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Tech Topics - A Technical Weighing Blog. Issue 3 - How Brexit might affect Weighing Engineers and how to send a text to a scale!

Tech Topics - A Technical Weighing Blog. Issue 3 - How Brexit might affect Weighing Engineers and how to send a text to a scale!
2018-11-06
Tech Topics - A Technical Weighing Blog. Issue 3 - How Brexit might affect Weighing Engineers and how to send a text to a scale!

The weighing engineers technical blog

How will Brexit affect Weighing Engineers?

Brexit and Weighing IndustryJust when you thought you'd heard enough about Brexit - it turns up in a weighing blog! There is so much talk about Brexit on the news that I thought we should briefly discuss how it might affect us front line Weighing Engineers.
 
To be honest, it shouldn't affect us much at all and I hope in the medium term we won't really see much difference in our day to day work. Although we don't know a lot about the final decisions, as so much depends on the outcome of the negotiations, it is really in the best interests of all involved to minimise any impact on our day to day life. And we know that the UK Weighing Federation is working with government to make sure our weighing world stays as normal as possible after Brexit, so let's just sit back and relax shall we? Well, no, not exactly, there are still a few things that you should be aware of going forward...
 
Leading me to the Brexit prediction for today's blog...don't hold us to this, but the UKWF thinks it's very likely that UK Type Approvals are not going to be accepted in Europe but European Type Approvals will be accepted in the UK (for a period of time). As such, if you need to be doing Verification Tests on instruments after Brexit it's a good idea to make sure your Type Approvals and Self Verification certification is with a European Notified Body and not a UK one! Look our for more Brexit predictions in coming blogs!

Now for something more interesting! How to have a text conversation with your scale! 

Here's a great new development that we added to our product range recently - using SMS test messaging to send alerts and reports from a weighing scale direct to your customer's phone!

We all have our phones on us 24/7 (don't we?), so what better way to let a farmer know their grain silo is overfilling or the cement has got low in a concrete factory's hopper?

Texting Weighing ScalesWe designed this initially for the Agricultural market but being able to text your scale and get the current weight is so useful it's proving interesting for all kinds of industries from concrete batching to level monitoring in the chemical industry. Check out the video showing it in action and then we can talk technical details!

Weight Monitoring with SMS Text Messages

Weight Monitoring with SMS texting allows you to have an instant direct communication with your weighing scale from anywhere in the world using only text messaging. You will receive text alerts when the scale is over or under set weight limits, and you can even text the scale whenever you want to know its current weight and status

To view this video on our AWMChannel on Youtube, please click here!

So let's get under the bonnet, how does it work?

Baykon TX2 Weight TransmitterA Baykon TX2 Digital Weight Transmitter is housed inside the stainless panel and is connected to an HMI Screen via Modbus (over RS485). The key to the whole system is the integration of a Modem with a SIM card to the HMI software. The HMI is connected to the Modem using a RS232 serial connection and delivers the data that it wants to be sent out as a text along with the phone number to the Modem when required. The Modem then simply sends out the text and waits for a reply. If a reply comes it sends it to the HMI and the software interprets the text characters to know what response is required. All pretty simple but really effective in operation! Drop the Sales Team an email if you would like more info or pricing on this great bit of kit.

Connecting a Remote Display to a Cardinal 825 Indicator

Cardinal 825Here's a useful "How To" trick for you. If you ever get asked to connect a remote display to a Cardinal 825 Indicator you can simply connect up the display and turn on the weight server feature. Hassle free remote display connections! Have a look at the step by step guide below using a Baykon RX57 Remote Display as an example!

1. Connect 2 wires from the Cardinal 825 to the Baykon RX57
Cardinal RS232 port TXD to RXD on the Baykon RS232 port.
Cardinal RS232 port GND to GND on the Baykon RS232 port.

2. Exit the application that you are running on the 825 by pressing the left arrow button.
(If a password is prompted on exit use 2909)

3. Press the Configuration button
If you need to login or use a password type:
LOGIN: ADMIN and PASSWORD: 81440
 
4. Press the configure weight server button.
 
5. Press the "Configure Serial Ports" button.

6. Select either Enable or add a Serial Port.
If you are enabling an existing port then select yes by using the space bar. Use the up and down triangle buttons to move up and down. The space bar will toggle the options displayed. Change the settings so that they match the following:

Enable: Yes
Port: COM2 (or whichever port you wired the display to)
Scale: 1
Type: SMA
 
7. Once they are configured, press the Enter Button.
 
8. Press the left triangle button until restart weight server is displayed.
Change this to yes with space bar and press enter. The Display will restart and you should see the following screen

9. Press the left triangle button until you see the application screen.
Press the application that you wish to run. Once this is running power on the Baykon Remote Display. The weight should now be shown on the remote.
 

What IP rating should I select for my weight indicator?

I'm sure a lot of you know about IP ratings already but I wanted to give you this infographic that shows the weight indicators from Baykon and Cardinal on a nice pie chart! This should make it easy for you to quickly see which of our displays is best suited for your application.
 
Weight Indicator IP ratings
 
As you know, getting the right IP rating is really important as any solid/ liquid getting into an electrical system can cause damage to equipment, fire risks or other Health and Safety concerns. Having knowledge of IP ratings is vital as choosing the right components for the environment will ensure durability and reliable performance...and a happy customer!

How to identify the correct IP Rating for a scale

IP (Ingress Protection) numbers are used to specify the environmental protection given by enclosures. These ratings refer to specific tests and are composed of two numbers. The first number is protection from solid objects, and the second is the protection from liquids.

Follow the steps below to identify the correct IP rating for your scale.

The FIRST NUMBER shows the protection against solid objects:

1 - Protected against solid objects up to 50mm e.g. accidental touch by hands
2 - Protected against solid objects up to 12mm e.g fingers
3 - Protected against solid objects up to 2.5mm (tools and wires)
4 - Protected against solid objects up to 1mm (small tools and wires)
5 - Protected against dust, limited ingress (no harmful deposit)
6 - Totally protected against dust.

The SECOND NUMBER shows the protection against liquid ingress:
 
1 - Protection against vertical drops of water e.g. condensation.
2 - Protection against direct sprays of water up to 15 degrees from vertical.
3 - Protection against direct sprays of water up to 60 degrees from vertical.
4 - Protection against water sprayed from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
5 - Protected against low-pressure jets of water from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
6 - Protected against low-pressure jets of water (such as use on ship decks) - limited ingress permitted.
7 - Protected against the effect of immersion between 15cm and 1m.
8 - Protected against long periods of immersion under pressure.

We love to hear your feedback and welcome any suggestions for what you would like to see in the blog, you can contact me anytime on email or call 01284 701222. Look out for the next TechTopics coming soon, who knows we might all learn something new!