Created Date: November 07,2002

Created by: KevinPW

We are new users of EZ-Touch. (Experienced A-B PLC/Terminals integrators)

Does EZ-Touch support a formatted variable embedded in a message string, similar to A-B PanelViews?

I have used the VPRINT instruction in the DL06 to format a string in the PLC and then display it on the panel, however our current application uses a DL05 which does not support the VPRINT instruction. I can create a formatted string in the DL05 but it is very cumbersome.

Created Date: November 12,2002

Created by: MichaelBarb

SUPPORT. Personal, On-site, Local anywhere in the world.

You pay for it whether you need it or not. With over 25 years experience I prefer to save the money and use Automation Direct. All the products are about the same quality.

I also like Automation Direct becase newbies often crash and burn. I get to pick up the pieces. With AB they quietly fix the crashes before the burn.

Created Date: November 13,2002

Created by: cj

Support??? I never got my money's worth out of their support...

I like the AB instruction set but the cost just doesn't equal out. I 've rarely got the support I needed in a pinch from AB. The worst problems I ever had with their equipment, I fixed myself or put a different manufacturer's device in and let it rip.

"I also like Automation Direct becase newbies often crash and burn. I get to pick up the pieces. With AB they quietly fix the crashes before the burn. "

If you are talking about Automation Direct itself, "crashing and burning " I wouldn't bet my farm on that. Read the company history/culture section on their website. They don't appear to be some little fly-by-night company that decided, "Oh well, I think I'll just start making PLCs " in my view. They have a pretty firm history and a company business model that makes so much sense, it's frightning.

I say, "Out with old! In with the new! "

Created Date: November 13,2002

Created by: Tom Jenkins

Michael, you have hit a real sore spot with that "SUPPORT. Personal, On-site, Local anywhere in the world. " comment!

My local A-B distributor is excellent, and can handle a lot of support questions. Unfortunately, when we have a problem it is usually fairly obscure and outside the norm. In addition, we are often several time zones away from our distributor during commissioning. If we have to go to corporate tech support because the local distributor can't handle the question, we are in deep doo-doo.

First off, you need to have purchase order numbers, customer numbers, license info, and so on available. Needless to say, when I am 2,000 miles from my office I don't always have that info at the tip of my fingers. (Why they think somebody is going to call for support on a product that wasn't actually there and purchased from SOMEONE at SOMETIME has always eluded me!)

After you get through the hurdle of convincing A-B that you are worthy of their time you get a "support " person that obviously feels you are an imposition on their day. Then they want to read the manual to you. If the specific answer isn't in the manual, they will probably give you a list of things to try. We have had occassions (specifically using block transfers and RIO) where there were several versions of the logic in the manual. We asked what the differences between the versions were, and the response was "I don't know. Just start trying them, and when you get to one that works, that is the right one. " To quote Dave Barry "I am not making this up! "

A-B tech support will rarely research something after your call is finished and then call you back with the answer. They may have a response if you call them back so often they realize you won't quit until they do something. A-B will NEVER call back just to see how it's going, which ADC has done for me on several occasions.

The A-B reputation for support was earned when the Bradley family owned the company. The bean counters at Rockwell are now firmly in charge, and the death spiral has begun.

Created Date: November 18,2002

Created by: marksji

I 've only programmed PLCs for 5 years now, but I learned on ADC (PLC Direct) and I 've gotta tell you their support for newbies programmers to very experianced programmers is excellent.

I 've called with everything from stupid questions that were solved by actually wiring the power supply up to tough questions that have offten required weeks of work on their end communicating with the their design engineers to get things solved.

The distributers for other brands of PLCs around here can't quote you a firm price on a product, much less help you with a technical problem.

In short I can't disagree with "SUPPORT. Personal, On-site, Local anywhere in the world. " about AB. I call ADC, give them my name, they say hi, whats up, lets get it fixed. Nothing about did you actually purchase the product you want support for, of course I did, why else would I want the support!