Main properties for a Honeywell Universal Modbus controller

The Main tab defines the basic properties for a Honeywell Universal Modbus controller Also known as remote terminal unit, RTU. A generic term for a device that is used to control and monitor one or more processes in field equipment. The most common control and monitoring device in an access control and security system is an access control panel. Other devices include security monitoring panels, elevator controllers, and fire monitoring devices. Controllers include programmable logic controllers (PLCs), loop controllers, bar code readers, and scientific analyzers. See also: C200 controller, control processor, CPM, hybrid controller, network node controller, PLC..

For information about how to create a controller, see "Building controllers and channels" in the Quick Builder User’s Guide.

Property Description

Name

In the case of communications redundancy when the IP Addresses are not defined 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., the IP Address 1 and 2 must be specified in the server The computer on which the Experion database software and server utilities run. See also: Experion server TPS. hosts file. The host name for IP Address 1 is then the Name property with an 'A' appended to it and the host name for IP Address 2 is the Name property with a 'B' appended to it.

Description

(Optional) A description of the controller. A maximum of 132 alphanumeric characters, including spaces.

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. Name

The name of the channel on which the controller communicates with the server.

(You must have already defined a channel for it to appear in this list.)

Marginal Alarm An indication (visual and/or audible) that alerts an operator at a Station of an abnormal or critical condition. Each alarm has a type and a priority. Alarms can be assigned either to individual points or for system-wide conditions, such as a controller communications failure. Alarms can be viewed on a Station display and included in reports. Experion classifies alarms into the following types: - PV Limit - Unreasonable High and Unreasonable Low - Control Failure - External Change. Limit

The communications alarm marginal limit at which the controller is declared to be marginal. When this limit is reached, a high priority alarm is generated. To change the priority of the alarm system wide, see the topic titled "Configuring system alarm priorities" in the Server and Client Configuration Guide. To change the priority of the alarm for one controller, see the topic titled "About configuring custom system alarm priorities for an individual channel or controller" in the Server and Client Configuration Guide.

A controller barometer monitors the total number of requests and the number of times the controller did not respond or response was incorrect. The barometer increments by two or more, depending on the error, and decrements for each good call.

The default value is 25.

Fail Alarm Limit

The communications alarm fail limit at which the controller is declared to have failed. When this barometer limit is reached, an urgent alarm is generated. To change the priority of the alarm system wide, see the topic titled "Configuring system alarm priorities" in the Server and Client Configuration Guide. To change the priority of the alarm for one controller, see the topic titled "About configuring custom system alarm priorities for an individual channel or controller" in the Server and Client Configuration Guide.

Set this to double the value specified for the controller Marginal Alarm Limit.

The default is 50.

Dynamic Scanning

Fastest Scan Period The time interval between successive scans. See also: scan.

Select the Dynamic Scanning check box to enable dynamic scanning of all point parameters on this controller. The default setting for this check box is selected.

Define the fastest possible scan period (in seconds) that dynamic scanning will scan point parameters on this controller. The default is 15 seconds.

The dynamic scanning period does not affect the static scanning rate for a parameter Also known as point parameter. A unit of information about a point. For example, an analog point includes parameters such as process variable parameter (PV), output parameter (OP) and setpoint parameter (SP). See also: analog point, output parameter, point, process variable, setpoint parameter.. For example, if the scanning rate for a parameter is 10 seconds, and the dynamic scanning rate for the controller is 15 seconds, the parameter will still be scanned at a period of 10 seconds.

Device Type

Select from the list, or enter the acronym for, the type of controller you are using. See the section below titled "Available device types."

When the device type is HC900 Hybrid controller., the Data Table list appears.

IP Address

If the channel Port Type is LANVendor, enter the controller's IP address here. If the IP address is not specified, the controller name is used as the TCP Transmission Control Protocol. host name. For more information see the Name property.

You can specify the port number to use. The ability to define a specific port enables multiple Modbus devices to be addressed behind a single IP address. If no port number is specified, port number 502 is used by default.

Device Identifier

The Universal Modbus identification number assigned to your device.

Data Table

Available for HC900 device types only.

The data table used to address the controller. For a description of available data tables, see the section below titled "Data Table types."

Offset

Enter the lowest address within the range you intend to use. See the section below titled "Using offsets."

By default use 0.

Note: Offset is not visible when Device Type is HC900 and Data Table is Holding Registers Lower or Holding Registers Upper.

Item Type

The type of controller specified when this item was created.

Last Modified

The date and time the controller properties were modified.

Last Downloaded

The date and time the controller was last downloaded to the server.

Item Number

The unique item number currently assigned to this controller, in the format RTUnnnnn.

You can change the Item Number if you need to match your current server database configuration. The number must be between 00001 and the maximum number of controllers allowed for your system.

