by James Powell | Mar 9, 2023 | Troubleshooting
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...
by James Powell | Jun 25, 2021 | Troubleshooting
Chapter 1 Introduction to Diagnostics in Operational Technology Operational Technology (OT) deals with all the technology used to control a factory or process plant. In the last 30 years, it has seen three significant changes. The first was the introduction of...
by James Powell | Jun 27, 2020 | Troubleshooting
My PROFIBUS troubleshooting tool of choice is ProfiTrace by PROCENTEC – an excellent tool. In my toolbox, I also have a cable tester called the HP-25 by HI-PORT CONTROLS in the UK. If I am working on a new segment, I will take it out and use it. However, up until now,...
by James Powell | Jan 12, 2020 | Troubleshooting
Life as a maintenance person can be very difficult at times. They are presented with mysteries on a daily bases. One of my favorites is when there is a temporary PROFIBUS issue – you are called down to the machine but by the time you get there, everything is working...
by James Powell | Jan 11, 2019 | Troubleshooting
What do extra terminations look like? In both PROFIBUS DP and PA, having more than two terminations on a segment will lower the signal level. This lowers the overall robustness of the network and should be avoided. In the case of PROFIBUS PA, the signal level is...
by James Powell | Nov 11, 2018 | Troubleshooting
There are many tools on the market for troubleshooting Ethernet and even ones made specifically for Industrial Ethernet. However, they vary greatly in functions and weather you use them on the network for a short time or if they are on the network all of the time. For...
