Remote Terminal Unit

Application Note 014

Using the Series 8130 RTU with
FuelsManager Rev 7/97

How to connect the Series 8130 RTU to FuelsManager

Introduction
The Series 8130 RTU can interface to a variety of
host systems, including Distributed Control Systems
(DCS), PLCs and PC based SCADA software.
FuelsManager is the companion PC-based software
product to the RTU. This Application Note
describes the procedure for making physical and
database connections between the Series 8130 RTU
and FuelsManager. Communications and installation
requirements are also discussed. Part 1 of this
Application Note describes the various methods for
physically connecting the Series 8130 RTU to the
PC running FuelsManager. Part 2 describes the steps
required to connect the RTU database to the
FuelsManager database.

System Description
A block diagram illustrating the connectivity of the RTU and FuelsManager is shown in Figure 1. The RTU
interfaces to field devices for scanning and control. The RTU and FuelsManager can be connected using several
methods, including RS-232, RS-485, fiber optic, modems or radio.

FuelsManager RTU Tank Gauges, I/O

Figure 1

FuelsManager & Series 8130 RTU

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Part 1
Part 1 of this Application Note describes methods for making physical connection between the Series 8130 RTU
and a PC running FuelsManager.

PC Communications
PCs come standard with at least one RS-232 communications port. For the five methods (RS-232, RS-485, Fiber
Optic, Modems, Radio) described in this Application Note, all require the use of the RS-232 ports on the PC. A
signal converter will be used to convert the PC’s RS-232 signal to another signal type.
In the case where there are not enough RS-232 channels, an expansion board can be used to add more
communications ports. A DigiBoard can be used to add 8 or 16 RS-232 channels.

RTU Communications
The Series 8130 RTU supports two different physical communications methods. The RTU may be connected
using RS-485 or RS-232. RS-232 provides the means to connect to converters for other communications media
such as telephone, radio and fiber optic. RS-485 can communicate at high baud rates at distances up to 4000 feet.
Multiple RTUs can be connected on a single data bus.
The RTU has three communications ports: COM 0, COM 1 and COM 2. COM 0 is an RS-232 port; COM 1 and
COM 2 can be configured to communicate using either RS-232 or RS-485. COM 0 does not support RTS and
CTS. COM 1 and COM 2 can be configured to use RTS and CTS.
Each method is discussed below:

RS-485
RS-485 is a three wire physical signaling method that allows multiple devices to be connected on a single data
bus. Up to 32 RTUs may be multi-dropped together on a single cable. Distances up to 4000 feet are supported at
baud rates up to 19,200 baud. The cable should be a two conductor instrumentation cable with an overall shield.
Multi-conductor cables can be used, provided the signals on the other wires are low level (< 5.0 VDC). The
shield is critical to preventing EMI and RFI.

1 2 32

RS-232 to
RS-485
RS-485
Converter

RS-232
Up to 32 RTUs
Multi-drop connection
Twisted Pair with overall shield
Surge Protection required at PC

Figure 2

PC connected to multiple RTUs over RS-485

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The RTU has two communications channels that can be configured to interface to RS-485. Each channel has
three terminals: A, B, G. Connect terminal G to the shield. Terminals A & B are the data signals. RS-485 is
polarity sensitive. Connector J8 is the surge ground terminal. Connect J8 to earth ground to provide protection
against voltage surges.
An RS-232 to RS-485 converter is required at the PC. There are many converters available on the market. The
Keithley Metrabyte M1100 works well with both FuelsManager and ViewRTU. The M1100 will use Request To
Send (RTS) and Clear To Send (CTS) if the signals are present. If the signals are not present, the M1100 uses an
intelligent turn-around mechanism to control data flow on the half-duplex data bus. Other RS-232 to RS-485
converters may require RTS/CTS. Both FuelsManager and ViewRTU have provisions for enabling or disabling
the use of RTS/CTS.
Surge protection for the RS-485 wires should be provided to protect both the converter and the PC.

