3500 Operation and Maintenance - Section 9 Lab: Page 17

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Section 9 Laboratory

Equipment Requirements:
1. 3500 Monitor Rack
2. 3500 Communication Gateway Port Test Utility
3. Laptop or Computer

Topic Objectives:
1. You will be able to explain the value and use of Modbus communications between
the 3500 monitoring rack and other devices
2. You will be able to explain the use of Modbus registers for holding and
transferring data
3. You will be able to explain the type of serial communications available for the
communication gateway, as well as the network communications
4. You will be able to explain the communication capabilities for the OPC
Communication Gateway
5. You will be able to configure the 3500/91 OPC Communication Gateway

Laboratory Activities:
1. Use the Communication Gateway Port Test Utility software to verify data output
from the 3500 monitor rack
2. Use the Communication Gateway Port Test Utility software to poll for extended
data quantities
_____________________

Laboratory Exercise 1: Use the Communication Gateway Port Test Utility software
to verify data output from the 3500 monitor rack

This exercise will help you gain experience with verifying Modbus data output from the
Communication Gateway module.

A. To initiate this process, a preparatory action will have to be taken. The configuration
of the Communication Gateway must be checked to make sure that the Modbus serial
port is active, and properly configured. After this is completed, the wiring and software
can be used to communicate with the rack.



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1. Physically connect to the rack using the connection and protocol specified by the
Instructor. Then open the 3500 Rack Configuration software, connect to the rack, and
upload the rack configuration.

2. Open the Options window for the Communication Gateway, and view the Modbus
port configuration. Whether you have an Ethernet I/O or a serial I/O port, you will be
communicating to the rack using Port 2. Check that the configuration appears as
shown below.

The address may be different than the one shown above. It should be the same as your
rack address. If the address is not correct, or any other configuration condition is not the
same as above, make the change, and download the new configuration to the
Communication Gateway module. Remember to only download to this module; do not
make changes to any other monitors or modules.

3. Once the configuration process is confirmed, you will need to connect an RS-232
cable from your laptop or computer to the lower port (i.e., Port 2) on the Communication
Gateway I/O module on the 3500 monitor rack. You may either connect to the RS-232
I/O interface using the nine pin to fifteen pin cable, or you may connect to the RS-232
port on the bottom of the Ethernet I/O module with a nine pin to nine pine cable. To
make the connection to the I/O module with a nine pin cable, the cable end must either
have a male plug, or a gender changer - male/male will be required.

4. Once you have made the physical connection, open the software by selecting
Start/Programs/3500 Software/Comm. Gateway Port Test Utility on your laptop or
computer.

5. With the software started, select Utilities, and COM Set up from the menu bar.
For laptops, you will be using the COM 1 port; for other computers, your Instructor will
specify which COM port to be used. Once you have configured the COM port, you may
select the Scan button to open the Scan Program window. In this window, select the
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Start Scan button. The software will begin attempting to communicate with your
Communication Gateway with several port configurations.

6. When the software finds a functional communications configuration, it will stop and
report. When it asks if you want to continue scanning, select Yes. The software will
then find another configuration that will work with your rack, and report it. You can
optionally select Yes to the second window, but you will now have the information you
need. Write down the configurations that are listed for your Communication Gateway
device below.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7. Close the Scan Program window. Again, select Utilities and COM Setup on the
menu bar, and open the Com Set Up window. Enter the information from the previous
question, and select the Test button. You should be provided verification of the
connection.

8. Now open the Display Data selection under Utilities. Select the Radial Vibration
monitor slot, which is most likely slot two. The Instructor will advise you if you should
be viewing any other slots.

9. Select the Start Scan button. Proportional values will be displayed as percentages of
each variable in the monitor. For a Radial Vibration monitor, each column represents a
channel, and seven variables should be displayed if the monitor configuration is correct.
These values are percentages of full scale, so the actual reading is easily calculated by
multiplying this percentage times the full-scale configuration of the given monitor (e.g.,
for a reading of 25% and a scale of 0 - 10 mil pp, use 0.25 x 10).

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Enter the data from the first channel in the left column below, and implement the
mathematical operations provided.

Item
Number
Variable Name Percent of Scale Scale Vibration
Level

1 Direct X =
2 Gap X =
3 1X Amplitude X =
4 1X Phase X =
5 2X Amplitude X =
6 2X Phase X =
7 Not 1X X =
8 none ----- ----- -----


10. If it is possible to connect to the monitoring rack via the network, start the 3500 Rack
Configuration software, connect to the rack, and verify the channel values.

11. Your Instructor will indicate whether you should go on to the next Laboratory
Activity. If you are to conduct the next activity, leave the program running, and go on to
the next steps. If your Instructor has indicated that you should stop here, close the
software.


Laboratory Activity 2: Use the Communication Gateway Port Test Utility software
to poll for extended data quantities

A. For the next exercise, you will not need to prepare your software any further. You
will be using another component of the Communication Gateway Port Test Utility. You
will also need to use the Rack Hardware Installation, Operations, and Maintenance
Manual.

1. Open your maintenance manual to General Register Layout in Section 5.1.1.3 of the
Communication Gateway manual.

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2. At the main screen of the software, select Utilities, and Manual Functions. On the
left side of the screen is a box that displays, Select Function Number. On the right are
register output boxes.

3. The General Register Layout section of the manual has page numbers of the various
items that can be accessed and/or modified using the Modbus interface and the
Communication Gateway.

4. Go to the Current Proportional Values first, and read the registers for the channel
you viewed above (i.e., the /40M Radial Vibration monitor - channel 1). Use the low
zero based Query values for your addresses. Proportional values are found in each slot
starting at 500 and increasing by 32 (i.e., 8 registers per channel). While not all monitors
use all these registers, they are still consistently available for each monitor from slot two
to slot fifteen.

5. Enter the appropriate function number, found in the table under Section 5.1.1.3, and
then enter the appropriate address for the slot/monitor. Then select the Send button to
access the monitor. The values returned will be simple integers. If you recall from the
configuration of the Communication Gateway port (i.e., Item 2 in the previous
Laboratory Activity), the Full Scale Data Range was set to 65535. The data you are
now looking at must be divided by the 65535 value to get the proportional fraction of that
channels full scale (e.g., if the value were 32768, it would be divided by 65535 resulting
in 0.50 or 50%; then, 50% of a 0 to 10 mil pp scale would be 5 mil pp).

6. Repeat this process for the data in the Thrust monitor. You will notice that you only
get four values back from this monitor, since only the Direct and Gap values are
configured for channels one and two. Raise the voltage on the Thrust monitor input, re-
select the Send button a few times, and observe the values increasing

7. Raise the voltage on the Thrust monitor high enough to trigger an alarm. You may
use the 3500 Rack Configuration software to observe the data if you can connect via
Ethernet to the rack, or you may have someone else view the rack data from another
computer. Now, go to the Rack Reset section, and reset the rack using the Modbus
control. Use function code six for this process.
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8. Finally, acquire the date and time using function code three, and the instructions in the
manual. Do not change the date or time of the rack without approval of the Instructor.

This process is commonly programmed into devices such as DCSs (i.e., Distributed
Control Systems), and provides easy data access and limited control to the DCSs and
any other devices that can communicate with the Modicon Modbus protocol. As
mentioned in the text, it is also possible to use this same protocol over the Ethernet.