I am looking for some information on ELAN protocol for Siemens analyzers and also some information on AK protocol for California Analytical Analyzers. Mainly I need a starting point to communicate with these devices for labview.

[DavidBoyd]

DavidH,

Wow, you win the fastest successful implementation award!

Getting the RS-485 wiring and two-wire tranceiver mode stuff correct, then the device addressing (especially on the multi-component ULTRAMATs), having the development environment set up to run the code, etc., frequently takes folks several iterations and lots of follow-up emails.

(Just so anyone else reading this knows, I sent code to zwyks yesterday afternoon.  And he sort of implied that he was a newbie. Not!)

The LV-Force is strong with this one!

Best regards,

Dave

[RavensFan]

There are basically no pinout standards for the  RS-485 protocol on a Dsub9 like there is for the RS-232 protocol.

[DavidBoyd]

As the old-timers say, the RS is an acronym for "Rarely Standard".

In all seriousness, zwyks, I would strongly recommend getting an NI USB-485/x adapter for any kind of serious, permanent setup.  There are just too many things that can go wrong with the cheaper devices and adapters.  In fact, when I went back and re-read that you were using a 232-to-485 converter (rather than a fundamental 485 port implementation) I'm not even certain how it's managing transmit control - by watching TxD activity?

A true RS-485 serial adapter (like NI's) allows you to specify transmit control as a driver function - VISA even supports it programmatically under LabVIEW, if you're using their device.  Anything short of that is likely to work... ...almost all the time.

This plus this is a very good insurance policy for under 180USD.

Dave

[zwyks]

Any credit for early success is yours, David.

The ULTRAMAT 23 manual suggested the 232-485 converter. I  blew my project budget on a mile and a half of thermocouple wire so I don't think they'll let me spend any more money until I have something to show for it. As the project gets more mature I'll circle back around and see about a more robust connection. 

The only issue I've noticed is that maybe once a minute it fails to connect but picks right up again. I am assuming there might be a network collision causing it. Otherwise it seems to be solid.

The system will take the CO and CO2 numbers from combustion to figure into efficiency calculations.  Real time logging will help us the developmental work on this. Thanks again.

[DavidBoyd]

David,

One thing I would check on is the ELAN setting in the U23 menu which controls whether the U23 broadcasts measurements every 500mS, or waits to be asked.  It is grouped with the other ELAN settings and has some German-translated name like "cyclic" or "telegram".

The VI I wrote called "Get All Measured Values" (or something close to it I think) has a boolean input that determines if it waits passively (timeout > 500mS) or if it actively sends the request and reads the reply.

Am pretty sure the overall "Monitor" was written to actively request values.  If the U23 broadcasts, you may get the appearance of normal comm, but oddball timeouts.  Just something to look for.

In general, I do not enable the broadcast feature, since it would likely interfere with any other active commands/queries you might want to send (change status, read faults, control valves, calibrate...).

Dave

[flissa]

I implemented a LabVIEW driver based on your code several years ago and was successful. We are building another control system using the same Siemens analyzers now, using same code I built before but now getting inconsistent results. Some reads are successful, some are not. Using an NI RS485 card similar to one we used before. Have six analyzers all exhibiting same issue. Fails at VISA Read. Reading each analyzer on separate RS485 channel. 

Could I get your most recent vi's (pbrown@meinergy.com) and/or any ideas on what to try?

[Jras]

Hi David,

We have a Siemens Sibench unit, we want to log results with LabVIEW via RS232. I would be greatful if you could email me your the ELAN documentation and VIs.

Thanks for your help.

Jørgen Rasmussen
jra@serenergy.com

[zwyks]

Had some time to come back and have another look at the system today.  Broadcast toggle on the Ultramat 23 is called "PROTOCOL ON/OFF". I turned it on initirially thinking I was enabling serial communication. Turning it  off as suggested seemed to do the trick.

[Jras]

Hi David

First of all thank you for your fast responce to my posting. As I wrote we have a Sibench analyzer, it is managed by some Würth(WOW) software. Our need was to make an application that is able to log data from the Sibench. I made a RS232 sniffer cabel, and based on your code it was an easy task. I have used parts of the code from your "Receive Message.vi", because I do not send commands but get at constant stream of data I needed to identify each package a bit different, and then I used the inner casestructure (CRC OK) to extract the data.

Thanks for your help.

 
Jørgen Rasmussen
jra@serenergy.com

[APPbos]

David,

I hope you are still active on this thread. We have an Ultramat 6 (two channels) and we want to log the results with LABVIEW 2012. I would be grateful if you would mail me documentation and VI's.

Kind Regards,

Auke Boschker

a.boschker@atagnederland.nl