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:

Channel 0 is an 8 pin mini-DIN socket and supports RS-232 serial communications.
Channel 1 is an RJ45 socket and supports Ethernet communications.

The rest of this page is divided into two topics:

Channel 0 Serial Connection Guide
Channel 1 Ethernet Connection Guide

Channel 0 Serial Connection Guide

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

Obtain a connection cable and connect the MicroLogix 1100 PLC to a Windows Computer running RSLogix 500.
Configure the MicroLogix 1100 PLC using RSLogix 500.
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:

1761-CBL-AP00: 0.5 m length
1761-CBL-PM02: 2 m length
1761-CBL-PM05: 5 m length
1761-CBL-PM10: 10 m length

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

MicroLogix 1100		PC
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.

Open a project in RSLogix 500 and in the Project window select Channel Configuration:
Double-click the Channel Configuration branch to open the Channel Configuration window:
Select the Channel 0 tab:

Field configuration notes:
- For the Driver field choose either DF1 Full Duplex or DF1 Half Duplex Slave.
- If you are using DF1 Half Duplex enter the Node Address.
- Choose whether to use Even Parity or No Parity.
  Even Parity offers improved communication error detection in exchange for slightly greater overhead.
- Choose a baud rate.
- Choose the Error Detection method.
- Leave the remaining fields at their default values.
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:

The easiest way is to use an autodetect wizard. The wizard will try different settings to work out the correct Fernhill SCADA configuration. Use one of these wizards depending on which Driver was configured in Channel 0 of the PLC:
- Allen Bradley DF1 Full Duplex Autodetect Wizard
- Allen Bradley DF1 Half Duplex Autodetect Wizard
Manually configure Fernhill SCADA to match the configuration of Channel 0 of the 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:

Baud	Parity	Mode
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:

Automatic using BOOTP.
Automatic using DHCP.
Manual entry of the IP Address and associated information.

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:

Information	Description
IP Address	The address of the PLC on the network (Required).
Network Mask	Defines the logical range of addresses on the local network (Required).
Gateway	Defines address of the network router (Optional).
Primary Name Server	Defines address of the primary DNS server (Optional).
Secondary Name Server	Defines address of the secondary DNS server (Optional).

Ethernet Configuration Steps

Open a project in RSLogix 500 and in the Project window select Channel Configuration:
Double-click the Channel Configuration branch to open the Channel Configuration window:
Select the Channel 1 tab:
Remove the check mark from the BOOTP Enable and the DHCP Enable fields:

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