plc

[Marvo]

I know you'll probably laugh but the first PLC work I ever got involved in we wrote our own code in Fortran.

 

[OnOff]

I play with +10 year old Rockwell MicroLogix stuff - ML1500,s, DeviceNet, PanelView's and so on. Went on the course years ago up at Sutton Coldfield. The annual support package is good but IMO expensive and you pay for each software suite. The kit itself seems from what I've seen very bespoke and specific to them i.e. NO interchangeability with other systems. I've had brief look at Siemens, Omron, Schneider Modicon etc but steered clear tbh. Seems like a whole new learning curve for each? I guess the ladder logic might be similar but the quirks would catch you out. I think you have to be immersed in an environment where you're using it all the time too. To put it down and come back to it months / years later is I think hard. Spares availability is a bit of an issue sometimes, the Dartford branch tell you they have 160 in stock then you find that actually they're in the Milton Keynes warehouse! Not too good if you want it there and then.