Hi,
I have been a big fan of your products for some time now, I have some TMD24's in the field and I'm just about to add another 2-3 PLC's to the same site.
So far they have proved to be very reliable, and the support you guys provide is unmatched in the industry.
My comments on the hardware:
1) My biggest gripe with the PLC's and peripheral cards are the lack of support provided by the DIN rail connector kit. The PCB is a non standard size for most universal PCB enclosurse which is a shame, as this would greatly improve the aesthetics of the product.
http://www.dinrailenclosure.com/dinsupports.php 2) Connectors, I have mixed feelings over these, I too prefer the Phoenix connectors as mentioned by other posts. I have only ever had one issue with an analogue input connection, after I swapped this with a spare connector, all was well. I think they are practical but not optimal.
3) The new F series, I have seen one of these in the flesh but I have yet to play with one. I?m sure they are solid like the rest of the range. I noticed some text on the PCB "CAN?, are you looking to add CAN to these PLC's and associated modules? I think this would be a great addition.
4) Again on the F series, the analogue IO is much improved with a 10V supply, which in my experience is a standard reference. My big problem is why did you go with the DB15? I think this is real mistake, DB15 cables and interfaces are becoming obsolete and this should have been terminals, I appreciate PCB space is tight but this is a step backward in my opinion.
4) One thing that is common over here (UK) is that the PCBs are flipped over, with only the connectors showing on the ?clean? side of the board. This way all the "guts" are out of sight and you have room for PCB labeling, company logo etc.
My comments on the software:
1) Quick tags ? why can?t you add more than 5? Surely it cannot be hard to add as many as you want?
2) I would like to see multiple pages of PLC code, by this I mean if I have some code for say pump control no.1 on page 1 and code for pump no.x on page x for example. All the pages can be compiled as one when downloaded to the PLC. This is just a house keeping thing that I am used to seeing. Another solution would be to compile multiple files, although this may be flawed as keeping the IO tags unique maybe a challenge, I?m sure the complier would pick it up but it may be a headache for the programmer.
3) Modbus mapping ? I would really like to see an option to map the data memory to a Modbus register at bit level not just word level i.e. DM[1] ? DM[16] = 41001
4) I would also like to use the data memory as a contact in the main program i.e. use DM[1] as a contact in a circuit to set a relay or output etc if the value in DM[1] > 0 it would be true. I know you have setio, set relay commands etc but you have to hunt these down in your custom function, and this would be more direct.
5) Longer IO tag names would also be nice.
6) Import and export IO tag names, custom functions etc to excel
My apologies if any or all of the above exist already, if they do I have failed to find them.
Regarding the hardware, to implement any of the changes there will inevitably involve a cost, for some of the items I believe the cost would be justified
All in all I like the product very much and look forward to using it in the future.
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I think this is auth smtp?