Babel Buster X2 User manual

User Guide for Babel Buster X2 and IP/XL
Control Solutions’ earliest gateways were non-web based, e.g. twisted pair only. User
guides many pages long were written about them. Technical support questions seemed to
suggest it was too much reading for most. Therefore, when we came out with web based
gateways, we thought it would be a good idea to put the user guide online within the device
itself. With online documentation available, we thought hard copy was unnecessary and
wasteful, so gateways like Babel Buster X2 and IP/XL had no printed user guide.
The user guide information can still be found in the web pages within the gateways
themselves and there never was a formal printed user guide for either the X2 or IP/XL.
From time to time, we created supplemental online user guides intended to augment the
pages found in the device itself. Configuring LonWorks is one topic that had extra web
pages at csimn.com; however, some years after the X2 and IP/XL were discontinued, those
pages got removed from our web site. That content has been recovered and reprinted here.
The Babel Buster IP/XL did not have the information in this document replicated for that
model in part because it is largely the same. The only difference between configuring X2
and IP/XL is that on X2 you reference Modbus registers and on IP/XL you reference BACnet
objects. But the LonWorks part is all the same.
Use of the XIF to CSV conversion utility is optional. If you choose to use that utility, it is still
available in the Legacy section of our Library page. There are two versions, one for X2 and
one for IP/XL.

Configuring the Babel Buster X2
The primary function of X2 is mapping LonWorks network variables to Modbus registers, and
do this without "binding" or network management on the LonWorks side. In the short series
of pages that follows, we will look at the sequence of actions required to "learn" a LonWorks
device and map some of its data.
When you first log into Babel Buster X2, the home or index page that appears will look like
the image below. Start by clicking the I/O Devices tab. You will be asked for a user name
and password. As shipped, the default user name is "system" and its password is "admin".
NOTE: The LonWorks interface has been rewritten as of July 2008 to provide support for
structured SNVT's. The upgrade includes a requirement to re-program the Neuron Chip, and
its application has a different program interface. This means you must have LonMaker in
order to do a field upgrade to v2.81 or higher from v2.57 or lower. The discussion on pages
that follow apply to the new v2.81 interface.
The default page that comes up when you click on the I/O Devices tab is the LonWorks
LON data tab. This page will display nothing until at least one device is configured into X2.
Click on the LON Devices tab next.

The LON Devices page shows a list of all of the presently known devices. When first
configuring the X2, this page will start with an empty list.
The devices are numbered. The device number is a link to detailed information about that
device. Click on the number one next.

The LON Device expands out to the detail shown below when a device number is clicked. At
first this page is also empty. You will go through a series of 4 steps to get the page
populated as shown below. In this example, we are "learning" about an AddMe II.
Step 1: Click the "Get Service Pin" button. Node status will show "Waiting for service pin."
Now press the service button (or install button) on the device you want to learn. Click the
Update button, and status will return to "ok" if the message was received. In addition,
Neuron ID and Program ID will now have non-zero numbers. (If you don't have physical
access to the device but do know its Neuron ID, you can type it into the list on the
LON Devices page.)

Step 2: Click the "Auto Config" button. This will reconfigure the device to be on the same
domain and subnet as X2 and also assign the next sequential node number. You find the
X2's domain and subnet at the bottom of the devices page (click Previous below). If you
want to set an explicit subnet and node, enter the values and click "Set Config".
WARNING: Using "Set Config" or "Auto Config" will break any network
connections previously put there by a system integrator. If you are adding X2 to a
managed network, you must install the X2 as a node on that network to force X2
onto the existing domain, then ONLY use "Get Config" to cause X2 to learn where
the devices are.
Step 3: Click the "Get XIF from Device" button. This process will take a minute or two.
(Note: Devices having more than the standard set of 62 network variables are not currently
supported by Babel Buster X2.) During the import, the status will indicate "Importing XIF",
and will indicate "XIF Import Done" when finished. Click the Update button to refresh this
status.
The purpose of the XIF import is to "learn" what network variables are in the LonWorks
device. If you wish to preconfigure an X2 without being connected to the LonWorks device,
you can upload its XIF file if you have that.
NOTE: The X2 is not able to import the XIF form a device which has structured network
variables. If the status comes back "Cannot import XIF" you will need to obtain the XIF file
and upload it to the X2.
You may also use the external (free) utility from Control Solutions that converts the XIF to a
CSV file, then upload the CSV file instead. The advantage of using the CSV is that you can
insert as many rows as needed to read structured UNVT's.
Step 4: (optional) Enter a name for this device and click Update to register it. Once
everything has been entered and/or learned, be sure to go to the System->Setup->Config
File page and click the Save button.
Once you have done these steps and successfully imported the XIF, click on the
LON Variables tab. (The NV count will be nonzero once the XIF import is done.)

The LON Variables page lists the network variables found in the device just learned. Initially
all of the check boxes will be unchecked, and the register number boxes will be
empty (contain zero). This is where you choose which variables you will map to which local
registers.
Start by clicking the check boxes to select the variables you want mapped. You may then
click the "Auto Allocate" button to have X2 pick registers for you. It will pick floating point or
integer registers based on what the variable type is inside the LonWorks device. You can
select registers manually if desired.
Once you have completed these steps, the variables are now mapped. Our over simplified
example below shows that we are only going to retrieve a single phase of volts, plus
frequency, from a WattNode Plus. Assuming the device is connected, you are now polling for
data. Click on the LON Data tab to go look at the data.

We return to the LON Data page, and this time it should mean something. The data is listed
on this page according to network variable position in the respective LonWorks device.
Assuming you see data as illustrated in the first screen shot below, you will also see the
data shown in the second screen shot, which you get to by clicking the System tab.

You should now save your configuration, which will include the device and network variable
mapping information. Go to the Config File page and click Save.

When you return to the X2 after a restart, or after reloading the configuration file by clicking
Load on the page above, you will now only see those variables that have been mapped for a
given device as illustrated in the examples below. If you want to retrieve the entire variable
list to map additional variables not originally included, you will need to re-import the XIF
file.