The ECOM and ECOM100 modules provide a high speed Ethernet connection to the DL05, DL06, DL205 and DL405 CPUs. They provide a very fast, general purpose interface port that can be used in a variety of ways:

• All ECOM & ECOM100s can be used for PLC programming and debugging with our DirectSOFT software package.
  
  

• All ECOM & ECOM100s can also be used to provide a high speed connection for HMI software. Our own LookoutDirect has a built-in driver for the ECOMs. Our DSData Server software provides OPC and DDE connection to ECOMs for HMI software like Wonderware's InTouch.
  
  

• ECOMs can be used for high speed peer-to-peer connections between PLCs. You're no longer limited to Master / Slave networking like a serial network. Each ECOM can be a master and a slave to other ECOMs simultaneously.
  
  All of the ECOM100 versions also support Modbus/TCP in both Master and Slave configurations.
  
  

• ECOMs & ECOM100s can also be configured to send PLC data to a PC. We refer to this as 'report-by-exception'. Your PC will no longer have to poll the PLCs to collect process information, the PLC can use it's built-in RX / WX instructions to send data to the PC whenever the PLC needs to. We have a 'care package' that describe the process, it has a ladder program that sends some data, and a Visual C++ application that receives the data from the PLC and displays it on the screen.
  Download the 'report-by-exception' instructions and examples (updated 6-23-03).
   
• ECOMs & ECOM100s can be accessed across the Internet. It takes a little work because of the inherent security built into Internet access hardware. We have a document that describes how we did it here at Host. If you'd like to see it in action, we have an ECOM in a base with a DL250 and some I/O that's Internet accessible. 
  See how to configure a Link to communicate over the Internet with DirectSOFT or DSData Server.
   
• ECOM100s - when used with DirectSOFT5 and the appropriate PLC firmware - can send email messages containing embedded PLC data.
   
• An increasingly popular option is using our free Ethernet SDK (Software Developers Kit) to develop a custom driver for Visual C/C++, or Visual Basic, or any 3rd party software package. If you want to build a driver for a non-Windows system, such as Linux or Solaris, you can request the source code for the Ethernet SDK.
   
• If you're interested in using your ECOM in an inexpensive data collection and storage solution for the Automationdirect.com PLCs, be sure to check out DataWorx PLC at www.bizwaredirect.com. Utilizing a client/server approach, the DataWorx server stores the data into a comma delimited or tab delimited file of your choosing, and it does all of it with no PLC programming!
   

And the coolest thing about the ECOMs & ECOM100s is their ability to perform all of the above roles simultaneously. The other communication modules (D2-DCM, D4-DCM,etc.), can be either a mastering device or a slave device. During their installation, you designate their role by the use of dipswitches or some other configuration method, and this role cannot be changed without powering down and changing some switches. The ECOM simply examines the packets it receives and determines what action to perform based on the packet type and data, changing roles as needed, on the fly. It's way slick!!

• one ECOM (either an H2-ECOM or an H4-ECOM)
• one ECOM user manual
• one 10/100Base-T Adapter card
• a 14' CAT5 patch cable
• and one Product Showcase CD that contains demo versions of our software packages.