The fastest way is to order from our web site, the order is directly processed by our manufacturing division, so they start to work on it once the order is received. Please let me know if you have more questions.
Thanks,
Ryan
That’s great. However when I look at the Industrial High-Power Relay Controller 2-Channel + 8-Channel ADC at https://store.ncd.io/product/industrial-high-power-relay-controller-2-channel-8-channel-adc/ the specifications still state that the Ethernet Communications Module Power Consumption maximum is 100mA. How can I be sure that the boards I order will have the upgrade to accommodate the 300mA power requirement for the Ethernet to Serial Communications Module - New Gen 3
That’s correct, when they are ordered together, our production department includes the upgraded power module. This is required or they will not pass testing. You could also include this in the notes for special instructions, but it should be caught during manufacturing. The upgraded power supply is capable of 300mA easily.
Okay, received the new Industrial High-Power Relay Controller 2-Channel with UXP Expansion Port boards with the Gen3 Ethernet communication ports already attached. It definitely looks as if it has a higher amperage power supply for the communication module.
Unfortunately, I still am unable to communicate with the controller. I have a jumper installed to force the static IP address of 192.168.1.88 and I’m running an Ethernet cable directly from my laptop to the Gen3. I have swapped out all cables and boards in the event one of them may have been faulty. I have even disabled the wireless adapter on the laptop to insure there is no crossover from one network to the other.
When I run the NCD ConfigTool I get the following…
Which appears to only aid in configuring the controller.
If I run the NCD Base software, a Select Connection window is displayed from within I select the Network option and input the static IP address using port 2101. When I select OK the expected control window is then displayed, but in the Command Sets panel section of the window there is only the single statement Device Identification Failed. No further steps appear to be available
I feel at this point I have hit a brick wall. I have no idea what I could be doing wrong. Is there any chance I could get a very specific set of instructions that match the exact controller I’m attempting to communicate with?
I will recommend checking out this post
Hi @davidcornelius Try using Comm Operator inside Base Station to establish a TCP client socket connection to the board’s IP address over port 2101. Comm Operator will tell you whether or not it was successful in establishing the TCP socket connection to the module. This will help determine if there is a connection issue with the Ethernet module or an issue with the relay controller.
Thank you,
Travis
I’m sorry, I thought I had mentioned that I had attempted to use Comm Operator. In any event, I just tried it again.
Just to make sure I’m getting this right, from the 1st window that opens for Base Station, I select the Network radio button and leave the High speed network profile for ethernet module check box selected. I set the IP address to 192.168.1.88 and the Listen Port to 2101 and then select OK.
The next window states that the Device Identification Failed so I elect to start the Comm Operator software. Once the Comm Operator is up and running, I select Open Connection from the File drop-down menu and the Open Connection window is displayed. According to the document titled Using Comm Operator to Control Ethernet Relays I then select the TCP Client tab at the top of the Open Connection window. From the TCP Client tab, I again set the IP address to 192.168.1.88 and ensure that the Connection Port is set to 2101. I then select the Open button.
All that I get is a message at the bottom of the Comm Operator window indefinitely stating that it is Connecting [Link 1] [TCP Client] 192.168.1.88 | 2100 | Recvd: 0/0 | Send: 0/0.
That is about all I get. There doesn’t appear to be any indication at all of whether Comm Operator succeeded in establishing a TCP socket connection or not.
So, am I doing the right thing in the right place?
does the TCP/IP LED comes on the ethernet module ?
If i were you first i will test the unit through a router and make sure everything works.
Having a hard time determining which of the two LEDs is the TCP/IP LED, but they both come on intermittently.
As for testing communications through a router, I have attempted to use an unmanaged switch (which is what will be used in the final product) without establishing any communications at all.
I will attempt to find a router
Bhaskar,
in a prior message, you referenced a post concerning the inability to connect via a static IP in which you stated
Were you ever able to resolve the issue or obtain additional information on the subject?
David,
user was able to get it working and posted the solution over there
TCP/IP led is on Ethernet module.
@TravisE_NCD_Technica is giving it a go as well
See attached photo. Install that jumper on the pins. Connect Ethernet cable between board and your computer, then power up the board. This will force the Ethernet module to a static IP address of 192.168.1.88
If you run the NCD 5500 Ethernet configuration utility you should see the module appear. Let me know what you find.
The answer for the LED is, yes it comes on green and stays on.
