Original Release - Revised for Protocol 3 and
formatting
2
7/2012
Livingston
Updated Register tables for new Protocol 3
Firmware release 2.0
2 Version 2
Revision History
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Modbus Programming Manual ABOUT THIS MANUAL
Values displayed on screens are examples only. Though
those values may be typical, contact Despatch Industries for
the final value.
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transmitted in any form or by any means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or
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permission of the publisher, unless it is for the purchaser's personal use.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
The information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Despatch Industries. Despatch Industries does not assume any
responsibility for any errors that may appear in this manual.
In no event will Despatch Industries be liable for technical or editorial omissions made herein,
nor for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use or
defect of this manual.
The information in this document is not intended to cover all possible conditions and situations
that might occur. The end user must exercise caution and common sense when installing or
maintaining Despatch Industries products. If any questions or problems arise, call Despatch
Industries at 1-888-DESPATCH or 1-952-469-5424.
1.2. Manufacturer & Service
Despatch has specialized in thermal processing for over 100 years. Technical expertise gained
over those years helps provide innovative solutions to critical applications in vertical markets and
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This programming manual assumes an intermediate
understanding of the Modbus Protocol. Only limited
information is presented here regarding the Modbus Protocol
specifications.
6 Version 2
1.3. Organization of this Manual
This document provides all application-specific information necessary for developing a Modbus
Master application program for interfacing with the Protocol 3™ slave controller.
1.3.1. Reference Documents
The following Modbus Protocol documents should also be helpful and relevant:
For a complete description of the Modbus protocol refer to the description provided at
http://www.modicon.com/ or http://www.modbus.org/.
1.4. Serial Communications
1.4.1. Supported Protocols
The unit supports two communication interfaces Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP. Modbus RTU
is supported through the RS485 interface and Modbus TCP is supported through the optional
Ethernet Module.
For a complete description of the Modbus protocol refer to the description provided at
http://www.modbus.org/.
1.4.2. RS485 Configuration
The RS485 address, bit rate and character format are configured via the front panel from the
Comms Configuration menu.
Physical layer configuration settings possible are:
Data rate: 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200 bps
Parity: None (default), Even, Odd
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval systems without the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.
Modbus Programming Manual ABOUT THIS MANUAL
Version 2 7
Character format: Always 8 bits per character.
Device Address: See below.
1.4.3. RS485 Device Addressing
The instrument must be assigned a unique device address in the range 1 to 255. This address is
used to recognize Modbus Queries intended for this instrument. With the exception of globally
addressed broadcast messages, the instrument ignores Modbus Queries that do not match the
address that has been assigned to it.
The instrument will accept broadcast messages (global queries) using device address 0 no matter
what device address is assigned. No response messages are returned for globally addressed
Queries.
1.4.4. Ethernet Configuration
For Modbus TCP communications (Modbus over Ethernet), the IP address can either be assigned
by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), BootP or AutoIP server on the network, or
manually assigned using the IP address allocation software tool.
The supported data rates 10/100BASE-T (10 or 100 Mbps) are automatically detected.
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
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ABOUT THIS MANUAL Modbus Programming Manual
MODBUS
SLAVE
QUERY
RESPONSE
Figure 1. Modbus Link Layer.
8 Version 2
1.4.5. Link Layer
A Query (or command) is transmitted from the Modbus Master to the Modbus Slave. The slave
instrument assembles the reply to the master (see Figure 1).
MASTER
INSTRUMENT
A message for either a QUERY or RESPONSE is made up of an inter-message gap followed by a
sequence of data characters. The inter-message gap is at least 3.5 data character times - the
transmitter must not start transmission until 3 character times have elapsed since reception of the
last character in a message, and must release the transmission line within 3 character times of the
last character in a message.
Note:
Three character times is approximately 0.25ms at 115200 bps, 0.51ms at 57600 bps, 0.75ms at
38400 bps, 1.5ms at 19200 bps, 3ms at 9600 bps and 6ms at 4800bps.
Data is encoded for each character as binary data, transmitted LSB first.
For a QUERY the address field contains the address of the slave destination. The slave address is
given together with the Function and Data fields by the Application layer. The CRC is generated
from the given address, function and data characters.
For a RESPONSE the address field contains the address of the responding slave. The Function
and Data fields are generated by the slave application. The CRC is generated from the address,
function and data characters.
The standard MODBUS RTU CRC-16 calculation employing the polynomial 216+215+22+1 is
used.
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
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Read current binary value of specified number of
parameters at given address. Up to 64 parameters
can be accessed with one Query.
06
Write Single Register
Writes two bytes to a specified word address.
08
Diagnostics
Used for loopback test only.
16 (0x10 hex)
Write Multiple Registers
Writes up to 253 bytes of data to the specified
address range.
23 (0x17 hex)
Read/Write Multiple Registers
Reads and Writes 253 bytes of data to the specified
address ranges.
