Im sure this has been asked before but an opc server for serial devices (modbus rs232) would be huge. I know you guys weren’t planning on doing any opc servers in the beginning - but I think having a built in opc server was huge. most people like myself with limited knowledge and are venturing into HMI/Scada try a number of product demos… what sets you guys apart in my mind are 3 things. #1 the price and unlimited clients. #2 the fully functional demo for proof of concept - so I can show and tell before getting approval to buy. #3 the fact that the first time I tried your demo I was able to connect to a device fairly easily without having to install or learn about opc servers. We have now purchased one ignition server license and are working on another - Ive also shown ignition to one of our other facilities out of state and they are putting together a capitol request to buy and ive shown it to a couple other groups here locally. just my 2¢ and maybe there’s a lot I don’t know but I think you guys would be well served to have a built in server for serial devices so people trying out your product can just connect.
One option you could look at is terminal servers. With one of these you can configure Ignition to talk to a IP address:port and the terminal server converts it to serial.
Hi,
Thanks for your feedback. Yes, we’ve certainly been overwhelmed by how much people appreciate/prefer the “all in one” approach.
What kind of serial devices/protocols did you have in mind? Some sort of programmable serial driver, or just something like modbus?
Regards,
+1 Modbus serial. We would use it to talk to VFDs and power usage meters.
Any reason you can’t do that now with a serial-to-ethernet converter?
Just how many serial ports does your gateway server have? In what proximity is it to these devices?
I have several Ignition clients right next to the Modbus serial devices. The systems could be set up to read the data directly. Collection of the data directly from the device is a much cleaner solution than going through a Modbus gateway or reading it with a PLC’s serial port. All of my serial devices are Modbus RTU. There are some open source Python based modules such as Minimal Modbus, maybe you could put it on a future wish list. That being said I appreciate how well the existing TCP driver works.
[quote=“Colby.Clegg”]Hi,
Thanks for your feedback. Yes, we’ve certainly been overwhelmed by how much people appreciate/prefer the “all in one” approach.
What kind of serial devices/protocols did you have in mind? Some sort of programmable serial driver, or just something like modbus?
Regards,[/quote]
yes modbus… I probably have 30 - 40 devices in the plant that that are serial. I try to install modbus tcp/ip card wherever I can when planning a project but there are alot of older devices that require a modbus serial/tcpip bridge. I either have to buy a bridge or opc server for each one. would make your product hugely more valuable to have built in for these. You guys have a great thing going and its taking off where im at… the all in one approach really ads value especially for customers trying to break out and handle thier own upgrades rather than spending $100+K with engineering firms or using WW. You guys have the right model - keep it up. thx for the reply.