As for the connection issue, as I have noted in a prior post, I have set the static IP jumper and then ran the NCD 5500 Ethernet Configuration Utility and received the results as shown in the 12th post of this thread. After selecting the Apply Settings button on the top menu bar I exit the program.
I just now repeated the same steps to verify the results, and they turned out to be identical.
After exiting the 5500 Ethernet Configuration Utility, I kill the power to the controller, wait 2 seconds and then remove the static IP address jumper before turning it back on.
I start the NCD Base software and the Select Connection window appears. I select the Network radio button and set the IP Address to 192.168.1. 88 and the Listen Port to 2101. The Select Connection window now looks as follows…
I proceed to select the OK button and after a short delay the Base Station Software window is displayed as follows…
Those are the exact steps I take, and the results that I receive. I’m trusting you can tell me what I’m doing wrong. If not, then hopefully you can tell me what I need to do to make this work (other than using a DHCP enabled router instead of using a dumb switch which is a mandatory requirement for the project).
Thanks for your assistance to date on this matter.
After removing the Static IP jumper, and power cycling the board can you open the NCD Config Tool to see if it finds the board or not?
Hi David,
On the screenshot that you shared, the first picture specifically, the NCD5500 should broadcast a discovery packet, the IP address will show up in the lower windows. Does the ip address ever show up in the lower window (that says IP/Mac/ZigBee Address, etc) or does it stay blank as shown in your screen shot. It will take up to 30 seconds to appear, but this is an important step. If the IP address does not appear in this box, there is likely a problem with the network connection/router/cabling. We have several customers who use this device exclusively in static IP mode, so network connection hardware will need to be examined carefully.
Ryan
Sorry I had a bit of a stay in the hospital, but all better now.
No, the IP address doesn’t ever end up showing in the lower window, even after several minutes.
So, what should I be specifically looking for in the network connection hardware that I may be missing?
If it does not show up in the window, there is a problem with general network communications, it sounds like its hardware related as UDP is generally supported by about everything. For testing purposes, please plug the computer and the ethernet module into a standard router that supports DHCP. Even though this may not be required, this is helpful for troubleshooting. @TravisE_NCD_Technica is our expert on this, I have tagged him so he can suggest further troubleshooting steps.
I would concur that the next step of troubleshooting is to plug the board and your computer into a standard network router that supports DHCP. Let us know if this works or not. Make sure the Jumper is not installed on the Ethernet module also.
It took a while, but I finally located a router that supported DHCP that I could use.
After setting up the router, the IP address for the laptop used to communicate with the NCD5500 needed to have its IP address changed to be on the same network number that the NCD5500 was using as the default (192.168.1.xx). Once that was accomplished, the NCD Base software was able to identify the NCD5500 card and I was able to communicate with both relays on the NCD5500 board successfully using the ProXR Enhanced Command Set. The IP address of the NCD5500 was shown to be set with the expected default values of 192.168.1.88. I was also able to access the Device Identification and the Device Configuration functions. However, I believe our “trial period” for the COMM Operator program has expired because even though I could at one time, I no longer could access that program.
For clarity purposes, at this point the hardware configuration simply consisted of an Ethernet cable running from the laptop to the DHCP enabled router, and another from the router to the Ethernet Module on the NCD5500.
At this point the NCD5500 was powered down and a static IP jumper was installed over the 2 pins on the Ethernet Module to allow the IP address for the NCD5500 to be set as a static value. When the board was powered back up, the NCD5500 Config Tool was executed. The software appeared to recognize that the NCD5500 was on the network as it was listed in the window on the left side of the display. The IP values in the Network Settings section were changed from the default to the following.
IP Address: 172.20.1.110
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 172.20.1.1
DNS Server: 8.8.8.8
Then the apply settings button was selected and the NCD Config Tool was exited. The NCD5500 was then powered down and after more than 10 seconds, the static IP jumper was removed from the Ethernet Module.
Before swapping out the router with the switch, the NCD5500 was powered up once again to check if the IP address change had taken affect or not. However, when the NCD Base program was started and the Select Connection window was showing that the NCD5500 was recognized, the display indicated that it still retained the default IP address of 192.168.1.88. Running the NCD Config Tool again also disclosed that the IP address had not changed.
It appears to me that the Ethernet Module or something on the NCD5500, is not providing the capability to change the static IP address and maintain it.
What would be your thoughts on the next step I should take?