Counter-Timer-Tach: Counter Function Demo from AutomationDirect

To setup the Counter Timer Tach for Counter mode, just hold down the MODE button for 3 seconds and wait for it to flip into the parameter setup mode. Here we can setup the function. We have the Timer function, Counter Function, Tach Function, and a mixed mode function. We want the counter function. To lock that in, just press the mode button. Each press of the MODE button will cycle through all of the available Counter parameters shown in this chart in the user manual. The Up/Down Arrows will cycle through the various settings for each parameter. Let’s take a quick look at these: We’ll press the MODE button to cycle down to the counter functions. Where we can pick 1 of 5 types of counters: 2-Stage counting has two unique setting values – Output 1 reacts to Setting value 1 and output 2 reacts to setting value 2. Batch Counting is good for counting how many groups or batches of objects you have, and Total Counting maintains a running total of all objects counted. Dual mode uses both inputs to change the present value – you can use both inputs to increment the present value, or use one to decrement it – for example, this is great for the case where one input counts the objects, but another is needed to decrement the count when an object is rejected after they have been counted. We’ll use the simple single counter for this example – so we’ll select that and use the MODE button to lock it in. And then we’ll press the MODE button one more time to go down to the input mode selection. There’s a regular UP Counter, a down counter, this Ud A is an Up counter on Command – it counts UP, but when input 2 is set, it counts DOWN – The Ud b counter uses input 1 to count up, and input 2 to count down. The Ud C counter is a quadrature counter, it counts depending on the relationship of the two inputs. We want the Up Counter mode for this example so we will go back to that and lock it in by pressing the mode key. Press the MODE key again to take us down to the output mode. There are 11 possible output modes –this number can change depending on which counter mode you select – we only get 8 possible output modes when using this 1 stage up counter. There’s a chart showing you exactly how each output mode works in the manual – just scroll through them until you see one that matches our application. We’ll use mode C for this example, so we’ll press the MODE key to lock that in and the MODE key again to advance us to the next parameter. This is the counter speed or the sample rate – this is how fast the counter checks the input to see if there have been any changes. You can select from 10K all the way down to 1 cycle per second. We currently have 5K selected so we will advance to the next parameter. We go directly to the Output 2 Pulse Width. We skipped over the output 1 because both outputs toggle at the same time in this stage 1 counter you only need one pulse width setting. This counter uses the Output 2 parameter to specify the pulse width for both. You can use any with you want, we’ll use 10. Press the MODE key to lock that in, and the MODE key again to advance us down to the next parameter. Let’s scroll our chart up so we can see the rest of the parameters. Press the MODE button to move down to the next parameter, which is the position of the decimal point or how many significant digits do you want to show? Let’s press the MODE button to get down to the next parameter, which is the scaling parameter. You can scale the display with this parameter – maybe you know you get 200 pulses per 90 degrees of rotation – you could modify the display by using a scaling factor of 90/200 – or .45 - here so the display shows the user “Degrees” instead of a raw pulse count! That’s a handy feature! We’ll leave that one alone for not and press the MODE key to advance to the next parameter. Here you can choose whether you want the present value to be saved on a power loss or have it cleared. We’ll leave it in the clear setting. You can set the minimum required width of the reset pulse – you may want to use the 20msec value if you suspect you have a noisy signal line or want to filter out switch bounces for example .. And finally, what kind of input are you connected to PNP or NPN – it’s important to set this right, otherwise you may get unexpected results! When you’re done setting all of your parameters, just hold down the mode key for three seconds and you are right back in the operation mode where you can set your set point to any value you want and start counting objects. Press the MODE key to lock in the value. That’s all there is to setting up the Counter. Be sure to check out the other videos in this series to get the most out of your Counter Timer Tach module. And as always, please send us any topics you would like to see covered – or - any other comments for that matter – we appreciate the feedback!