# Protocol Port

To make changes to your Industrial Network configuration, either connect to or work off-line with the desired RTU. Select Devices from the Configuration menu.

In the tabbed dialog box labeled "Device Settings" select the Protocol Port tab:

Protocol – Allows you to choose either Modbus or Ethernet. If Modbus is chosen then proceed to configure the other settings on the page starting with setting up Baud Rate and following the remaining steps as described here. If instead you have an Ethernet RACO device, when choosing Ethernet, the following screen appears and you must configure the network using an external tool as shown in this image:

Run the RACO IPConfig application by selecting the “Ethernet Configuration” Button

The RACO IPConfig tool runs independently of Alarmware and search the network to find the RACO Autodialers that are present in the network. (To note: The RACO IPConfig program can be downloaded at racoman.com website. Start the program and the main window will be opened

The program scans the network for RACO Gateway Ethernet modules. The settings can be configured manually or the DHCP function can be used. For the RACO Gateway Ethernet modules DHCP is activated by default. To change the settings manually, double click on the desired module and enter the desired IP-settings as seen below.

Note: The RACO IPConfig tool is able to locate all the RACO Ethernet Autodialers in the network. There is no need to have the Autodialers in the same subnet to be discovered.

Setting up Modbus Protocol

- Baud Rate – The default is 9600.
- Parity – The default for Net 1 is Even.
- Node Address -- The default Node Address used by the RTU for Modbus protocol is 1.
- Comm Alarm Delay – The Communication Alarm Trip Delay Timer determines the length of time a network channel must continuously detect a communications failure before tripping a communication failure alarm. Default is 200.0 seconds. A suitable value is generally about twice the network scan time. Scan time is strongly dependent upon the total number of active channels being scanned. You can read this network scan time while online with the RTU by selecting the Diagnostics menu item and checking only the box "Net Diagnostics Summary Report". Scroll to the area of the report on Modbus Port, and read the scan time.
- Application Timer – This is the length of time the RTU will wait for another node to respond to any command. Default is 0.2 seconds.
- Transmit Delay -- Polls for each channel on the network will be spaced at least this many seconds apart. This is useful for preventing the RTU from causing network congestion. The transmit delay parameter specifies the possible delay which can be interposed between the end of one transaction and the start of the next transaction (by the RTU). Default is 0.0 seconds.
- Clear All -- The Clear All button returns all parameters to their factory defaults.
- Clear Item-- The Clear Item button restores current field to its default setting.