The Profibus Tester 4 (BC-600-PB) is a powerful tool that

allows the testing of bus segments during operation. It can

also test the bus – or individual devices of interest – if no
PLC is running.

State-of-the-art quality controller

“Never again without the

Profibus Tester”
At Deckel Maho Pfronten, no machine leaves the premises without a detailed test report on
the bus physics and bus communication. Softing's Profibus Tester 4 (BC-600-PB) plays a
vital role in this process by ensuring reliable fault detection and quality assurance.

High-precision operation technology. The machine at Deckel Maho Pfronten to

and maximum system reli- manufacturer is known just provide a detailed docu-
ability are essential for as much for its technical mentation for our machines,”
modern machines if their innovations as for its quality explains Klaus Asen, head
manufacturers are to and reliability. A major focus of the electrical assembly
succeed in the tough com- is on the machines' fieldbus department at Deckel Maho
petition of the machine systems. “Our customers, Pfronten.
building industry. In addition particularly from the auto-
to horizontal and universal motive and supply Profibus Tester comes
milling machines Deckel industries, want proof of the out on top
Maho Pfronten GmbH, a signal quality. Previously, it
company based in Pfronten was only possible to create Profibus Testers are today
in Germany, also develops oscilloscope dumps to part of the standard equip-
complex machining centers. supply with the machine. ment of every assembly
The company is renowned Today, we use test equip- department at Deckel Maho
for its ground-breaking ment like the Profibus Tester Pfronten, and of the field
developments in 5-axis 4 (BC-600-PB) from Softing service staff. Klaus Asen did
milling and milling-drilling Industrial Automation GmbH not make the decision on

Softing “Never again without the Profibus Tester”

© by TeDo Verlag, SPS Magazin, ed. 10-2011
Page 1 of 4
 winning factor for us was
that the Profibus Tester
offered better data visuali-
zation capabilities. The tools
from the competitor could
only output the analysis data
as hex code dumps. What
we also liked a lot about the
Profibus Tester was that it
displayed the quality level,
and instantly showed the
signal quality. This way, you
can immediately draw con-
clusions on the cause,
whether it's a missing termi-
nating resistor, a defective
cable or an incorrect con-
nection. The cherry on the
cake for us was the tool's
sophisticated technical
design,” adds Asen. Another
Fig. 2: The Profibus Tester 4 combines four test instruments into a single compact
tool: a signal tester, a storage oscilloscope, a protocol analyzer, and a master key aspect was the possibil-
simulator. ity to log the data while
testing – as a quality proof
for the customer that the
the appropriate fieldbus use scenarios, such as machine has been shipped
tester easy for himself. testing the signal quality, with a fully functioning bus
Before the purchase detecting sporadic faults on system, or in order to file the
decision was made, all the the Profibus, or carrying out log in the machine docu-
available test tools on the the final quality control. mentation.
market that met the Softing's solution, the
requirement profile were Profibus Tester, came out One tool for all tests
ordered and tested in typical on top in the end. “The
A full bus test previously
required at least two sepa-
rate tools, for physical tests
Profibus Tester 4 in Operation
and for analyzing the bus
communication. Today the
The Profibus Tester 4 combines a signal tester, a storage Profibus Tester 4 combines
oscilloscope, and a protocol analyzer into a single tool. An the functionalities of a signal
integrated master simulator allows testing the bus – or tester, a storage oscillo-
individual devices of interest – even with no PLC running. scope, a master simulator,
The tool can be used both in stand-alone mode and for PC- and a protocol analyzer into
based tests. Its simple use and clear, easy-to-understand a single tool. This makes the
display of the test results make the tool ideal even for less Profibus Tester 4 ideal for
experienced users. It takes just one push of a button or a the commissioning and final
single mouse click to start testing. The Profibus Tester 4 acceptance of the machines,
automatically detects the baud rate and the open circuit and for troubleshooting the
voltage in the bus system immediately after connection. In fieldbus. The compact
stand-alone mode, the bus status can be tested and Profibus Tester 4 can be
displayed using the Live Mode function. In PC-based mode, used both in stand-alone
the Profibus Diagnostics Suite provides many additional mode and for PC/notebook
features for performing and analyzing bus tests. The Network based tests using the
Status functionality allows running both Quick Tests and Profibus Diagnostics Suite.
User-Defined Tests. The Topology Scan determines the Other items on Klaus Asen's
cable lengths and distances in the bus system. In the wish list included simple use
Oscilloscope and Frame Analyzer modes, experts can and a clear, easy-to-unter-
perform an in-depth, detailed analysis of the bus system. All stand display of the test
test results can be output as detailed test reports for results. Again, the Profibus
documentation purposes. Tester 4 left no wishes

Softing “Never again without the Profibus Tester”