RS-232
Most PCs have at least one RS-232 port available; many have two. In many installations it will be possible to
connect the RTU to FuelsManager directly. RS-232 can communicate at 9600 baud at distance up to 100 feet. At
19200 baud, the distance is 50 feet.

RS-232

Figure 3

RTUs connected using RS-232

If both the RTU and the PC are located inside the same building, surge protection may not be necessary. The RS-
232 on the RTU is not surge protected, so additional surge protection is recommended. If more than two RS-232
ports are required, a DigiBoard is needed to expand the number of communications channels. An 8 channel and a
16 channel version are available.

Modems
Modems are an alternative to using RS-485. A number of different types of modems exist, including telephone
modems and short haul modems. FuelsManager does not support dial-up to the RTU, so a dedicated connection is
needed. Short haul modems (line drivers) are ideal if a dedicated cable exists for communications. Depending on

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the short haul modem selected, communications are possible at distances of up to 5 miles. A 4 wire cable is
required, with a shield. Surge protection for both ends of the cable should be provided.

Point to Point connection

Short Haul Modem: 4 wire with overall shield
Telephone Modem: 2 wire leased line
Surge Protection required

MODEMS
RS-232

Copper wire or
RS-232 leased telephone line

Figure 4

RTUs connected using Modems

If using telephone, a 2 or 4 wire circuit can be used, depending upon the modem selected. Both the RTU and
FuelsManager can be configured to use Request To Send (RTS) and Clear To Send (CTS). Likewise, either or
both can be configured to ignore RTS and CTS. The use of RTS and CTS will depend upon the modem.
The US Robotics Courier modem has been tested with both FuelsManager and the RTU and is flexible regarding
the use of RTS and CTS. Disabling the use of RTS/CTS simplifies the RS-232 cables at both the RTU and the
PC. A 2 wire circuit can be used with these modems. The telephone circuit should be protected against voltage
surges.

Radio
Radio can be used to communicate at distances up to 10 miles (line of sight). External power supplies and
antennae are usually required for both the RTU and the PC. It is not possible to use the field power supply of the
RTU to power the radio.
Most data radios interface using RS-232 and typically use RTS and CTS. Some will buffer characters so that RTS
and CTS are not necessary.
Microwave Data System MDS 9130 Spread Spectrum modems have been tested with FuelsManager and the RTU.
Data rates of 4800 and 9600 baud are supported.

Fiber Optic
Fiber Optic offers immunity to noise and EMI/RFI. Most fiber optic converters interface using RS-232 and
typically use RTS and CTS. Some will buffer characters so that RTS and CTS are not necessary. A separate
fiber is required for transmit and receive.

Selecting a Communications Method

The choice of communications method will depend upon site conditions, available cabling and cost.
Location of RTU: If the RTU is less than 100 feet, it is possible to use RS-232. If the RTU is less than 4000 feet
from the PC, it is possible to use RS-485. If the RTU is less than 5 miles, it is possible to use a short haul modem.
A telephone modem can be used for any situation, provided the telephone circuit is dedicated (leased line).
Radios can be used in applications where the distance is less than 10 miles.
Existing cabling: For RS-232, RS-485 and short haul modems, either new or existing cabling can be used. The
cable should be shielded to reduce EMI/RFI.

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Cost: RS-232 is the cheapest and simplest method to implement. It requires no additional surge protection. RS-
485 is cheap and simple if there is existing conduit and cable. An RS-232 to RS-485 converter and surge
protection are required at the PC. Telephone modems require a telephone circuit and two modems.

Networking
If additional PCs are networked together at a facility, it is possible to distribute the task of communication with
multiple RTUs. Consider the following example:
1 2 3

LAN

A B

Figure 5

RTUs connected to networked PCs

There are two PCs networked together using a LAN. PC A is connected to RTU 1 while PC B is connected to
RTU 2 and RTU 3. FuelsManager can be configured for PC A to communicate to RTU 1 and PC B to
communicate to RTU 2 and RTU 3. From either PC, it is possible to see all 3 RTUs. In this case, CommManager
will run on both PCs while DataManager will run only on one PC.

