[OT] Ethernet based serial interface hardware suggestions

[Ben]

Now that NI no longer offers Ethernet to serial adapters I am looking for suggestions for other sources that have proven reliable and work well with LabVIEW.

I need to be able to talk to any one of 14 Omega temperature controllers from a limited number of PC's running a LabVIEW application that I will be developing. The device I am attempting to locate needs to be able to support simultaneous connections...

IF it is a single 16 port device.

The other alternative is to deploy Qty 14 Ethernet to single port Serial devices.

I am not tied to one version or the other but I am hoping to learn about devise that that have worked well with LabVIEW with few pains.

If you have worked with devices that worked well for you, I would vey much appreciate hear what has worked for you.

Thank you!

Ben

[RavensFan]

HI Ben,

I've used this from Advantech.  http://www.advantech.com/products/gf-5tqv/eki-1528/mod_18430b74-ccab-4ce9-b3bf-fa1a92ae3215  Right now I think I"m only using 1 of those 8 ports.

You install a driver for remote configuration and it sets up 8 virtual com ports on your PC that look just any other com port as far as LabVIEW is concerned.

I think I did come across one obscure issue with NI has a KB about, where you need to do some special buffer size settings on the port after opening it otherwise it will give an odd VISA error.

It wasn't cheap, and they also have a 16 port version.  Assuming your devices are grouped close enough together that they can all go to the same serial server.  They have 1, 2, 4 port versions as well.

If the Omega controllers have RS-485 in them, you could daisy chain them together and get one serial port to handle multiple controllers.  But that wouldn't be truly simultaneous.

[Mark_Yedinak]

I haven't used this particular model but have used other TrippLite boxes in the past. 

[crossrulz]

In the past, people here used Device Master serial hubs from Comtrol.  I remember is being a bit of a pain to set up, but that was mostly due to me trying to use really old models that needed a firmware update or two to get to work.

[Ben]

Thank you for the suggestions!

Re: 485 - No can have multiple masters

I will be driving out to dig into the hardware tomorrow. I had been to the lab previously but the customer had given me the impression that the Omega controllers had always been controlled manually. Digging through the Source Code ...

Spoiler

(not bad if time stopped in LV 5 era. Old time developer may have worked with Jeffrey Travis, unless I miss my guess)

I discovered the controllers had been active at one time and abandoned somewhere along the line.

Once I get a look at in the inside of the cabinet with the controllers, I should be able to evaluate  which path to take.

Again, Thank you!

Ben

[JÞB]

I thought the omega controllers had a direct ethernet interface is this not an option there.

That would simply the design greatly.   Your app could even be a web service. 

[RavensFan]

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@Ben wrote:

Thank you for the suggestions!

Re: 485 - No can have multiple masters

I

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With RS-485, you'd have 1 master (the PC) and multiple slaves (the various controllers daisy-chained together.  Unless you are saying the controllers are acting as masters.

[Ben]

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@RavensFan wrote:

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@Ben wrote:

Thank you for the suggestions!

Re: 485 - No can have multiple masters

I

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With RS-485, you'd have 1 master (the PC) and multiple slaves (the various controllers daisy-chained together.  Unless you are saying the controllers are acting as masters.

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I follow that but I was not clear in describing my challenge.

Let s try this.

I have 5 PC's running my application that have to be able to control any of the 14 Omega Temp controllers.

I can not have all of the PC being the Master on a single RS-485 bus. Only one master allowed.

I could introduce a single PC that serves all of the devices to the other PC's but then I would be writing what is effectively an Ethernet to serial adapter AND it would introduce a single point of failure.

Ben

[Ben]

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@JÞB wrote:

I thought the omega controllers had a direct ethernet interface is this not an option there.

That would simply the design greatly.   Your app could even be a web service. 

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That depends on the millennium in which they were built.

I will be visiting them tomorrow and poking around in the cabinet to find out what I am really dealing with.

Ben 

[RavensFan]

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@Ben wrote:

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I follow that but I was not clear in describing my challenge.

Let s try this.

I have 5 PC's running my application that have to be able to control any of the 14 Omega Temp controllers.

I can not have all of the PC being the Master on a single RS-485 bus. Only one master allowed.

I could introduce a single PC that serves all of the devices to the other PC's but then I would be writing what is effectively an Ethernet to serial adapter AND it would introduce a single point of failure.

Ben

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That makes sense.  I didn't realize from the original post it was a multi-PC application.