So, how do I set up my BCS???

[ThePol]

Frustrated...

I have the BCS, I am reading the WIKI. It isnt helping... not at all. I have a wireless network here at home, but I am no computer or internet genius. The WIKI, isnt helping.

I have no idea how to even get the BCS control page up on my PC...
Even if I did, I certainly dont have a clue (even after reading the full WIKI) how to go about getting my BCS on my network.

I am sure I will get this figured out, eventually, but it is certainly not as intuitive as I had planned at this point.

[ECC]

There has been some discussion previously on how 'user friendly' the BCS is, you can read my thoughts here.
http://forum.embeddedcontrolconcepts.co ... 1065#p1053

In my opinion, there are 2 learning curves with the BCS-460 that need to be considered:

1. Network accessibility. The BCS-460 is a networked device. As I'm sure that you've read, it sits on the network so that it can be accessed by any computer, and so that you can use you're computer as an interface. This is the BCS-460's greatest strength, IMHO, because it allows a nearly unlimited access to monitor and control your process. (Have you ever tried to go through the menus of another PID? Don't forget your secret decoder ring ).. But this accessibility does come with a price, you have some network experience. Have you ever setup a home network? Are you able to log into your router and see which computers are connected? A little geekiness really comes in handy. If you aren't already comfortable with that, the learning curve will be steeper. I think its well documented and easy enough to learn, but might take some effort particularly if you want to setup a wireless connection.
2. Programming. Once you can access the BCS-460, next you need to program it to do something useful. The complexity here really dependent on what you what it to do. If you want to hold a temp via PID, it doesn't get any simpler than Manual Mode. If you want to do something more complex, (like one of these examples), programming is a little more involved. Again, a little geekiness comes in handy. You don't have to know how to write computer code, compile executeables, or upload binaries to a target device... But lets face it, if you are trying to automate a very complex system with stringent requirements, you're going to have to put some time in. Nothing is free. The BCS-460 is a tool, it won't automate your system for you. But it WILL enable you to do exactly that.

From your previous posts, it sounds like you have a handle on the programming part. The network stuff isn't too bad, because once you have it setup it just works. But getting logged onto the BCS that first time can be a little frustrating.

I definitely recommend getting your BCS working with a wired network before moving onto wireless. And when you do decide to go wireless, configure your wireless bridge with some other device first before trying to use it for the BCS, like a laptop with its wifi diabled. This allows you to see what's happening on the other side when getting the bridge working with your network.

[Baron Ken]

Any plans for future models to include integrated wireless?

[ECC]

Not really. By the time that I engineered wireless into the BCS, it would be more expensive than buying an off the shelf bridge. FCC testing, etc..

[Baron Ken]

Is it possible that the BCS-460 could be referred to by a name instead of an IP address? E.g. //BCS460

[ekgurney]

If you are using Windows you can add an entry is the hosts file to give the BCS a name.
open the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts using notepad (or another text editor)
The C:\Windows part could be different based on your Windows install.

Add a line at the bottom of the file like the following
192.168.0.5 BCS

Where BCS is the name you want to call the BCS, and 192.168.0.5 would be the IP address of your BCS.