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Ian Shaw

Riverside Automation

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Riverside Automation
61 Wostenholm Road
Sheffield
United Kingdom
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Ian Shaw


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Posted By Ian Shaw Dec 04, 2025 05:19:05 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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TL;DR Set your SCL_01 to output 4000-2000. Set your OF8C to Engineering Units. As a general principle, break the problem in two to find out whether you have a hardware or software issue. Then break that part into smaller bits until you've eliminated all the parts that function correctly. Force ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Nov 12, 2025 08:43:13 AM
Found In Egroup: General Discussions
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Hi all, I'm a Londoner by birth but have spent my career in Sheffield. ------------------------------ Ian Shaw Riverside Automation, Sheffield, UK If I've helped you, please Like or mark as Best Answer ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ ------------------------------
Posted By Ian Shaw Oct 20, 2025 05:55:14 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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There are two really useful tips in @Philip Hamilton's post #8 that I didn't know. That there IS a way to update UDT details during run mode, even if there are limitations. That you can temporarily change the tag external access = NONE to get around HMI or SCADA blocking your attempt to change it. ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Oct 17, 2025 11:58:00 AM
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Hi Michael, @Philip Hamilton is from Rockwell whereas I am not, so you should probably consider his answer as official. Having said that, the main reasons my file looks more complex is: I've populated 32 bits compared to his 9. I've added Descriptions to some of my bits, each of which takes ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Oct 17, 2025 11:06:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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@Philip Hamilton beat me to it! Still, it's been fun to play around with it. I've attached a UDT file you can play with and import. Setting a BOOL sets the equivalent bit in the Overlay DINT. And here's an example of ladder addressing the bits directly, and using an index to select a bit in ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Oct 06, 2025 06:43:16 AM
Found In Egroup: Legacy
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Thanks for the confirmation of Philips answer, Jason. Sometimes we might be able to use a client's license, but I suspect that they would usually be unhappy to rehost it to a PC in our office for the duration of a project while they have production PLCs they need to support. It's an avenue we will ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Sep 29, 2025 05:35:00 AM
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We've received an email from our distributor of 26 September about RSLogix 5 End of Life on 31st December 2025, which states that "RSLogix™ 5 software will not be included in your next Enterprise Toolkit renewal". Please could somebody clarify whether we will still be able to use our Toolkit Licence ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Sep 18, 2025 03:28:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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This looks like only a display issue. 9.74655151e-04 ≡ 0.000974655151. Your Command and Actual Position are close enough that they are equal to 5 decimal places. Even though they are showing the same on the screen, they probably differ slightly at higher precision. The processor itself works with ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Sep 01, 2025 04:28:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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Hi Mooki, You haven't given enough detail for anyone to be able to help you. For instance, you haven't said what version of FactoryTalk you are using, so nobody can advise on compatibility. Try putting the products you are thinking of using into the Product Compatibility and Download Centre (PCDC). ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Aug 13, 2025 05:05:38 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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This is a great question. I've had to field similar questions from operators. Telling them, "Oh, that's just how Rockwell decided to label all digital alarms" isn't a wonderful answer. Many people would like to change that description. But I think that TRIP is a fixed category along with HIGH, LOW, ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Aug 08, 2025 06:21:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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I've not used Ignition but I'd be surprised if a modern HMI can't read elements of a Rockwell tag. Try setting a TON.PRE or reading an .ACC. The principle should be the same. It may only work if the tag is in the Controller scope. Or, you may have to add extra syntax like Program:MyProgram!MyPide.CV. ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jul 25, 2025 04:50:17 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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https://support.rockwellautomation.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/17911 Check whether the .LEN of the STRING variables in your program have a value > 82 or a negative value. ------------------------------ Ian Shaw Riverside Automation, Sheffield, UK If I've helped you, please Like or mark ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jul 14, 2025 03:27:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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That sounds very puzzling. The rung-condition at the output of the COP instruction always matches the rung-condition at the input, so if the COP instruction runs than the FLL should too. Try adding some debug bits to prove what is happening. Try putting the COP and FLL on different branches ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 09, 2025 05:54:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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I don't know why it isn't reporting which task is the problem. You could try comparing the Last or Max scan time with the configured Watchdog time on each task's Configuration tab to see if any watchdogs have been exceeded. One would expect the Last Scan Time to exceed the Watchdog on the ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 05, 2025 09:14:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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Your metering data is a FLOAT that takes two 16-words. I'd expect Vab to be 4002-4003 (but maybe it's 4001-4002.) and the least significant bytes would be in 4002 or 4003 depending on how floating point numbers are stored in the slave device's processor. Your PowerHud display of BigEndian, ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 05, 2025 08:04:00 AM
Found In Egroup: Automation Control
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Positive error codes are defined within, and generated by the Modbus, protocol. Negative error codes are usually associated with the surrounding comms logic, e.g. socket failures etc. Error Code 2 is a standard Modbus error code, meaning " Illegal Data Address. The data address received in ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 05, 2025 07:33:00 AM
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Your PowerHud proves that the devices respond to the requests, which shows that the data areas do exist. It would be useful to prove that the PLC is sending out those same requests correctly. Try the ModRSim (link added to my earlier post) to emulate the server device. See if the PLC request matches ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 05, 2025 04:34:00 AM
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Hi Tim, Have you tried TransType = 3? Whoever designed the Modbus protocol helpfully decided that: Function Code 3 reads data from the 4000 registers. Function Code 4 reads data from the 3000 registers. They also have Register 1 at data word 0, and different manufacturers supply ...
Posted By Ian Shaw Jun 05, 2025 03:29:00 AM
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Your 1000 ms timer will overrun due to your scan time. Therefore, your totalising period is longer than the one second you think it is. You are missing out on a few ms of time every second and so your total will be lower than the true value. I recommend @Splash's solution, but if you want to improve ...