yes, the analog output is 0-10V. If you need other signals, you mut use a converter.

Thats all I can do for you.

Hope you will enjoy your time with EASY.

Kindest regards

Boppel

[Kalle]

Thanks for your quick response!
I'll try to find some info on the OPC server... Everything else seems to be clear...
Kalle