Advertisement
Quick Links
User Guide for Babel Buster X2 and IP/XL
Control Solutions' earliest gateways were non-web based, e.g. twisted pair only. User
guides many pages long were written about them. Technical support questions seemed to
suggest it was too much reading for most. Therefore, when we came out with web based
gateways, we thought it would be a good idea to put the user guide online within the device
itself. With online documentation available, we thought hard copy was unnecessary and
wasteful, so gateways like Babel Buster X2 and IP/XL had no printed user guide.
The user guide information can still be found in the web pages within the gateways
themselves and there never was a formal printed user guide for either the X2 or IP/XL.
From time to time, we created supplemental online user guides intended to augment the
pages found in the device itself. Configuring LonWorks is one topic that had extra web
pages at csimn.com; however, some years after the X2 and IP/XL were discontinued, those
pages got removed from our web site. That content has been recovered and reprinted here.
The Babel Buster IP/XL did not have the information in this document replicated for that
model in part because it is largely the same. The only difference between configuring X2
and IP/XL is that on X2 you reference Modbus registers and on IP/XL you reference BACnet
objects. But the LonWorks part is all the same.
Use of the XIF to CSV conversion utility is optional. If you choose to use that utility, it is still
available in the Legacy section of our Library page. There are two versions, one for X2 and
one for IP/XL.
Advertisement
Summary of Contents for Babel Buster X2
- Page 1 Use of the XIF to CSV conversion utility is optional. If you choose to use that utility, it is still available in the Legacy section of our Library page. There are two versions, one for X2 and one for IP/XL.
- Page 2 When you first log into Babel Buster X2, the home or index page that appears will look like the image below. Start by clicking the I/O Devices tab. You will be asked for a user name and password.
- Page 3 The LON Devices page shows a list of all of the presently known devices. When first configuring the X2, this page will start with an empty list. The devices are numbered. The device number is a link to detailed information about that...
- Page 4 The LON Device expands out to the detail shown below when a device number is clicked. At first this page is also empty. You will go through a series of 4 steps to get the page populated as shown below. In this example, we are "learning" about an AddMe II. Step 1: Click the "Get Service Pin"...
- Page 5 XIF file if you have that. NOTE: The X2 is not able to import the XIF form a device which has structured network variables. If the status comes back "Cannot import XIF" you will need to obtain the XIF file and upload it to the X2.
- Page 6 Start by clicking the check boxes to select the variables you want mapped. You may then click the "Auto Allocate" button to have X2 pick registers for you. It will pick floating point or integer registers based on what the variable type is inside the LonWorks device. You can select registers manually if desired.
- Page 7 We return to the LON Data page, and this time it should mean something. The data is listed on this page according to network variable position in the respective LonWorks device. Assuming you see data as illustrated in the first screen shot below, you will also see the data shown in the second screen shot, which you get to by clicking the System tab.
- Page 9 You should now save your configuration, which will include the device and network variable mapping information. Go to the Config File page and click Save.
- Page 10 When you return to the X2 after a restart, or after reloading the configuration file by clicking Load on the page above, you will now only see those variables that have been mapped for a given device as illustrated in the examples below. If you want to retrieve the entire variable list to map additional variables not originally included, you will need to re-import the XIF file.
- Page 11 Version v2.81 of the Babel Buster X2 supports structured SNVT's. When an XIF file is imported which includes structures, the total "NV count" is really a count of data fields in the NV's. The example below, showing a Trane chiller, has a total of 119 data fields that can...
- Page 12 Structured SNVT's will show up as a series of Raw NV's, consisting of the various fields of the structure broken down into their component parts. The item at NV index 31 in the example below is a SNVT_chlr_status type variable.
- Page 13 You may click on the NV index, which is a link, to look at the details of any NV on the list above. Clicking on the instance of "31" in front of "nvoChillerStat.Limited" brings us to the page shown below. The Group check box means this entry in the list is a member of a structure that must be read along with its other members.
- Page 14 Once you have done all of the necessary editing of the CSV file, you can upload that to the X2 in place of an XIF file. To begin with, you need to obtain a copy of the XIF file for the LonWorks device you are going to integrate.
- Page 15 The NV name is taken from the XIF file, and this will be shown as the register name in the Babel Buster X2. You may change this to any name that is meaningful to you, and it may be up to 40 characters in length.
- Page 16 Line 1: Program ID for this device. There can be only one SPID in the CSV file and it must be on line 1. If you intend to map multiple devices in a single gateway, create one CSV per device. Line 2: Comment line with labels, skipped (line 2 skipped regardless of content).
- Page 17 Lines 3-N: One or more lines per network variable mapping the variables to BACnet objects. Each line represents one BACnet object whose type is shown in the first column. Column 1 (NV index): This is the network variable index as defined by LonWorks protocol, and will be found in the XIF file or manufacturer's documentation.
- Page 18 only be written when this single Lock field is updated. This allows all Modbus registers to be updated before the Lock object to result in a completely synchronous update. Do not set more than one Lock field per group as this will defeat the purpose. Column 12 (NV name): Originally taken from the XIF file, this can be edited to your liking, and shows up as the Modbus register name stored in the gateway.