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Phys
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Engineering Fields - Instrumentation Engineering - EE from the the Wilds of Pa.

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Foundation Fieldbus Instrument Testing

09/08/2008 9:42 AM

Does anyone have experience with a PCMCIA-FBUS/2 interface for PC? Will this allow me to test FF ready instruments without an operating processor and FF interface card? Is this a better method than investing in a processor with a Foundation Fieldbus interface card? My company custom builds process skids for pharmaceutical use. We are often asked to supply Foundation Fieldbus ready instrumentation, particularly Rosemount temperature and pressure transmitters, on our manifolds. The control panel is always just a glorified junction box with a fieldbus block and Profibus interfaces for other instrumentation, but never contains an operating processor. The plant where they are going will have an Emerson Delta V with a Fieldbus and a Profibus interface card that these instruments will communicate with. Therefore, there is no Foundation Fieldbus system to monitor on our skid while it is in our facility. Just instruments looking for a bus to communicate on.

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LJGremillion
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#1

Re: Foundation Fieldbus Instrument Testing

09/09/2008 3:46 PM

I work for a company where I design Fieldbus (FB) devices, and we use National Instruments' PCMCIA & PCI Fieldbus cards. They also provide some good utility software to configure and check out your Feildbus components as well as libraries to create your own FB programs. We also have a couple of SMAR ethernet FB interfaces, that work ok.

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Andy Germany
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#2

Re: Foundation Fieldbus Instrument Testing

09/10/2008 6:23 AM

If you do not design and test using the same environment that the users will eventually use the product in, you may end up with some "unfixable" design faults.....be very wary of what you do.....

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Phys
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Engineering Fields - Instrumentation Engineering - EE from the the Wilds of Pa.

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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Foundation Fieldbus Instrument Testing

09/10/2008 8:25 AM

You have not read or at least not understood what I am doing here - I merely want a way to turn on a just out of the box, new from the manufacturer pressure or temperature transmitter and say - "yes, it functions", or "no, the device is not functioning, we will contact the manufacturer and get a new one". The customers have system instrumentation/networking design responsibilities. I hardly see how confirming operation can possibly create "unfixable design faults". As I stated in my original posting, all we do is put instruments on manifolds and tie them to a junction box for the customer's bus sytem to pick up. Very easy with analog sytems, even those with Hart, and even possible with just a PC and a very cheap interface for DeviceNet. Not so easy with Foundation Fieldbus.

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Andy Germany
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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Foundation Fieldbus Instrument Testing

09/10/2008 5:13 PM

I misunderstood your original post.....sorry.

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