© by TeDo Verlag, SPS Magazin, ed. 10-2011
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 Quick Test or a User-Con-
Deckel Maho Pfronten GmbH Company Profile trolled Test. A useful feature
to determine the overall
Deckel Maho Pfronten GmbH develops and produces the cable length of the bus and
universal milling machines, horizontal milling machines and the cable lengths between
machining centers for the DMU, DMU P/FD, DMC U/FD and slaves is the Topology Scan.
DMC H lines. In this field, the company is the innovative The Trend Test function is
leader and trend-setter in the market for 5-axis milling and ideal for detecting and iden-
turning-milling technology. Deckel Maho Pfronten supplies tifying sporadic faults. For
the global market with CNC universal milling machines and experts, the Profibus Tester
horizontal machining centers with a working envelope of 400 4 provides the Oscilloscope
mm to 3400 mm. The milling machines and machining and Frame Analyzer modes
centers are universal both in respect of horizontal and vertical that allow an in-depth,
5-sided and 5-axis integrated machining on one machine, detailed analysis of the bus
and in respect of the modular machine design from various system.
product lines and their technological solutions in hardware
and software. A wide range of technologies and equipment Never again without the
variations, such as 5-axis simultaneous machining, milling Profibus Tester
and turning by one machine or high-speed cutting,
complement the features of the basic machines. “We can't imagine our assem-
bly departments here in
Pfronten without the twelve
unfulfilled. To run a test, all it voltage immediately after Profibus Testers. We primarily
takes is one push of a connection to the bus use the tools in final accep-
tance in order to document that
button, or a single mouse system. In stand-alone a machine is in perfect working
click in PC mode. The test mode, the tool's Live Mode condition, but also if a problem
results are presented in a function allows easy bus occurs when commissioning a
clear and very intuitive testing. In PC-based mode, machine,” explains Asen. “In
manner on the integrated the Profibus Diagnostics most cases the problems are
display, but can also be Suite provides many addi- caused by sporadic faults,
viewed and managed on a tional features for perform- which after a certain run time
notebook with the Profibus ing and analyzing bus tests. lead to an emergency stop on
Diagnostics Suite. The tool For example, the status bar the machine and are acknowl-
edged with the Profibus error
enables even less experi- of the Diagnostics Suite message. In those cases, we
enced users to test the bus. continuously indicates the connect the Profibus Tester to
The Profibus Tester 4 auto- current bus status. Using the the fieldbus system and check
matically detects the baud Network Status function, the the levels of all Profibus
rate and the open circuit bus can be tested with a devices. If a device returns a
low level, there's probably
Profibus Tester 4 (BC-600-PB) something wrong there.” How
easy it is to find bus faults with
At a glance... the Profibus Tester is demon-
... in stand-alone mode (bus test without notebook) strated by Klaus Asen by way
of example: an incorrectly con-
• Automatic detection of baud rate and open circuit voltage figured machine in which one
• Display of the current bus status for: device has two terminating
• Bus physics and bus communication resistors, an internal and an
• 10 memory locations for quick tests of the bus external one. The two resistors
• Trend logs over a maximum of 41 days cause sporadic faults that nor-
• Master simulator mally cannot be explained right
off. The commissioning and
... and additionally in PC-based mode service staff of Deckel Maho
• Import of quick tests and trend tests stored in the tool Pfronten GmbH today simply
connect the Profibus Tester to
• Network status at a glance the machine's communication
• User-controlled tests system – and can see immedi-
• Topology scan ately that the level of a device
• Output of detailed test reports is lower compared to the other
• Oscilloscope devices. After a close
• Classical frame analysis inspection of the identified
• Easy and efficient management of test data component, the surplus termi-

Softing “Never again without the Profibus Tester”

© by TeDo Verlag, SPS Magazin, ed. 10-2011
Page 3 of 4
nating resistor can be quickly
found and the problem solved.

Conclusion
As the key advantage of using
Softing's Profibus Tester 4,
Klaus Asen states the reduced
time to find a bus fault in the
communication system of a
machine, if one should happen
to occur. The state-of-the-art
test equipment makes fault
analysis much faster – and thus
saves costs. “Softing has made
a highly professional impres-
sion at Deckel Maho Pfronten
in every respect: from demon-
strating the tools face-to-face
during the purchase decision
stage to the extensive test and
analysis functionality of the
Profibus Tester itself, and also
regarding the excellent support
to our service team in evaluat-
ing the analysis dumps,” he
summarizes the experiences
gained at Deckel Maho
Pfronten's electrical assembly
department.

Bibliography

[1] Softing Industrial Automation

GmbH, Haar, Germany:
www.softing-ia.de

Author: Christoph Scholze,

Freelance Journalist

Softing “Never again without the Profibus Tester”

© by TeDo Verlag, SPS Magazin, ed. 10-2011
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