Refer to the Series 8130 RTU Operations & Maintenance Manual for complete details on the RTU.

Refer to the FuelsManager User’s Manual for an explanation of FuelsManager.

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Part 2
Part 2 of this Application Note describes the procedure for establishing links between the Series 8130 RTU
database and the FuelsManager Database.
Before the FuelsManager and RTU databases can be tied together, both databases must exist. The physical
connection between the PC and the RTU must be in place and operational.

Database Organization
FuelsManager refers to database items by Database/Point ID/Variable. The RTU refers to database items by
Type.Number.Parameter. FuelsManager has three point types: Input, Output and Tank points. The RTU has
over 75 point types, referred to as Software Blocks. Each RTU Software Block is different and has many
different parameters. FuelsManager Input points have only one variable, the Process Value. Output points have
two variables, the Process Value and the Output. Tank points have many variables, including the Level,
Temperature, Gross Volume, etc.
FuelsManager Tank, Input and Output points can have their variables assigned to one of four sources:
Unassigned, Manual, Calculated or Comm. The objective is to assign the RTU’s Type.Number.Parameter to
the Database/Point ID/Variable of FuelsManager Input, Output and Tank points. When using the Series 8130
RTU to scan for data and perform control, any variable in the FuelsManager database that can be assigned to a
Comm source can be connected to a parameter in the RTU database. There will be some variables in
FuelsManager’s database that are not derived from the RTU, but instead are calculated or manually entered.
Furthermore, there will be many parameters in the RTU that do not get connected to FuelsManager variables.
The 8130 Comm Driver is used to manage the transfer of data between the PC and the RTU. For the 8130 Comm
Driver, two additional pieces of information are required, an Interface and the RTU. In FuelsManager, you will
need to add an Interface for each communication channel (PC COM Port), and then add RTUs to the Interface. It
is possible to have multiple RTUs per Interface if you are using RS-485 or radio to communicate with the RTUs
in multi-drop mode. Modems, Fiber Optic and RS-232 direct communications can not be multi-drop connected.
In the simplest cases there will only be a single RTU per COM Port.
Once the Interface and RTU have been configured, it is possible to establish links between the RTU database and
the FuelsManager database. The following figure shows a single EN854 point in the RTU database connected to
Input, Output and Tank points in the FuelsManager database:

RTU 1 Computer Name: HARDWARE_DEMO

Enraf 854 Interface point Interface Desc: Tank Gauge Scanner
RTU Name: RTU #1

EN854.00.Level Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 / Level

EN854.00.Temp
EN854.00.Density
EN854.00.WaterLevel
EN854.00.Position
EN854.00.GaugeStatus
EN854.00.Command
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 / Temp
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 / Density
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 / WaterLevel
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 Pos / Process Value
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 Stat / Process Value
Area 1.Bulk Storage.Enraf 854 Cmd / Output

Tank point
Input Point
Output point

Figure 6

Connection of a single RTU point to multiple points in FuelsManager databse

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The Tank point in FuelsManager has many variables, including the Level, Temperature, Density and Water Level.
These variables represent quantities that are measured by tank gauges, which in turn are scanned by the RTU.
There are other varaiables in the Tank point that are usually calculated or manually entered, including the Gross
Volume, Net Volume, Water Volume, etc.
Data validity information and alarm processes must be configured at the same time the two databases are
connected. The data validity information for FuelsManager tank points determines whether a variable is displayed
as ‘I/O Fail’ or not, and is always derived from the PntStatus parameter in the RTU. The alarm process is also
associated with the PntStatus parameter. The alarm process is used to annunciate an alarm and add it to the Alarm
Summary.

