Connecting to The System
RS485 Modbus connection
The backbone of the communication system is modbus and its associated registers. Regardless of the protocol being used, all information passed to and from the controller and its application uses the internal modbus registers. Currently there are two RS485 ports, while only one is active for modbus slave operation. Future provisions are there to allow for a modbus master port. To connect over RS485 and using the modbus protocol connect the two wires to port 1 on the controller as shown below
The other end of the two wire connection goes to any standard converter such as the BandB modem that is conventionally used with Altronic products. A PC or any other RS485 master device can then poll and interact with the AFR-500.
The following setting are used for the modbus protocol connection over RS485:
Ethernet Connection
As a direct connection over ethernet, an RJ-45 port is vertically mounted on the AFR-500. Using a standard ethernet cable plug one end into the AFR-500 controller, and the other end goes to a device that can send HTTP requests following the modbus/TCP or Ethernet/IP protocols. In general, the two use cases will be with the Altronic AWI application on a computer or permanently displayed on an HMI.
While a direct connection to a computer ethernet port is capable, it is recommended to utilize a USB to ethernet adapter. While using a USB to ethernet adapter it is still possible to use wireless internet. Plugging in to the native ethernet port of a computer diverts the operating system to try and use what is plugged in as the internet connection. This in turn does not allow the wireless and the ethernet port to work in conjunction with each other.
