Can I copy the project to the MMC / SD card with Symbols and comments like I do now with Siemens S7-315-2 CPU?

Yes, also the VIPA Micro SD Cards are standard off the shelf Micro SD's with FAT32 format. This means you can read and write to them with standard Micro SD card readers, you don't need to purchase special equipment from us. Because they are standard you can copy ANY type of file type to them to support your project documentation.
Using the Copy RAM to ROM command will copy the project as S7proj.wld file to the Micro SD card the same as in Siemens.

Can I use STEP^®7 or TIA Portal to program the VIPA CPU's?

Yes, infact most of our clients only use STEP^®7 or TIA Portal, you can however purchase WinPLC7 from us if you don't have STEP^®7 already and WinPLC7 is 1/3 of the price of STEP^®7.

When I download my logic code to the VIPA CPU it reports much smaller memory usage than a Siemens S7-300 and Siemens S7-400 CPU, why?

VIPA CPU's come with larger memory, also VIPA SPEED7 CPU's have 50% program and 50% datablocks allowed for. For example you order a 128KB VIPA CPU, then you only have 64KB program + 64KB DB's.

Can I use GET and PUT on the VIPA TCP port between my existing Siemens PLC and the VIPA CPU?

Yes, GET/PUT, and SEND/RECEIVE on all VIPA Ethernet ports is available not only between Siemens and VIPA but also VIPA to VIPA.

Does VIPA support data archiving directly to the SD card?

Yes, by using the built in SFC.

Can I connect Siemens Operator panels to the VIPA TCP port, or should I use the VIPA operator panels instead?

Yes, you can use Siemens Operator Panels on any VIPA CPU TCP port, Siemens ProfiNet Panels are also supported on the VIPA standard TCP/IP port on each CPU, but we also offer the VIPA range of panels which are lower cost and technically advanced.

We presently have TCP/IP Peer to Peer comms established between S7-400^® CPU's and S7-300^® CPU's, will we be able to connect the VIPA CPU to this network also?

Yes, send/receive, sendall/receiveall, xget/xput plus more functions are built in via SFC's. ISO on TCP/IP (RFC1006) S7 functions and PG functions are built into the TCP CPU's for Programing via STEP^®7, TIA Portal and SCADA connections.

We would like to move away from using Profibus for our SCADA communications, however, we have found Ethernet on S7-300^® from Siemens to be so expensive (and slow - 187kb/s backplane limit) that we stick with using the onboard Profibus DP port on the PLC instead. Can we connect Citect to the VIPA SPEED7 CPU and can we use TCP/IP with the HMI Panel or do we need to use MPI/Profibus?

Yes, CITECT, Wonderware, WinCC^®, plus many more SCADA systems can connect to the VIPA CPU's via TCP/IP using the S7 drivers 100Mb/s. In this way you can keep your SCADA comms away from your I/O network and maintain the Profibus performance for critical I/O tasks. The SCADA update times will also improve by using the 100Mb/s TCP/IP network. By using the VIPA onboard TCP port, you also remove the problem S7-300^® from Siemens has with the 187kb/s backplane speed limit, meaning with Siemens S7-300^® you can only achieve a throughput of 187kb/s to the CPU on TCP using a CP343-1.

Can you interchange the Siemens S7-300^® Digital Input, Digital Output and Analogue Input/Output cards with VIPA or Helmholz 300 cards of the same part number type ?

yes, if you use a Siemens 6ES7 321-1BH00 then purchase instead a AUTW 321-1BH00. Turn the CPU off remove the Siemens card and replace it with the Helmholz or VIPA card, replace the existing front connector, no programming changes are required.

When you change a Siemens S7-300^® card to VIPA or Helmholz 300 of the same type are there programming changes required?

no, if you use the correct VIPA or Helmholz card as replacement no programming changes will be required, you do not even need to connect your laptop to the CPU.

Are there wiring changes required to accept the new VIPA or Helmholz 300 card?

no, the VIPA or Helmholz 300 cards utilise the Siemens S7-300^® front connectors.

What are the benefits of using the VIPA or Helmholz 300 cards instead of the Siemens S7-300^® cards?

Lower Price is the obvious reason, but also the VIPA or Helmholz cards have built in features like maintenance free Short Circuit and Overload automatic protection, Multirange Analogue inputs including Thermocouples on standard card, just to name a few.

The VIPA CPU's look to me to have some extra ports on them over my current Siemens CPU, what are these for?

Each CPU comes standard with TCP/IP and MPI or PROFIBUS ports.

Can we use the VIPA or Helmholz 300 I/O cards as Profibus I/O like the ET200M from Siemens?

Yes, by using the Siemens ET200M^® IM153, or the VIPA IM353 which gives the benefit of connecting up to 32 cards in one line / drop. (Limited to 8 cards with Siemens IM153)

Does VIPA use an external battery to backup the PLC memory, is it the same type as Siemens S7-300^®?

No, VIPA uses an internal accumulator and internal FLASH memory.

Can we use the Helmholz 300V I/O cards as Profibus I/O like the ET200M^® from Siemens?

Yes, by using the Siemens ET200M^® IM153, or using the VIPA IM353 which gives the benefit of connecting up to 32 cards in one line / drop. (Limited to 8 cards with Siemens IM153)

Can the VIPA Racks be used as Remote I/O like ET200M^® from Siemens?

Yes, by using VIPA Remote racks which have CanOpen as the communication you can expand your system with additional I/O locally or remotely.
Helmholz TB20 Remote I/O system support Profibus, ProfiNet, CanOpen/CanBus, ModbusTCP, EthernetIP and EtherCat. TB20 supports up to 64 modules in a single rack, so it is very flexible and expandable for a low cost.

Can WinPLC7 program Siemens PLC's as well as VIPA?

Yes, WinPLC will program all VIPA PLC's plus S7-300^® from Siemens. With S7-400^® WinPLC7 can program them, but does not have the hardware modules in the library at this time to setup the hardware configuration.

In which communication methods can you go online to any S7300^® / VIPA type PLC?

WinPLC7 offers programming connection via TCP/IP. The TCP/IP driver is inbuilt to the software so you do not need to purchase a MPI or Profibus adapter from Siemens.