Could that machine way back in the corner use some tweaking of its firmware? You know the one - you let it go until it’s really bad because it’s such a hassle to lug the laptop out there to fine-tune it. If it has a serial port and you have an Ethernet LAN or WAN, you can keep it in top tune with new ESR series serial servers from B&B Electronics. Your PC will show the distant device as if you had a short and direct serial connection to it, so you can keep it at maximum production without leaving your desk. These Ethernet/serial servers are built for use in tough industrial environments. The rugged IP30 metal cases are DIN rail mountable.
They operate on a wide range of DC or AC voltage and support redundant DC power. Wide range operating temperatures are -10° to 80° C. Units come with from one to four ports and each port is software selectable for RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485, and half or full duplex. Vlinx™ network manager software is included at no extra charge and puts your whole shop network on your desk. It shows LAN traffic and the status of all connected hardware.
Configure devices and upgrade firmware from your desk. Another footstep saving feature is Heartbeat Connection. It senses any loss of communication and triggers the server to try to reconnect every five seconds until a connection is regained. Without this feature, a device that loses its connection will be down until you go out there to fix the problem. Pricing is about $200 for a single port Ethernet serial server to $500 for the four port version.
For further information on the Vlinx ESR Ethernet serial servers, visit B&B Electronics’ website at www.bb-elec.com .
