Re: [foxboro] Foxcom smart xmtr config tool
- From: Corey R Clingo <corey.clingo@xxxxxxxx>
- To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:58:44 -0500
I guess we were fortunate. The early Foxboro smart transmitters were
problematic, so my plants stayed away from them and Foxcom (that happened
before I got there). But I did use Honeywell's proprietary DE protocol
transmitters, and though I don't frequent those circles anymore, I get the
feeling that some of the same is going on over there.
We do have PC20 on an old Dell and a Compaq with HART, and it works OK
except that it insists on using its own serial port driver which
bushwhacks every other app that tries to use the serial port. [Side rant:
Foxboro is not the only guilty party there. This ain't a 10Gbit optical
interconnect, guys - it's a 1200 BAUD SERIAL CONNECTION. Why do you need
proprietary port drivers? Jeez...) I also do not know if it will work
with newer laptops which do not have serial ports (using USB dongles) - I
would guess not.
IFDC (aka PC20 on I/A) works OK with the HART FBMs, too, though you only
see basic data on non-Foxboro transmitters (which is to say 99% of ours).
Still, it has been helpful in commissioning, and those FBMs put a 250+-ohm
load on the loop - no more futzing with the loop to get a handheld to work
(amazingly, the FBM201/204 still use a 60-odd ohm load. This is just
ridiculous in an age where just about every 4-20 mA transmitter must be
configured with a HART handheld). I haven't tried FDT yet, but am waiting
until I hear that our new plant with I/A v8 gets theirs to work (last time
I checked, it didn't). I prefer the ASCII, OS-independent EDDL approach
myself, but if FDT can import those DDL files and use them, I'm OK with
that. It would be cool if Foxboro had a FDT version that would run
off-platform, so you didn't have to have a 70 box to use it.
I'm interested in FF also, though Foxboro's implementation was not yet
feature-complete last time I checked (no control in the field devices, for
example). Profibus I'm not so interested in, and the recent customer
notification to the effect of "our Profibus FBMs aren't as high-capacity
as we thought" doesn't change my opinion (though being a German company we
will probably be seeing more of it).
Corey Clingo
BASF Corporation
"Alan Weldon" <AWeldon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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04/10/2007 03:33 PM
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Re: [foxboro] Foxcom smart xmtr config tool
We feel your pain. We have run up against all of the same issues. We
have not purchased an HHT50 yet, mainly because the modem is not Class I
Div II. After several years of complaining we finally got a quick
custom that allows us to reliably configure transmitters connected to
100 series FBM's via IFDC. We have never had much of an issue with the
200 series and IFDC.
My sense is that Foxboro wishes Foxcom would just go away, much like
Unix. All of the new development appears to be geared toward Hart, FF
and Profibus with Foxcom support added as an afterthought. We have a
large base of Foxcom transmitters but don't plan on purchasing any more
as we move forward with new units. You would think that Foxboro would
be interested in supporting the one thing that gives them a competitive
advantage with their systems (Foxcom). If I'm going to use Hart or FF
what is the driver behind purchasing Foxboro instrumentation. Why not
Rosemount or Siemens or Yokagawa.=20
Alan D. Weldon, PE
Controls Engineering Manager
Hunt Refining Company
aweldon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(205) 391-3345
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