AB DF1 (Gen1)

7 min

Review the following information for setting up and configuring the AB DF1 (Gen1) driver.

Belden Horizon Data Operations Compatible Series

Compatibility parameter	Compatible items
Driver type	Serial
Validated devices/series	MicroLogix SLC 500 Allen-Bradley DF1 drivers use CRC checksum.

To set up and configure this device in Belden Horizon Data Operations, you will need to do the following:

Step 1: Set up and Configure the PLC Device
Step 2: Set up the PLC Device in Belden Horizon Data Operations DeviceHub
Step 3: Configure the List of Registers

Step 1: Set up and Configure the PLC Device

Record the serial communication parameters for the device. Otherwise, follow the steps below.

The setup shown here is for the Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley DF1 (Gen1) PLC.

Refer to the following parameters.

Communication Mode:

DF1 Full Duplex protocol 19200, None, 8, 1 (default)

Error Check: CRC

To configure your device:

Note down the following information and refer to it as needed. Device: AB DF1 SLC 5/04 Communication I/F: RS232. Refer to the following figure.
AB DF1 reference
Launch RSLinx Classic, and then click Configure Drivers.
Add an RS-232 DF1 devices driver and then click Configure.
Set up communication parameters, click Auto-Configure to test, and then click OK.
Communication parameters
Launch RSLogix 500 V8.10.00, and then click Comms > System Comms.

Step 2: Set up the PLC Device in Belden Horizon Data Operations DeviceHub

Configure the following parameters when you Connect a Device with this driver. Update default values to the specific setup of your device.

Parameter	Value
Type	Allen Bradley
Driver	AB DF1 (Gen1)
Communication Port	Local Serial connection file path
Data Bits	8
Baud Rate	19200
Parity	Even, Odd, None
Stop Bits	1
Slot	0

Step 3: Configure the List of Registers

When you Add Tags to the connected device, refer to the following register table and tag parameters.

Register Table

Name	Value Type	Address Format	Min Address	Max Address	Description
I	bit	DDDdd	0	25515	Input bit
O	bit	DDDdd	0	25515	Output bit
S	int	DDD	0	255	Status bit
B3	bit	DDDdd	0	25515	Bit data file (B3)
Bfn	bit	FFFDDDdd	10000	25525515	Bit data file
T4.ACC	int	DDD	0	255	Timer Preset Value (T4)
T4.PRE	int	DDD	0	255	Timer Accumulator Value (T4)
Tfn.ACC	int	FFFDDD	1000	255255	Timer Accumulator Value
Tfn.PRE	int	FFFDDD	1000	255255	Timer Preset Value
CS.ACC	int	DDD	0	255	Counter Accumulator Value (CS)
CS.PRE	int	DDD	0	255	Counter Preset Value (CS)
Cfn.ACC	int	FFFDDD	1000	255255	Counter Accumulator Value
Cfn.PRE	int	FFFDDD	1000	255255	Counter Preset Value
R6	int	DDD	0	255	Control Register (R6)
R6.POS	int	DDD	0	255	Control Register pointer position (R6)
R6.LEN	int	DDD	0	255	Control Register pointer length (R6)
Rfn	int	FFFDDD	0	255255	Control Rgister
Rfn.POS	int	FFFDDD	0	255255	Control Register pointer position
Rfn.LEN	int	FFFDDD	0	255255	Control Register pointer length
N7	int	DDD	0	255	Integer data file (N7)
Nfn	int	FFFDDD	1000	255999	Integer data file
Lfn	int	FFFDDD	1000	255999
F8	float	DDD	0	255	Floating point data file (F8)
Ffn	float	FFFDDD	1000	255999	Floating point data file

Tag Parameters

Name: Select a register name from the drop-down list. The available options depend on the names in the register table.

Value Type: Select a data type from the drop-down list. The available options depend on the register name selected.

Polling Interval: Enter a value in seconds. This determines how often the tag should poll the register for data.

Tag Name: Enter a name for the tag.

Description (Optional): Enter a description for the tag.

Address: Enter a tag address. The value must in the decimal format, within the allowed min/max range. Omit the leading zeros. The device might use the decimal (D), hexadecimal (H), or octal (O) address format. See the Register Table at the bottom of the dialog box. For Bit tags, append the bit address without the bit separator. The lowercase letters in the address format indicate how many digits you should enter in the Bit address.

Tag Formula: Enter a formula for the tag to process the generated data. Two variables are permitted: value (current tag value) and timestamp (current tag UNIX time in milliseconds). The following math functions are available:

sqrt

power: power(x) performs the operation 10^x.

log: log(x) is the natural logarithm (the logarithm is in base e).

exp: exp(x) performs the operation e^x.

Only Publish on Change of Value: Select the checkbox to only publish NATS messages when the value parameter changes to a new value. Change of Value only applies to boolean, numeric (such as int or float), and simple string data types. It does not apply to complex types, such as JSON or array. Poll-once topics will not be affected by Change of Value settings. These topics will still only see a single message.

Meta Data: Metadata summarizes basic information about data. This feature allows you to define key-value pair data for the device output payload later on. Metadata can then be used to find, use, and reuse particular instances of data.

Note: If you use special characters in meta data key names, the special characters are replaced with underscore characters in the payload. This can cause two key names to be combined into one. For example, configuring the key names a**b and a&&b will cause only one key name to be created (a__b).