Microflex HM Configurator Software and App Installation Guide

The HM Conﬁ gurator app is a Microsoft Windows software-based tool for conﬁ guring the Microﬂ ex HM series of HART protocol modems. In addition to functioning as standard HART protocol modems, HM modems can also poll 1 to 16 HART ﬁ eld devices and store the HART device variable data into modbus registers. This software tool provides a simple way to conﬁ gure the HM modems to ﬁ t your requirements. Included is a HART Device Addresser software tool used to set the HART polling address in ﬁ eld devices for multiple applications.

Installation

Download the HM-Configurator app from https://microflx.com/products/hm-configuration-software-app
Run the downloaded file to install the HM-Configurator. After Installation, the HM Configurator icon will be added to your system.

Home Screen
The home screen displays a summary of the HM’s status, HART modem seƫ ngs, and Modbus seƫ ngs. Use the top drop-down menus to access the HM seƫ ngs for HART and modbus.

Setup COM Port

The HM Configurator software must be set to use the same COM port that the modem is connected to. From the top menu select Setup > Com Port. Choose the COM port number from the list of available ports. After choosing, click Connect to attempt to communicate using the settings selected. The connection process will first try the last good baud rate and parity settings. If it fails to connect the app will work through other settings to try to find the correct settings for communications. If it still does not connect, verify that you have chosen the correct COM number, connections are correct, and DC power is applied before trying again. The MicroLink-HM+ includes a USB port. When you connect the USB port to your PC for the first time USB drivers will be installed that make the USB port appear as a serial comm port. Use the Microsoft Device Manager tool to view the assigned com port number.

HART Protocol Settings

With Fill Modbus Registers unchecked, the HM modem will function as a standard HART protocol modem and not poll HART devices to fill Modbus registers. In this mode HART packets are received and then retransmitted at the HART 1200 baud, odd parity. Received reply packets are retransmitted at the selected baud rate. RTS timing and carrier detect are handled internally by the HM modem allowing communications at higher than 1200 baud. HART loop data is handled at the standard HART protocol 1200 baud, odd parity but because HM modems buffers the data the serial port can be set for higher rates as well as odd, even, or no parity. Port settings can be set in the Modbus Settings section of the HM Configurator app.

Since HM modems manage network timing, it needs to be configured for either a primary or secondary master. Portable configuration modems are typically set to be secondary masters. With Fill Modbus Registers checked the dialog will add the configuration settings for polling HART devices and filling registers.

Polling HART Devices – Fill Modbus Registers

To enable Modbus register accumulation, check the Fill Modbus Registers option. The Hart Protocol Settings window will expand to show the Polled Devices settings. After you save the settings, the HM modem will continuously poll using HART command 3 to read HART variables at the selected Poll Interval.

Retries
If a HART devices is polled but does not respond, or errors are detected, the HM modem can retry up to 3 times before indicating a bad device. If a device is not responding the Modbus values are filled with Hart Device Failed register values – set in the Modbus configuration section.

Polled Devices

In the example screenshot (Figure 5), the HM modem is set to poll one HART device, using polling address 0, and will retry 1 time before reporting a communications error. The Device Variables (Modbus Register Values) box, on the right, displays the register values for the active polled device. Click Add Device to add a another polled HART field device. Be sure to set the Polling Address for each device. Each device must have a unique HART polling address. Polling addresses must be setup for each HART device before it can be connected to a multi-drop HART loop. HART polling address can be set from 0 to 63 (0-15 for HART rev 5). Address 0 can only be used when one device is in the HART loop. Polling addresses 16-63 should only be used with HART revisions 6 and higher. For HART revision 3-5 use addresses 1-15 for multi-drop systems.

Decimal Places

When device data is stored into a 16 bit signed Modbus register the value can range from -32768 to 32767. To allow the 16 bit integer to represent a smaller number and include fractional information, the number of decimal places is stored in a separate Modbus register and applied later. The number of decimal places can be set from 0 to 5. Decimal places can be set for each variable. The Device Variables box shows the effect of the decimal place setting. Decimal place settings are not used for the Modus floating point register values.

Modbus-RTU Setup

Modbus-RTU Settings can be accessed and changed by clicking Setup>Modbus from the top drop-down menu.

RS-485, RS-232
MicroLink-HM+ devices have a configurable serial port. To choose the port type you must be connected to the MicroLink-HM+ USB port. All other HM modems have a fixed port type.

Modbus Address
Each device on a Modbus network must have a unique slave address. Set this to match the address that your Modbus master will use to communicate with the HM modem. The Modbus address can be set to any value from 1 to 247. The HM Configurator software will discover this address as part of the connection process.

Baud Rate & Parity
The HM modems baud rate and parity must be set to the same settings as your Modbus master. If you are using the HM modem as a HART protocol modem these should be set to 1200 baud, odd parity. Click Use HART Protocol Settings to set the correct values for a HART modem.