For more information about setting the maximum value, see the topic titled "Adjusting sizing of non-licensed items" in the Supplementary Installation Tasks Guide.

Note that the maximum number of controllers that may be used in a system is defined in the Experion specification for that Experion release, This number is likely to be less than the maximum number that can be configured in the database as shown in "Adjusting sizing of non-licensed items."

Data Table types

Data Table Table Number RTU Remote terminal unit. Also known as controller. A generic term for a device that is used to control and monitor one or more processes in field equipment. The most common control and monitoring device in an access control and security system is an access control panel. Other devices include security monitoring panels, elevator controllers, and fire monitoring devices. Controllers include programmable logic controllers (PLCs), loop controllers, bar code readers, and scientific analyzers. See also: C200 controller, control processor, CPM, hybrid controller, network node controller, PLC. Type Address Range

All tables

0, 1, 3, 4

0

0x0–0x1fff (per table)

Holding Registers Lower

4

4

0x0–0x7fff

Holding Registers Upper

4

4

0x8000–0xffff
Property Description

Data Table

The name of the data table.

Table Number

The table number to which the Data Table can access. See the section titled "Table types" in the topic titled "Address syntax for named addresses."

RTU Type

A number the system uses internally to identify the Data Table.

Address Range

The range of addresses the Data Table can access.

Available device types

Type Acronym Controller Device

UDC2300

Universal Digital Controller 2300

UDC3300

Universal Digital Controller 3300

DR4300

DR4300 Circular Chart Recorder

DR4500

DR4500 Circular Chart Recorder

DPR180

Digital Process Recorder 180

DPR250

Digital Process Recorder 250

UMC800

UMC800 Controller

HC900

HC900 Controller

TV

Trendview/X-Series Paperless Recorder

Using offsets

The server can only access a maximum of 4,096 records in a particular file. Therefore if the server needs to access records beyond that limit, you may need to define several logical controllers in Quick Builder for a device, each with an appropriate offset.

For Universal Modbus, use an offset to reference addresses outside the range 0x0000 and 0x1FFF. For example, if you have to refer to addresses between 0x0000 and 0x4000 within a device, you will need to create two controllers, one with an OFFSET=0 (the default) for all addresses up to 0x1FFF, and one with OFFSET=2000 for all addresses between 0x2000 and 0x3FFF.

The exception to using offsets are those controllers with a Data Table setting of Holding Registers Lower or Holding Registers Upper. These controllers can access addresses 0x0000 to 0x7fff and 0x8000 to 0xffff respectively without using an offset.

HC900 and UMC800 controller OFFSET addresses

ATTENTION: This section is not applicable for controllers with a Data Table setting of Holding Registers Lower or Holding Registers Upper.

The Controller OFFSET address entry for the UMC800 and HC900 relative to parameter category is provided in the following table. For example, for an HC900, to access up to 24 control loops, all Variables, and up to 1,000 Signal Tags would require setup of two virtual controllers with offset entries of 0 and 2,000 respectively. HC900 control loops 25 through 32 parameters would require an offset entry of 6,000.

Parameter Category OFFSET Address for Controller Point Addressing
UMC800 HC900

Control Loops

0 (loops 1–16)

0 (loops 1–24)

Named (acronyms)

Control Loops (25–32)1

Not applicable

6000

Named (acronyms)

Variables (MATH_VAR)

0 (all Variables, 1–150)

0 (all Variables, 1–600)

Named (acronyms)

Variables (MATH_VARX)

Not applicable

8000 (Holding Registers Upper)

Named (acronyms)

SP The setpoint parameter of an analog point. The desired value of a process variable. Setpoint (SP) is an analog pointparameter, and the value is entered by the operator. The setpoint can be changed any number of times during a single process. The setpoint is represented in engineering units. See SP in the Control Builder Parameter Reference. See also: analog point, parameter, process variable. Programmers 1–4

0

0

Named (acronyms)

SP Programmers 5–8

Not applicable

Not supported

  

Signal Tags (TAG)

2000 (Signal Tags 1–500)

2000 (Signal Tags 1–1000)

Named (acronyms)

Signal Tags 1001–2000

Not applicable

4000

Modbus Hexadecimal codes

SP Scheduler A facility used to schedule the control of a point on either a periodic or once only (demand) basis. See also: demand scan, periodic scan, point. 1

2000

2000

Named (acronyms)

SP Scheduler 2

Not applicable

2000

Named (acronyms)

Sequencers 1–4

Not applicable

4000

Modbus Hexadecimal codes

Alternator, Stage, Ramp, HOA, Device Control Also known as DevCtl. This function block provides an operator representation and alarming functions for control of digital field devices, such as motors, valves, and pumps. It provides control for up to three outputs with processing based upon PV (process feedback) of up to four inputs. See also: function block, device.

Not applicable

6000

Modbus Hexadecimal codes