Data Scanning Methods

FuelsManager communicates to the RTU using one of two methods. Data can either be Scanned, or the Change of
State (COS) method can be used. When data is scanned, CommManager/8130 Comm Driver issues requests for
each variable in the scan list. The RTU responds with parameter data from the RTU database. The data is then
fed into the FuelsManager database.
The Change of State method is a report by exception scheme, where data is sent to the host when it has changed
by a significant amount. FuelsManager is constantly requesting the System Status from the RTU. One of the bits
in the System Status indicates the RTU wants FuelsManager to request the Change of State data. When
FuelsManager sees the Change of State bit in the System Status of the RTU, it asks the RTU to transmit the data
that has changed since the last request.
The mechanism for triggering a Change of State is determined by each individual Software Block. For example,
the Analog Input (AI) point has a parameter called the Deadband for determining a Change of State, while the
Enraf 854 (EN854) point uses the LevelDeadband and the TempDeadband. Change of State is more efficient
than the Scan method, since the only data being sent to FuelsManager is data that has changed.
The choice of method is controlled in the Series 8130 RTU Device Configuration dialog box. A checkbox
labelled ‘COS Enabled’ determines whether Scanning or Change of State is used for a particular RTU.

Connecting the RTU database to the FuelsManager database

To connect the databases together, you will need the following:

• RTU Configuration Files (RCF) for each RTU

• Driver file (DVR) for the version of the RTU firmware (example - RTU2_27.DVR)
• FuelsManager Database with tank points defined

To cross connect the databases, perform the following steps:

1. Create a subdirectory called ‘RTU’ under the project directory (example

c:\FMProject27\RTU). Copy the RCF files and DVR file to this directory.

2. Edit the file ‘\WINNT35\viewrtu.ini’ and set the paths for the DVR files and the
RCF files to the subdirectory you just created.

3. Create an Interface for each comm channel. From fmUSER, select the
Communications menu item and then Configuration. You will be asked to ‘Select

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CommManager Subsystem’. Select the CommManager where the RTUs

connect to the PC. From the Communication Interface Configuration dialog
box, click the New push-button and select ‘Whessoe 8130 RTU’. For the ‘Port
Type’, select ‘Local Serial Port’.

4. In the Communication Port Configuration dialog box, set the Port to the COM
Port, Baud Rate to either ‘9600’ or ‘19200’, Data Bits to ‘8’, Stop Bits to ‘1’ and
Parity to ‘None’. The value for the Baud Rate and the use of RTS/CTS
Handshaking will depend on the physical media used At the RTU, the serial
communications cable should be plugged into COM0, COM1 or COM2.
This refers to the
PC’s comm port

5. In the 8130 RTU Interface Configuration dialog box, set the Interface Desc. to
‘Tank Scanner 1’. Click on the New RTU push-button. From the 8130 RTU
Device Configuration dialog box, set the RTU Description to ‘RTU #1’. Set the
RTU Address to the address of the RTU, and set the RTU Configuration Name to
the RCF filename.

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Enter the RTU

Description

Enter the RTU

Address
Select the RCF
file with the
RTU database

Set the Timeout

and Retries to 3

6. Change the Receive Time Out to ‘3.0’ and change the Retries After Bad Poll to ‘3’.
Verify the COS Enabled, Clock Sync. Enabled and RTU Enabled checkboxes are
all checked. Also enable the DataBase Enable checkbox.

7. If there are going to be more RTUs on the Interface, add them according to the
previous steps. Be sure each RTU has a unique RTU Description.

8. From the Communications Interface Configuration dialog box, click the I/O Points
push-button. This will invoke the I/O Point Connections - 8130 RTU Device
dialog box. From this dialog box it is possible to connect the RTU database
items to the FuelsManager database.

Click on Edit
Pushbutton

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9. The data validity information and the alarm process are associated with an RTU
parameter called the PntStatus. It has information such as ‘Scan Failure’.
Almost every Software Block in the RTU has a parameter called PntStatus.
From the I/O Points Connections - 8130 RTU Device dialog box, highlight the
row with the PntStatus parameter and click on the Edit push-button. This will
invoke the 8130 RTU I/O Point Configuration dialog box.