QUERY
Function
Address of 1st Word
Number of Words
03 / 04
HI
LO
HI
LO
RESPONSE
Function
Number of Bytes
First Word
Last Word
03 / 04 HI
LO
HI
LO
Version 2 9
1.4.6. Supported Modbus Functions
Modbus defines several function types. The following types are supported by this instrument:
1.4.7. Function Descriptions
The following is interpreted from the Modbus Protocol Description obtainable from
http://www.modbus.org/. Refer to that document if clarification is required.
In the function descriptions below, the preceding device address value is assumed, as is the
correctly formed two-byte CRC value at the end of the QUERY and RESPONSE frames.
Function 03 / 04 - Read Holding/Input Registers
Reads current binary value of data at the specified word addresses.
In the response the “Number of Bytes” indicates the number of data bytes read from the
instrument. E.g. if 5 words are read, the count will be 10 (A hex). The maximum number of
words that can be read is 64. If a parameter does not exist at one of the addresses read, then a
value of 0000h is returned for that word.
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
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Function 06 - Write Single Register
Writes two bytes to a specified word address.
Note:
The Response normally returns the same data as the Query.
Function 08 - Loopback Diagnostic Test
Note:
The Response normally returns the same data as the loopback Query. Other Diagnostic
Codes are not supported.
Function 16 - Write Multiple Registers (0x10 Hex)
Writes consecutive word (two-byte) values starting at the specified address.
Note:
The number of data bytes that can be written in one message is 253 bytes.
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval systems without the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.
Write functions: Parameter number out of range or not
supported. (for write functions only).
Read Functions: Start parameter does not exist or end
parameter greater than 65536.
03
Illegal Data Value
Attempt to write invalid data / required action not executed.
RESPONSE
Function
Exception Code
Original Function code with its Most
Significant Bit (MSB) set.
Reads and writes the requested number of consecutive words (two-bytes) starting at the specified
addresses.
Note:
The number of data bytes that can be read and written in one message is 253 bytes.
Exception Responses
When a QUERY is sent that the instrument cannot interpret, an Exception RESPONSE is
returned. Possible exception responses are:
The format of an exception response is:
Note:
In the case of multiple exception codes for a single QUERY the Exception code returned is
the one corresponding to the first parameter in error.
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval systems without the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.
Data Value Returned:
If actual Value = 23.9 decimal
(hex)
0x00, 0x17
0x00, 0xEF
0x41, 0xBF, 0x33, 0x33
(dec)
23
239
23.9 as floating decimal
Address Example:
(For Selected Setpoint)
(hex)
0x101F
0x501F
0xA03E
(dec)
4127
20511
41022
Data Value Returned:
If Value = 1 (Alternative SP)
(hex)
0x00, 0x01
0x00, 0x0A
0x3F, 0x80, 0x00, 0x00
(dec) 1 10
1.0
as floating decimal
12 Version 2
The Modbus parameter register addresses are detailed in the following sections.
The Access column indicates if a parameter is read only (RO) or if it can also be written to
(R/W).
Note:
Some parameters that do not apply for a particular configuration will accept reads and
writes. Read only parameters will return an exception if an attempt is made to write values
to them.
1.4.8. Data Formats
Data can be read or written in three formats: Integer Only, Integer with 1 Decimal Place and
Floating Point Number.
The Modbus Address column shows the register address for each parameter in integer format.
Other formats can be calculated from the Integer Only address.
When working in Hexadecimal, the format calculations are:
Address for Integer with 1 Decimal Place = Integer address plus 0x4000
Address for Floating Point = Integer address multiplied by 2, plus 0x8000
When working in Decimal, the format calculations are:
Address for Integer with 1 Decimal Place = Integer address plus 16384
Address for Floating Point = Integer address multiplied by 2, plus 32768
Example Register Address Calculations
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means including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and
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0 = No User Calibration
1 = Single Point Calibration
2 = Two Point Calibration
Process Input
Low Temperature
Calibration Point
1086
0x043E
R/W
Process Input
Low Calibration
Offset
1087
0x043F
R/W
Process Input
High
Temperature
Calibration Point
1088
0x0440
R/W
Process Input
High Calibration
Offset
1089
0x0441
R/W
Parameter Name
Modbus
Address
(Dec)
Modbus
Address
(Hex)
Access
R/W
Notes
High Limit Input
Range
9000
0x2328
R/W
Value
Range
0
B TC
2
C TC
4
D TC
6
J TC
10
K TC
14
L TC
18
N TC
20
R TC
14 Version 2
2.1.2. High Limit Input Parameters
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the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.
0 = No User Calibration
1 = Single Point Calibration
2 = Two Point Calibration
High Limit Input
Process variable
offset
9009
0x2331
R/W
Span of the input range
Process Input
Low Calibration
Offset
9010
0x2332
R/W
Process Input
Low Temperature
Calibration Point
9011
0x2333
R/W
Process Input
High Calibration
Offset
9012
0x2334
R/W
Process Input
High
Temperature
Calibration Point
9013
0x2335
R/W
High Limit Input
Process Variable
9006
0x232E
R
High Limit Input
9007
0x232F
R
Bit 0 = OPEN
15 Version 2
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including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems without
the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this manual may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means
including graphic, electronic, or mechanical methods or photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems without
the written permission of Despatch Industries, unless for purchaser's personal use.