Newsletter August 2007

Aspex – SCADA software

Abbey Systems is pleased to announce the release of Aspex, our NEW Graphical User Interface. The initial release includes all the features you liked in TM, i.e. simplicity and ease of use, but has a host of new features to make this package even more versatile and appealing and a strong competitor in the Telemetry market.

These include much improved trending, multiple embedded screens, the ability to import graphics screens from other sources and a new optional feature we call Tags and Notes. A Tag or Note can be attached to any I/O point on a screen to either display information relevant to that point or prohibit its operation, in the case of a Tag. Tags and Notes allow you to manage your SCADA system and its assets in an easy, intuitive manner.

Powercat RTU

Abbey Systems is also pleased to announce the release of our NEW Substation RTU. We’ve named this Powercat as a big brother to our popular Topcat RTU.

The heart of the new product is the Powercat Communicator (above) which replaces two old Powerlink modules, the Communicator and Serial IO module, performing both functions in one NEW module. While Powercat is still modular, like its predecessor, it uses a significantly faster Processor and introduces features previously available as options only or not available at all.

The NEW communicator architecture allows us to fit either serial cards or modems into the rear of the new module to communicate with serial relays and other devices in a substation.

Other features include:

• IP port for ethernet connectivity
• Alarm Relay Output
• Tamper and Inhibit Inputs
• 1 serial card fitted RS-232/RS-485
• 3 spare slots for future expansion

All existing Powerlink modules are to be converted to the Powercat style and will work with Powercat. Existing Customer sites fitted with Powerlink Communicators can be upgraded to Powercat.

Call for pricing today.

Powerlink GPS Receiver & IRIG-B Signal Testing, by Graeme Clover

Abbey Systems manufactures a GPS based Time Sync module used to synchronise the time of RTU and protection relays at electrical substations. Without a portable IRIG-B clock available, it might be thought difficult to test the IRIGB output of the GPS Receiver module. However, a simple solution is probably readily available.

If you connect the IRIG-B signal to the Powerlink Communicator (PLCOMM / Serial Communicator PLSCOMM / Powercat PLXCOMM) Time / Sync input, you can easily test the IRIG-B signal quality.

For the Powerlink Communicator / Powercat, the front panel yellow LED (labeled “Sync”) will display: flash (high accuracy) / steady (medium accuracy) / out - no IRIG-B signal, etc.

For the Powerlink Serial Communicator (and the other two units as well), you can also prove the IRIG-B Time Sync signal input by observing the state of the Builtin Status Brrr 013 "Time Sync Faulty (on) / OK (off)" (for a Powerlink RTU, set the no. of Builtins to 14).

These 2 tests will take a little time to indicate a loss of the Time Sync (IRIG-B) signal input after the loss occurs, so it is best to first check the Time Sync input Failed, then connect the IRIG-B signal to the input and check the Time Sync input is now OK.

The time to respond to a loss of Time Sync input depends on the RTU's "Time" page settings (go to Powerlink RTU Setup <Alt-X> screen and click on the “Time” button), and the setting of:

- Preferred Time Source - enter "sync" (is "blank" by default);

- the "Timeout on time setting" field (is "30 mins" by default). Suggest set to a minimum 1 min and <Reload Parameters>, for the purposes of this test. Restore to a suitable value after the test is completed.

SCADA Master Operating System - Microsoft Vista

Microsoft recently launched their new operating system Vista and PC hardware is now available with early versions of it loaded. XPP is still available and the hardware is less expensive than that needed for Vista. At present we see no advantage in Vista over XPP as long as security updates keep flowing for XPP. There are many potential disadvantages with Vista that we are not yet in a position to fully evaluate and have no plans to migrate to Vista internally before MS forces us to. So most in-house testing will still be done under XPP for quite some time yet.

We recommend that customers stay with XPP at least until their IT departments refuse to support it any longer.

New Staff Members

We welcome Len Chisholm to the staff of Abbey Systems. Len comes to us from the Wellington branch of Navman and is currently working on IP networking for the Swampfox and Powercat RTUs.

He is a keen train and motorsports enthusiast and has pursued his passion all over the globe, from the steam-hauled industrial systems of China to the Old Patagonian Express in Argentina. He’s planning a trip later this year to Ecuador and Colorado.

New Zealand Daylight saving changes – coming soon!

Recent New Zealand Government legislation has changed the start and finish times for NZ daylight saving. This year daylight saving will commence on Sunday 30 September 2007, and end on 6 April 2008.

The biggest impact this will have is to the SCADA PC time which effects data in the event files and any subsequent use this data is put to. Microsoft will be supplying updates for XPP (not W2K) that will be distributed in the normal fashion in August 2007. However a large number of SCADA PCs running Powerlink software do not have a connection to the Microsoft Internet update site, nor an internal update server and will therefore need to be manually updated before the change occurs. This is where we can help.

For customers with current support contracts. Over the next 4 or 5 weeks we will be contacting you and with your permission, applying the necessary patch.

For customers without support contracts this patch is available from us on request at support@abbey.co.nz

Abbey Systems Training Courses

Most of the May training courses we hosted at the factory were fully booked and as a result some customers missed out. This year however, we will be running another set of courses at the beginning of November. Registrations are open now. Dates and prices (NZ$) are;

These courses include a catered lunch.

Abbey Systems reserve the right to reschedule or cancel any course due to insufficient course numbers or for any other reason.

New Zealand Water and Wastes Association Annual conference and trade show

The NZWWA is hosting its annual conference in Rotorua this year, at the newly opened Rotorua Energy Events Centre, 19 - 21 September.

Abbey Systems have been attending these shows for the 8+ years I've been involved. We will again have a presence at the conference (stand #1) and Lester, Leonie and I look forward to seeing you there.

Several customers have expressed an interest in looking at the new Rotorua DC sewerage telemetry system. This is a Swampfox / iFix project upgrading 65 pump stations in the RDC network over the last two years. Practical completion was reached 9 August this year with all upgrades done. If you are interested please give me a call so that the necessary arrangements can be made with Rotorua DC staff.

This year we will also be demonstrating our newly launched SCADA software package Aspex^TM at the show.

See you there

Steve Dorrington

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Powerlink software - Houskeeping

A recent spate of support calls highlights for us the importance of customers removing or archiving old versions of Powerlink software, once they have been superseded. Dial in versions are the most obvious overlooked, as it's easy to say "no problem I'll update them later". But later always arrives when it's inconvenient and you're unable to dialin to investigate the problem. Don't forget to update the Local Master software on the Techies’ laptops too if they have this option.

To successfully dial into your SCADA system will require the same version and date software as is running at the SCADA Master. Create a directory called Archive and throw old UA.CFG, dial and LM copies in there. Please ensure any staff installing or maintaining equipment in the field for your company are issued with new versions of software when you receive them.

Ready for a Disaster?

We often get asked by customers how they should ensure they are well prepared for an unexpected disaster. As each client’s SCADA environment differs there is no copybook answer, however here are some suggestions we can make.

These should be ready to go without any extra special configuration or programming required and kept in a location, which everyone knows about. Instruction sheets should be prepared showing how these critical items are to be installed.

Abbey Systems allows customers to keep a backup copy of the Powerlink software on a separate PC, Laptop or Server for Disaster recovery purposes. This backup should be available from a Desktop shortcut on the PC that will be used as the SCADA Backup Master PC. Remember to regularly copy the relevant PL files to the backup and practise changing over to the backup so that it becomes second nature.

Powerlink can also be scheduled to automatically create its own backup files onto another PC Drive or Server, using Quick Reports. Ideally this should be to a backup SCADA PC, which saves doing it manually.

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