Testing Honeywell Universal Modbus communications with the server

Use the test utility umbtst to test the communications.

Before using the utility, make sure that:

• You have set up your Control Products controllers according to their user manuals.

• All cables are connected.

• You have configured your channels in Quick Builder The Experion tool used to configure system components, such as standard points, Flex Stations, controllers (other than process controllers), electronic flow measurement (EFM), and printers. See also: controller, electronic flow measurement (EFM), Flex Station, process controller, standard point. without error and downloaded all configuration information to the server The computer on which the Experion database software and server utilities run. See also: Experion server TPS. without error.

• The server need not be running while using the utility as long as the database service is running. If making a connection through a terminal server A terminal server allows you to connect several controllers and Stations to a LAN even though they only have serial or parallel ports. Most terminal servers also provide a range of serial connection options, such as RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485. See also: controller, LAN, Station., the server daemon service should also be running.

• The server is not communicating with your devices. The umbtst utility might interfere with communications.

  To stop the server, type the command at the command prompt:

  hscserver /load

  Answer y to every prompt. This unloads the server, but leaves the database in memory.

To use the test utility, open a Command Prompt window and type: umbtst.

When prompted for the channel The communications port used by the server to connect to a controller. Channels are one slot, point, or screw terminal of an I/O device for a single I/O value, and are defined using the Quick Builder tool. number, type chn0001 for channel 1 and so on.

Example

C:\>umbtst

Enter LRN or device name of channel
chn0001
Enter Controller number
1
Enter command:
?
READ i,a,n,p - read device i address a for n address
and p passes
WRITE i,a,d,p - write device i address a data d for p passes
DUMP i,a,b - read device i address a to address b
FIND i,j - find device with id i to j
DELAY n - set delay between passes to n ms
FORMAT f - display registers in format f (DEC,HEX,or IEEEFP)
FO filename - direct output to file
! - execute last command
Q - quit
Enter command:
find 1,4

FIND device with id   1 to   4, at 28-May-12  14:06:52
Device   1 ?
Device   2 ?
Device   3 ? ...responding
Device   4 ?
Enter command:
q

The FIND command is used with serial connected devices to check if the devices are present. This command locates all Universal Modbus devices on the channel with IDs between a and b. This command is not applicable on LAN-connected devices.

If you do not know the device name of your channel, select ViewSystem StatusChannels from the Station Experion's main operator interface. Station presents information using a series of displays. See also: display. menu. To the left of the channel name is the channel number. The device name of the channel will be the letters chn followed by the channel number. For example, your Universal Modbus channel COM3 might be channel number 1. Its device name will be chn0001.