Holding Registers Map
Accumulated data is stored in Modbus registers that are grouped or mapped by HART device or by variable type. Choose the register map that best fits your application. Register maps can be viewed using the HM Configurator software by selecting View -> Modbus Registers Maps from the top menus.

Floating Point Byte Order
Modbus 32-bit floating point numbers are stored in two consecutive 16-bit registers using the IEEE-754 standard big endian byte order (AB-CD). The most significant byte (A) is sent first. For compatibility with some modbus systems, you may need to use the word-swapped format (CD-AB).

HART Device Failed Register Value
If a polled HART device fails to respond, or has communications errors it will retry for the number of times set in the HART Protocol Settings dialog. If, after retrieval,s the device does not respond, you can choose to hold the last value, set to a preset number, or set to the IEEE-754 NaN floating point value. This can help the modbus master determine when a HART device is no longer responding.

Setup Registers

The HM modem configuration can be changed using the setup and configuration software or by writing to modbus registers using Modbus-RTU commands 6 or 16. Command 6 writes to a single register and command 16 writes to a range of modbus registers. The configuration register values are saved in nonvolatile memory and are not lost when the HM modem power is removed.

HART Settings, Register 773

773ͲHART Settings

HART Poll Interval

Write Locked

Low Supply Volts

HART Failed Mode (Bit 1)

HART Failed Mode (Bit 0)

HART Retries (Bit 1)

HART Retries (Bit 0)

0=Fill Registers, 1=HART Modem

1=Primary, 0=Secondary Master

Number of polled devices Ͳ 1 0 = 1 Polled Device (0 to 15)

Poll Interval 1 = 1 Second
- 2 = 2 Seconds
- 3 = 5 Seconds
- 4 = 10 Seconds
- 5 = 20 Seconds
- 6 = 60 Seconds

Bit 12 Write Lock 1 = Settings registers are read only, 0 = Settings registers write enabled
Bit 11 Low Supply Volts Less than 6 Volts DC Supply (MicroLink-HM+ only)

Bits 9, 8 HART failed mode 0 = Hold last value after HART retries
- 1 = Preset to register 772 value after HART retries
- 2 = Preset to IEEE-754 NaN (0 for integers)

Bits 7, 6 HART poll retries Sets number of HART device poll retries from 1 to 3. After poll retries, the HART failed mode value is stored in the variable register.
Bits 3-0 Number of polled devices -1 Range is 0 to 15. 0 = 1 polled device

Mode Settings, Register 774

774 ͲMode Settings

Device Type Code

0=AB CD float byte order, 1=CD AB

0=by Device Map, 1=by Variable Map

Modbus Status

Bits 13-10 Device Type Code 1 = MicroLink-HM
- 2 = MicroLink-HM+
- 3 = InLink-HM
Bit 9 – Floating point value byte order 0 = Standard byte order (AB – CD)
- 1 = Swapped words (CD – AB)

Bit 8 – Modbus device map 0 = Map register data by HART device
- 1 = Map register data by variable type

Serial Port Settings, Register 775

775ͲModbus Port Settings

RSͲ232/RSͲ485

1 = Odd parity

1 = Even parity

Baud (bit 3)

Baud (bit 2)

Baud (bit 1)

Baud (bit 0)

Modbus Slave Address (1Ͳ247)

Bits 14
- 0 = RS-485 Serial Port
- 1 = RS-232 Serial Port

Bits 13, 12
- 00 = No parity
- 01 = Even
- 10 = Odd
Bits 11 – 8
- 1 = 1200 Baud
- 2 = 2400
- 3 = 4800
- 4 = 9600
- 5 = 14400
- 6 = 19200
- 7 = 38400
- 8 = 57600
- 9 = 115200

Polled HART Devices Long Address Table

Device ID information is read from each polled field device using the device’s polling address and HART command 0. The reply to command 0 for each polled device is used to populate the HART long-address table. When the HM modem needs to poll for the device variables, using HART command 3, this table holds the information needed to build the 5-byte long address. Table values can be read using Modbus-RTU command 3. Only the polled device you have configured will contain valid information.

HART Device Polling Address Table
The polling address for each polled device is stored in this table. Two polling addresses in each 16 bit register. If ad- dress 0 is used then only one device can be polled and Device 1 should be set to 0. Address 0 is not valid in multi-drop systems. For HART devices with HART revision 3 through 5 you should use polling addresses 1 – 15. Addresses 16-63 require HART revision 6 or higher.

Number of Decimal Places Table
When storing the HART variable data in 16-bit modbus registers the maximum range is -32768 to 32767. To increase the possible resolution, the variable value read from the HART device is decimal position adjusted before being saved in the 16-bit register. When the register is read, the value must be corrected by the number of decimal placed to produce the correct value. The number of decimal places for each variable occupies 4-bits in the register with one register for each polled device.