Click on Digital
Alarm Pushbutton

10. For the PntStatus parameter, make sure the Data Validity Param checkbox is
enabled (this assigns PntStatus as the Data Validity Parameter). Make sure the
Filter is ‘0x0000’. Click the Digital Alarm push-button (not the Digital Alarms list
box) and set the Digital Alarm to the alarm process for the tank gauge type. If
you choose the wrong alarm process to associate with the PntStatus, you will
get alarms that do not make sense.

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These conditions
should match the
bit definitions for
the PntStatus.

11. Note that it is not possible to assign the PntStatus to a FuelsManager database
point. This is handled automatically by the 8130 Comm Driver.

12. You are ready to assign RTU database parameters to FuelsManager variables.
There are two steps involved in the process. First highlight the row with the
Level parameter and click on the Edit push-button. This will invoke the 8130
RTU I/O Point Configuration dialog box.

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When the PntStatus

bits match the Filter,
the FuelsManager
variable will indicate
I/O Fail

13. For the Level parameter, make sure the Data Validity Param checkbox is disabled
and the Use Validity Param checkbox is enabled . You are configuring the
system to use the Data Validity Parameter with the Level. You configured the
PntStatus to be the Data Validity Parameter in a previous step. Set the value for
the Filter according to which conditions you want to indicate an I/O Fail. If you
do not want any conditions to cause an I/O Fail, set the Filter to ‘0x0000’. Refer
to the Series 8130 RTU User’s Manual for each Software Block’s bit definitions
for the PntStatus parameter.

14. After you have edited the Level parameter, click on the Assign push-button. You
will be asked to ‘Select DataManager Subsystem’. Select the DataManager
where the project database resides. For each tank point, highlight the point
name and click the Select push-button. This will invoke the Select Database
Point dialog box, where you will select the variable.

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Choose the Point

and Variable to
assign to the
RTU parameter

15. Repeat Steps 12 & 13 for the Temp, and if they exist, the Density and WaterLevel
parameters. Edit each one and enable the Use Validity Param checkbox and set
the Filter according to the conditions you want to indicate an I/O Fail.

16. Repeat Steps 9-14 for all the points that are associated with the RTU.

17. Repeat Steps 4-14 until all Interfaces and RTUs have been configured.

18. From the FMUser program, select the Maintenance menu item. Highlight the
Interface and click on the Run push-button.

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Troubleshooting

Problem Possible Causes Solutions

The RTU does not Installation Verify the communications lines are functioning
respond properly
Hardware failure Verify the RTU is functioning properly
Verify the RS-232 port on the PC is functioning
properly
Software Configuration
Check baud rate settings, addresses, etc.
Unable to add Whessoe Software Configuration If the Whessoe 8130 RTU does not appear in the
8130 RTU Interface ‘Choose The Type of Device’ dialog box, the
CMDS8130.DLL and CMDC8130 DLL have
not been installed. Run the 8130 Comm
Driver/ViewRTU install procedure.
Alarms do not match the Software Configuration The Alarm Process does not match the gauge type.
gauge The Tank Gauge alarm process is the default.
This alarm process includes alarms like ‘Raise
Failure’, ‘Upload Failure’ and ‘Device Alarm’.
These may not correlate to the PntStatus bit
definitions of the RTU Software Block used to
scan the tank gauge. From the ‘I/O Point
Connections - 8130 RTU Device’ dialog box,
edit the PntStatus parameter and set the Digital
Alarm to the alarm process for the gauge type.
I/O Fail Gauge or I/O Failure There are two possibilities: either the gauge has a
Software Configuration problem or the Filter is not set correctly. First
check the PntStatus parameter in the RTU
database and check the Gauge Alarm variable
in the FuelsManager database. They should
have the same value. Check the Filter
CM Fail CommManager is not Check FMUser to see if CommManager is Active
running or the PC where
CommManager is running
is not accessible
DM Fail DataManager is not Check FMUser to see if DataManager is Active
running or the PC where
DataManager is running is
not accessible

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