OptoNews - June 27, 2007

Move Over, Hollywood!

Get Your "Shoot This, Opto!" Contest Entry in Soon

PAC Webcast Archive Now Available

Let Me Give You a Tip...

Move Over, Hollywood!

In our latest OptoScreencast, famous Opto personality (and Training Director) Alexi Gray introduces Opto 22's SNAP PAC System. You're just 5.5 minutes away from knowing:

• Types of applications that use the SNAP PAC System
• The advantages of a single tagname database
• What PACs do that traditional PLCs don't
• What a brain is
• How many times each Opto 22 I/O module is tested before you buy it
• And other basics about the software, controllers, brains, and I/O modules that make up the SNAP PAC System

Watch the screencast now.

More Videos for Learning

We've had a great response to our earlier OptoScreencasts featuring Alexi and another famous Opto 22 personality, Engineer/Trainer Kelly Downey.

The Learn section of our website now has several videos you'll want to check out. All are short—about 5 or 6 minutes—and many are helpful whether you're new to Opto 22 or have been a customer for years. Here they are:

• Introduction to the SNAP PAC System
• Introduction to PAC Control
• Introduction to PAC Display
• PAC Project Demo
• PAC Control Debug Mode
• Introduction to PAC Display Trends
• PID Loop Control

Get Your "Shoot This, Opto!" Contest Entry in Soon

Don’t forget about our "Shoot This, Opto!" contest. We want your help to choose the subject for our next online training video. Just tell us about any tips, tricks, or features in Opto products that you'd like to have explained.

If you come up with an idea we like and want to use, you'll get a free Opto 22 SNAP PAC polo shirt. And our June grand prize winner will be announced the first part of July, so be sure to get your entry in before the end of the month. You could win a Nintendo Wii gaming system or a digital camcorder!

To enter, just go to the Shoot This, Opto! forum in the OptoForums and submit your suggestion of a subject for our next OptoScreencast. The contest will continue in July and August, so you have even more time to think up winning ideas.

Enter contest.


PAC Webcast Archive Now Available

If you missed Automation World’s June 14th webcast, Applying Programmable Automation Controllers, you can now view the archived webcast.

Sponsored by Opto 22, the webcast showed how companies in varied fields are finding PACs increasingly useful for solving tough automation, remote monitoring, and data acquisition problems. Like PCs, PACs share data with computer networks, databases, and multi-vendor systems; like PLCs, they provide full I/O monitoring and control capabilities, and are suitable for rugged industrial environments.

Here are some highlights from the webcast:

• Alexi Gray from Opto 22 introduced programmable automation controller (PAC) technology and how it differs from PLCs.
• Wayne Vander Galien from Advanced Energy Control Systems discussed the use of PACs for energy control, to smooth out electrical demand and reduce energy costs.
• Ryan McCollum from IC Engineering talked about how his company met stringent cost, space, and feature requirements for their customer, using PACs with built-in PID loop control and high-density I/O.
• Jane Gerold from Automation World and webcast listeners asked questions about whether PAC programming requires an engineer, the suitability of PACs for smaller systems and for OEMs, and more.

View the archived webcast and additional links.


Let Me Give You a Tip...

Opto 22 customers are asking questions and getting some good product tips on the OptoForums. Back again after an extended vacation, the OptoForums provide a way for Opto customers to exchange ideas on how to use all kinds of Opto products.

• One recent posting answered the question, What is the scan time for Opto 22 systems?
• A customer asked how to set up communications to a third-party Ethernet device. A few posts and a discussion of ports helped clarify the issue.
• Ms. Opto-Miser recently shared things you can do with a mouse wheel in PAC Control.

While you’re there, check out the other OptoForums, too. Feel free to chime in with your questions and help answer questions posed by others.

Remember that Forums give you help and advice primarily from other users of Opto products. For prompt, free product support directly from Opto 22, contact our Product Support Group: email us at support@opto22.com or call 800-835-6786 (local or international: 1-951-695-3080).