Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1100 Connection Guide

Help Contents

Introduction

This article is a guide to connect an Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1100 PLC to Fernhill SCADA.

The Allen Bradley MicroLogix 1100 PLC has two communication channels located on the left side of the unit:

The rest of this page is divided into two topics:

Channel 0 Serial Connection Guide

To connect a MicroLogix 1100 PLC to Fernhill SCADA these steps are required:

  1. Obtain a connection cable and connect the MicroLogix 1100 PLC to a Windows Computer running RSLogix 500.
  2. Configure the MicroLogix 1100 PLC using RSLogix 500.
  3. Configure Fernhill SCADA.

Connection Cables

The MicroLogix 1100 PLC channel 0 can connect directly to a serial port on a PC. The serial port on a PC is usually a 9 pin D-subminiature connector. These cables are suitable to connect the PLC to a computer with a 9 pin D-subminiature connector:

As an alternative you can create your own cable using this wiring:

MicroLogix 1100

8 pin mini-DIN plug wiring side shown
PC
D-Subminiature connector DE-9 socket wiring side shown
GND 2 5 GND
RTS 3 8 CTS
RXD 4 3 TXD
DCD 5 1 DCD
CTS 6 7 RTS
TXD 7 2 RXD
4 + 6 DTR + DSR

Note: All other pins not shown in the above diagram have no connection.

Configure the MicroLogix 1100 Serial Port using RSLogix 500

You can use RSLogix 500 to configure the MicroLogix 1100 Serial Port.

  1. Open a project in RSLogix 500 and in the Project window select Channel Configuration:
    Channel Configuration selected in RSLogix 500

  2. Double-click the Channel Configuration branch to open the Channel Configuration window:
    MicroLogix 1100 channel configuration window

  3. Select the Channel 0 tab:
    MicroLogix 1100 channel 0 configuration tab

    Field configuration notes:


  4. Click OK to save the configuration. If you have changed Channel 0 configuration away from the defaults, you may receive a warning about loss of communication. Ignore the warning and, after communication is lost, change the configuration of the AB_DF1 device in RSLinx to match.

Configure Fernhill SCADA

There are two methods to configure Fernhill SCADA to communicate with a MicroLogix 1100 PLC:

Manual Configuration

The default communication settings for Channel 0 on the MicroLogix 1100 are:

Parameter Value
Baud Rate 19200
Protocol DF1 Full Duplex
Error Check CRC
Node Address 1

The Fernhill SCADA configuration that corresponds to the defaults for Channel 0 is:

Allen Bradley Serial Port
Mode Baud=19200 Parity=N Data=8 Stop=1
Protocol DF1 Full Duplex
ErrorCheck CRC
Allen Bradley PLC
Destination Node 1

Use this table to match the Baud and Parity fields of Channel 0 with the Mode property in Fernhill SCADA:

BaudParityMode
38.4K NONE Baud=38400 Parity=N Data=8 Stop=1
38.4K EVEN Baud=38400 Parity=E Data=8 Stop=1
19200 NONE Baud=19200 Parity=N Data=8 Stop=1
19200 EVEN Baud=19200 Parity=E Data=8 Stop=1
9600 NONE Baud=9600 Parity=N Data=8 Stop=1
9600 EVEN Baud=9600 Parity=E Data=8 Stop=1

Channel 1 Ethernet Connection Guide

For Ethernet communication to work, the PLC must have its own unique IP Address. The MicroLogix 1100 PLC supports three methods to configure the IP Address:

This guide describes manual entry of the IP Address and associated information.

Before you begin, obtain an IP Address from your network administrator. This information is required:

InformationDescription
IP AddressThe address of the PLC on the network (Required).
Network MaskDefines the logical range of addresses on the local network (Required).
GatewayDefines address of the network router (Optional).
Primary Name ServerDefines address of the primary DNS server (Optional).
Secondary Name ServerDefines address of the secondary DNS server (Optional).

Ethernet Configuration Steps

  1. Open a project in RSLogix 500 and in the Project window select Channel Configuration:
    Channel Configuration selected in RSLogix 500

  2. Double-click the Channel Configuration branch to open the Channel Configuration window:
    MicroLogix 1100 channel configuration window

  3. Select the Channel 1 tab:
    MicroLogix 1100 channel 1 configuration tab

  4. Remove the check mark from the BOOTP Enable and the DHCP Enable fields:
    MicroLogix 1100 channel 1 tab manual configuration

    Note: Enter the values you obtained from your network administrator.

  5. Click OK to save the configuration.

Further Information

Allen Bradley serial channel

For information about Allen Bradley serial channel configuration.

Allen Bradley PLC

For information about Allen Bradley PLC Tag configuration.

Serial Communications

For background information on serial communications.

Allen Bradley Driver

For information about the Allen Bradley Driver.

Glossary

For the meaning of terms used in Fernhill SCADA.