Blog
We are now an Indu-Sol authorized partner
I am thrilled to announce that JCOM Automation is now the official distributor of Indu-Sol products in Canada. Indu-Sol GmbH is a leading provider of diagnostic equipment for EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, PROFIBUS, CAN, ASi, and EMC. At JCOM Automation Inc., we have been...
Controlling a Slow Process with Modbus
Introduction Modbus RTU and TCP are, when compared to PROFINET, PROFIBUS and EtherNet/IP, slow protocols. Therefore, it is not suited for ‘real-time’ control in most cases. However, if the process is also very slow, then Modbus can be fast enough. If things change in...
Modbus Datalogging Applications
Introduction: Data logging is an offshoot of data monitoring. Often, the same data being monitored by the HMI is also sent to a Data historian for logging. This works great except for remote sites or when the data is very important. In these cases, you want to have a...
Typical Modbus Monitoring Applications
Introduction: There is a lot of data in factories and process plants that engineers need to monitor, but it is not used for control purposes. This data needs to be updated in seconds, minutes, or hours. Communication protocols such as PROFINET and EtherNet/IP were...
Marvelous Modbus May – Modbus is Cool!
Introduction: Welcome to the first of four postings in May about Modbus. Yes, it will be marvelous. This one will be about why we still use Modbus. The next three will focus on three key applications of Modbus in industrial automation: Monitoring, Datalogging, and...
PROFIBUS Ring with no repeaters?
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took the cable at the end of a PROFIBUS network and connected it back to the beginning of the network? Well, I have. Being involved with Troubleshooting, I have thought of all the different ways you could mess up a...
Traffic jams on the PROFINET
Introduction: When PROFINET was first released, almost all the nodes communicated at 100 Mbps. You had the odd device that communicated at 10 Mbps, but that was non-PROFINET and was not a big deal. In the last few years, things have changed. We now have 1,000 Mbps...
Using PROFIBUS DP waveforms to troubleshoot network issues
Looking at the PROFIBUS DP waveforms and signal levels are key to determining if there is a problem and identifying that problem. In the last update of both our PROFIBUS Troubleshooting and Maintenance course and our Certified PROFIBUS Network Engineering course, JCOM...
Modbus is DEAD! Long live Modbus!
Modbus is the Grand-daddy of industrial protocols. It has been around since the mid-70s. One would think it had gone the way of the Eight-track tape by now. I have heard, 'Oh Modbus, it is dead - isn't it?' Well, No, it is not. As I have travelled around doing field...
ChatGPT, PROFIBUS and SNAP
There has been a lot of talk about ChatGPT. My colleague Cambel Lai has been playing with it, and it is certainly impressive technology. However, as others have noted, it should be used cautiously. This is especially true when applied to industrial communications. We...
Newsletter and Book Download
JCOM Automation Inc. produces a newsletter a few times a year updating our customers on upcoming training opportunities, interesting applications and new products. Please sign up here, and you can download a free copy of ‘Catching the Process Fieldbus – An Introduction to PROFIBUS and PROFINET,’ as our thank you.
The book is co-authored by our principal engineer and owner, James Powell.
We offer training courses
JCOM Automation Inc. offers high-quality, hands-on training. Our courses have a lot of labs, and we have all the latest equipment, including state of the art diagnostic equipment. We offer training on; PROFIBUS, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, and HART. For a quote on a course, please contact us directly.
We are a certified training center for PROFIBUS PROFINET International for both PROFIBUS and PROFINET, which guarantees high-quality training.