If you've used Opto 22 products for a long time, you may very well have some colorful G4 digital I/O modules in a panel somewhere. They were probably installed back in the 1990s.

Still reliably monitoring sensors and activating outputs, these G4s are likely the workhorses of your automation system. Why would you ever want to replace them?

Topics: Discrete control, optonews, Migration, I/O, PAC Project, Optomux, OptoNews 2015-11-04

Choose the software, controllers, I/O, and more for your application, with help from our new interactive demo about SNAP PAC System components.

You'll find answers to questions like these:

Topics: optonews, PACs, I/O, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-11-04

Join us in Houston, Texas, November 9-12, 2015, for the ISA Process Control & Safety Symposium.

You'll learn about instrumentation, communications, control systems, safety, and security.

The symposium is geared toward engineers, technicians, and plant managers from oil and gas, refining, chemical, petrochemical, and other process industries.

Topics: Process control, groov, optonews, Events & conferences, Oil & gas, OptoNews 2015-11-04

We talked about sinking and sourcing in a previous OptoNews tech tip.

But it's a subject that causes a lot of confusion, so it's worth revisiting.

Sinking and sourcing basically refer to the two methods of wiring a digital DC circuit.

Topics: Discrete control, Tips, optonews, I/O, OptoNews 2015-11-04

With groov 3 you can build your own mobile operator interface for just about any automation system or equipment.

• You're not limited to one brand or family.
• You can mix systems from multiple manufacturers on the screen if you want.
• You just drag and drop gadgets on the screen and then tag them. 

Topics: groov, Remote monitoring, optonews, OptoNews 2015-10-21

A firmware update is now available for E1 and E2 brain boards. If your current firmware is R1.1d or R1.1e, you'll want to install the new firmware. See the firmware readme for details.

For those of you not familiar with E1s and E2s, they are serial- and Ethernet-based brain boards typically used with G1 or G4 I/O systems. The E1 is for digital I/O and the E2 for analog I/O. 

We designed the E1 and E2 as drop-in replacements for older serial-based B1 and B2 brain boards. 

Topics: optonews, Migration, I/O, Optomux, OptoNews 2015-10-21

Opto 22 products are known for their reliability.

But if your SNAP PAC System—SNAP PAC controllers and brains, PAC Control strategy, PAC Display HMI project—isn't working the way you expect, we have some good resources to help you troubleshoot issues.

Topics: optonews, OptoNews 2015-10-21

Let's say you have four pumps available, and you don't run them all at once. When it's time to start one, you want to choose the one with the least wear. 

You can decide which one to start by comparing the total amount of time each pump has run. That's a job for a totalizer.

Topics: Tips, optonews, PACs, I/O, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-10-21

Whether your Modbus equipment uses Serial RTU, Serial ASCII, or Modbus/TCP protocol, our latest Modbus Integration Kit has you covered. 

The kit makes it easier to integrate your Modbus equipment with SNAP PAC controllers running PAC Control strategies. 

Topics: optonews, PACs, New products, Integrators, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-10-07, Modbus

Confused about sinking and sourcing in DC circuits?

Want to find out which digital output module to use in a DC circuit?

Manufacturers label their DC outputs in different ways. This new animated demo defines sinking and sourcing and shows you which type of Opto 22 output module to use, depending on your application.

Topics: Discrete control, optonews, Training, I/O, OptoNews 2015-10-07