Archive for the 'Utilities and tools' Category

CAS Modbus Explorer

Published by xcosminel April 27th, 2009 in Modbus, RS232, RS485 and Utilities and tools. 0 Comments

Modbus communications not working ? How do you know what’s wrong – is it the baud rate, the parity or even the address? There are so many things that can affect communications.

The Modbus protocol does not support discovery. There is no broadcast message that you can send that will make a slave respond with its port and address settings. The protocol allows for broadcast messages to be sent but doesn’t demand that every vendor supports this feature.

modbusexplorer

Use the CAS Modbus Explorer to find the correct port settings and the correct slave address.
The tool automates the process of trying all the combinations and reports the results. We provide burst and standard mode. In burst mode we send messages to all the possible slave address before waiting for a reply from any of them. This dramatically improves the time required to do the discovery.

The tool works for RS232 and RS485 by allowing you to search for a single device or multiple slaves. To connect to a RS485 network from your laptop you simply need a USB-to-485 converter.

Here is the problem – there are thousands of combinations:

 

Baud 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200
Parity, None, Odd, Even
Stop Bits 1, 2
Data Bits 7, 8
Address 1-254

 

If you had to manually search/test all these combinations it will take you ages. Relax, go for lunch and let the CAS Modbus Explorer do all the work for you.

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CAS BACnet Watchdog

Published by xcosminel April 27th, 2009 in BACnet and Utilities and tools. 0 Comments

“Who changed the set point? Why did that device stop?”

The BACnet protocol does not support authorization or authentication. Use our Watchdog tool to monitor where the commands that changed set points/device states came from. Our tool allows you to monitor some or all devices/objects/properties.

The CAS BACnet Watchdog records MAC addresses, IP address, messages and other information useful in tracking down unauthorized/unexpected commands. It’s easy to install and easy to use.

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How to end a telnet session (Windows)

Published by xcosminel April 23rd, 2009 in Uncategorized, Utilities and tools and Web. 0 Comments

This article assumes that you’ve started a telnet conection through the Windows command prompt. (you can do so by typing: “telnet address port“)

To end your current telnet session you must reach the telnet prompt and type quit.

Here are the steps for doing so:

 
1. Open the telnet prompt by holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key and push the ‘]’ key. (prompt: Microsoft Telnet>)

2. Type quit.

3. Push the ‘Enter’ key.

 

You can change this default telnet prompt key by starting telnet like this:
 
telnet –e p  192.168.1.81 (this will change the telnet prompt key to lowercase ‘p’)

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Resistor Color Codes

Published by xcosminel December 8th, 2008 in Cables, Uncategorized and Utilities and tools. 0 Comments

Resistor Color Code for 4 and 5 band resitors:



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Stop the Windows Update ‘Restart’ reminder

Published by xcosminel November 19th, 2008 in Uncategorized and Utilities and tools. 1 Comment

After Windows Update performs an update for your computer, it usually prompts you to restart. You might accidentally hit restart and all your unsaved work gets lost.

The way to stop Windows Update from nagging you to restart is to end the Windows Update service until next time your computer starts. This is done with or without the command prompt like so:

Without command prompt:
Go to Start > Run, type net stop wuauserv and press [Enter].

With command prompt:
Go to Start > Run, type cmd and press [Enter].
In the command prompt, type sc stop wuauserv and press [Enter].

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NodeUtil Lonworks Utility

Published by xcosminel September 22nd, 2008 in Echelon, Lonworks and Utilities and tools. 0 Comments

What happens if you need to learn about a Lonworks network and it devices but you haven’t been provided with the database or if you don’t have LonMaker?

NodeUtil is a Lonworks utility that can be used to explore Lonworks networks and devices without having LonMaker. All you need is a device such as an Echelon U10/U20 USB Network Interface.

Using NodeUtil you can discover devices , learn about the Domains, SubNets, NodeID’s. You can also upload the XIF file from specific nodes.

Download NodeUtil:

Nodeutil v1.24

Nodeutil v1.46

Nodeutil v1.82

You can find all of these downloads on the PASStec homepage here.

Another useful utility is XIFDUMP. It is a report generator (DOS), and it allows you to generate reports (text file) from a XIF files.

Download XIFDUMP:

XIFDUMP

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Free Tool: CAS BACnet Explorer

Published by Steven Smethurst July 5th, 2007 in BACnet, BACnet MSTP, RS485 and Utilities and tools. 1 Comment

CAS BACnet Explorer is the perfect utility for exploring, testing and debugging BACnet® networks and devices.

  • Exploring – Automatically discover all the BACnet® IP, BACnet® Ethernet and BACnet® MSTP devices, objects, and there properties on your network. The objects and devices are arranged in an easy to use tree format with braches for each network, object, and device.
  • Testing – The CAS BACnet Explorer allows you to write to the BACnet® points, turn lights on or off, generate alarms, ACK alarms, ect
  • Debugging – With the report function you can document the current state of your BACnet® network, and use the information in your documentation. Never again ask yourself if a BACnet® device is on your network, and what value does it have.
  • Monitoring – A monitoring table can be set up to check the present value or any other property of a BACnet? object, easily with a single glance.

CAS BACnet explorer can be used on both BACnet®/Ethernet 802.3, BACnet®/IP and BACnet®/MSTP networks simultaneously.

Features:

  • Works with BACnet®/Ethernet 802.3, BACnet®/IP BACnet®/MSTP networks simultaneously
  • Create reports of your network in a simple to read webpage style html or XML
  • Write values to points
  • Simple to use

Requirements:

  • Windows: XP / 2000
  • 10 MB of free hard drive space
  • A WinpCap supported network card (99% of all network cards)

You can download a copy of CAS BACnet Explorer from Chipkin Automation systems website.

© Chipkin Automation Systems 2007

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Free Tool: CAS Modbus Scanner

Published by Steven Smethurst July 4th, 2007 in Modbus and Utilities and tools. 2 Comments

CAS Modbus Scanner is a utility to retrieve coils, inputs, holding registers, and input registers from a Modbus enabled device. Values retrieved from the device can be viewed in many different formats including Binary, HEX, Uint16, Int16, Uint32, Int32, and Float32.

This utility is great finding and debugging problems with your Modbus network.

Features:

  • Can read; coil status (0xxxx), input status(2xxxx), input registers (3xxxx), and holding registers (4xxxx)
  • Data is viewable in Binary, HEX, Uint16, Int16,Uint32, Int32, and Float32
  • Easy to use
  • Free to use, no registration required.

Requirements:

  • Windows: XP / 2000
  • 10 MB of free hard drive space
  • One free serial port

You can download this utility from Chipkin Automation’s website CAS Modbus Scanner

© Chipkin Automation Systems 2007

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