Connecting RMCWin to an RMC

Communication Driver Status

The main window's status bar has a pane called the Communication pane. This pane shows the current communication path and the state of that communication path (for example, "COM1: Offline"). A path can be in any of the following states:

State	Description
Closed	RMCWin is not connected to an RMC, and it is not using the communication path at all.
Offline	RMCWin is not connected to an RMC, but it is polling the communication path for an RMC to become available.
Connecting	RMCWin detected an RMC, but is in the process of connecting and validating the RMC configuration.
Online	RMCWin is currently connected to an RMC.
Loader	RMCWin is currently connected to an RMC, but the RMC is running its loader firmware. The only operation allowed in the loader is downloading new firmware. See Downloading New RMC100 Firmware for details on updating the firmware.

Picking the Right Communication Driver

RMCWin offers numerous ways to connect to an RMC. All of these ways use one of three drivers, each of which is listed below. Click the link following each for a detailed description and wiring diagrams:

Serial: This is the easiest method to use, but—unless an RS422/485 segment is inserted into the cable—the maximum cable length is typically limited to 50 feet and there is no isolation. In either case, only a single RMC can be accessed per serial port.
See Communication Drivers: Serial Overview.

TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET: This method requires an RMC ENET module, but otherwise gives the best performance, allows routing and addressing multiple modules, and provides isolation.
See Communication Driver: TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET Overview.

Note: If your computer has a firewall, it may prevent RMCWin from finding RMC100s on your Ethernet network from the Communications tab in the Options dialog. See the Setting the Firewall to Allow RMC100 Ethernet Browsing topic for details.

TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge: This method adds many of the benefits of Ethernet—it allows routing and addressing multiple modules and provides isolation—but at the expense of performance, it can work with all RMCs, not just those with the RMC ENET module. This is done by using a TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge device.
See Communication Driver: TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge Overview.

Selecting and Configuring a Communication Driver

The first way to select or configure a communication driver is to use the Communication tab of the Options dialog box.

To use the Communication tab:

Start RMCWin.
On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Communication tab.
You can also double-click the Communication pane of the main window's status bar, or right-click this pane and then click Communication Options from the shortcut menu.

Select the appropriate driver and options. See Using the Communication Options Tab for details.
Click OK.

Another way to change some of the communication options is to use the Communication pane shortcut menu. Options in this menu include:

Open or close the communication path to switch between online and offline.
Switch the communication path to any available serial port.
Switch the communication path to any IP address recently used by the TCP/IP Direct to RMC-ENET driver or IP address/port pair recently used by the TCP/IP-to-RS232 Bridge driver.
Switch the communication path to any RMC detected on the LAN. This provides a quick way to detect any RMCs on the network.

To use the Communication pane shortcut menu:

Start RMCWin.
On the main window's status bar, right-click the Communication pane.
A shortcut menu will appear with the options described above.

In the shortcut menu, click the option you want to use.