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Discussion on: I am an Industrial Automation engineer, Ask Me Anything!

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_targz_ profile image
Anes Hasicic

Great, thanks, that basically confirms what I was thinking.

If not s7-1200, don't know if s7 300 would also be an option (don't know if tia portal works with those) ?

Thanks for the book I did see it in the comments and as for Realpars, I agree that there are probably free resources out there, but I would be willing to pay for a structured approach (like Realpars offers) since I have no idea where to start...

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

300s are a bit more expensive but yeah that model works with both simatic manager which is the old software, and tia.

Also forgot to mention not sure where you based out of, but Allen Bradley has a larger market share in the US, I personally like Siemens more I've used both throughout my career. Just something to think about when searching for a job.

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_targz_ profile image
Anes Hasicic

I'm from Europe so Siemens is a lot better choice probably. I was under impression that 300s were cheaper ones, didn't do my research obviously XD

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

You might be able to find used ones for a good price, new 300s are around $1200+, the S7-1200 are a couple hundred bucks and is basically a modular brick only problem with the new S7 models is that you need Tia. I think the ethernet ones are a little more expensive but still nowhere near a full 300s price. The 1500 and 400 are the backplane type, larger and a heck of lot more expensive.

In the beginning I would just try to find a trial version of step7, and plcsim install on a VM and make sure to take a snapshot to revert back, save your programs on a shared folder :) on the host machine. You can do quite a lot in the programming side. And codesys also is free with a simulator, the iec programming is close to siemens so a lot can be carried over if you choose codesys.

Anyways good luck in your endevour! Sorry for the overload of information lol.

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_targz_ profile image
Anes Hasicic

Oh, no need to apologize, I crave for information XD Thanks

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cosmic profile image
JC5

Beckhoff PLC are codesys based and fully compliant etc.
It is programmed in MS Visual Studio and supports writing in c#. Much easier for someone from a CompSci background to get into modern controls. Natively supports vision now too. Tis the future...
(...writing this after battling with Twincat all day...)

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shekharsewratan79 profile image
ShekharSewratan79

Hi,

You guys still available for support regarding Automation? I have just started working as automation engineer in an oil and gas refinery. Have some questions.

Thanks.

Regards,

Sewratan Shekhar...

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

Hey there shoot your questions I'll try to answer what I can.

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shekharsewratan79 profile image
ShekharSewratan79

Hi Fernando,

Thanks for the quick response.
So our DCS system is having a couple of alarms which I don't know how to solve.
This is the description: "CONTROLLER 108 DIAGNOSTIC". Do you probably know what needs to be done in order to remove this alarm from the list? Everything in the system if fine, shows healthy but even though I have this alarm.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

Much appreciated.

Thanks.

Regards,

Sewratan Shekhar...

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

This isn't a support channel, this is just a post about automation as a career, I'd recommend you go to plctalk.net/qanda/ when you sign up on plctalk make sure you are a bit more descriptive with your questions, equipment model, etc. Good luck!

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thefern profile image
Fernando B 🚀

Once you post your question there send me the link and if I know something I'll add my comments there.