Category Archives: Smart Networks

Wireless – Forever evolving technology

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation

Wireless- it really is an amazing technology. The ability to send data from a PLC to remote I/O still surprises me, especially when customers bring a new application to me with what they want to achieve.

There have been some changes regarding our wireless portfolio which I would like to talk about today to bring you up to speed on what is available and achievable.

First, the bad news. I think you would be surprised to find anyone who does not know about the global semiconductor shortages and one of the articles that we provide has fallen victim to this, but of course we have a replacement for the item.

Our old faithful, FL WLAN 5110 is to be made obsolete with short notice. This is due to the aforementioned component shortages.

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What is Edge Computing?

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Written by Andy Ellis, Field Application Engineer – Automation & Renewables

In recent years, there has been a heavy focus on utilisation of the cloud. Using the cloud has revolutionised how people store and use their data. Everything from process data, calculated efficiency and quality for industry can be handled in the cloud.

But…

Latency, bandwidth, security, or a lack of offline access can be problematic. To solve this problem, users need robust, secure and integrated on-premise infrastructure for edge computing. Edge computing is the practice of capturing, storing, processing and analysing data near the client where it is generated!

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Power and data…wirelessly!

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security and IT Automation

With 2021 now ending, it is a great time to reflect on what we have achieved in the outgoing year. With the supply chain still suffering from the events over the last couple of years we all have found ways to adapt. Phoenix Contact, of course, has not been exempt from the current component shortages, but when customers have needed a solution from a networking point of view, in most cases, we have been able to help our customers where needed.

So, what can you expect from Phoenix Contact networking in 2022? Our most anticipated product has just been released: NearFi – with the ability of transmitting power and data in the centimetre range.

But what do I mean by this?

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Visit us at DTX Europe

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager-Cyber Security & IT Automation

Phoenix Contact are still committed to bringing the IT world into Industry and giving insight to what is needed from the IT sector and vice versa from OT.

Everyone will have access to some form of data that comes from an industrial application, even if it’s just supplies from energy companies. This data needs to be securely delivered to and from the application. These technologies are already used within IT, Edge computing, cloud technologies and Cyber Security while using Open-Source resources. The show will also be the first Introduction of PLCnext to the UK IT world!

So now that the world is getting back to normal and we can start seeing friendly faces again, we are excited to be exhibiting at DTX Europe on the 6-7th of October 2021. The show prides itself in giving customers access to the newest technologies within the world of IT. We have had great success with IPEXPO over the last few years, talking to IT companies about what can be accessed from the industrial world.  

So, come and visit us on stand B20 at the London Excel Arena on the 6-7th of October. Tony Deane and I will be happy to speak about technologies that can help your business meet the needs of many industrial applications that IT needs to be involved with.

For more information, contact Gareth Chamberlain on 07946 757375 or email gchamberlain@phoenixcontact.com

A new era for Industry Management and Automation at Phoenix Contact UK

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Written by Tony Deane, Sales and Marketing Manager- Industry Management and Automation

My new role at Phoenix Contact UK has set me many new challenges and objectives, both engineering and commercial. 

In Industry Management, it is putting a team together an Industry Management structure for

In the realm of Automation, it is maintaining a solid product management team and technical support structure in the following disciplines

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A tough switch to crack

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation

Hello again! This time instead of talking about discontinuations I’ve got some great news about new products. Looking to further strengthen our Ethernet switch offering, we produced a range of IP67 switches. They are the FL SWITCH 2600/2700 and they really extend what we can offer to you as a package.

The switches are produced using the FL SWITCH 2000 firmware, it is a tried and tested firmware with application successes across the country and around the globe. The housing is a zinc die cast wall mountable design making it rugged and impact resistant in heavy work areas. It can be connected using traditional M12 connections or Phoenix Contact’s M12 Push/Pull connectors. Power connections can be daisy chained to another switch reducing the need for a 24v PSU on each device and making your network more flexible.

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The end of an era, the sun is setting on SFN.

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security and IT Automation

Sometimes there is a product that is just there and has always been there. You think this product will last forever. But, alas, nothing lasts forever. The FL SWITCH SFN family came into the Phoenix Portfolio in 2011 and has been an incredible success since then, with Phoenix Contact becoming the market leader of unmanaged switches in the Industrial sector in 2015 and kept on growing year on year. So, as you can imagine, these switches have found themselves in all sorts of applications all around the world.

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Phoenix Contact loves to test its own products

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation

Last year we set a goal of self-reflection and a task to get to know our products more. Sure, reading a manual can really give insight into how it works and what it does, but they do not explain the little details of a product that might be interesting as a feature, or as a little undocumented step.

One product I chose to work on was the Radioline– can we setup a point to point network that is a little more extreme then just a flat area with two points? We have done tests before for customers, but never 400m up and broadcasting into the beautiful city of Shrewsbury.



So, I recruited two of my colleagues Andy Neat and Matt Lee. The Dynamic duo would travel to Shrewsbury in search of a place to setup and broadcast from their side. While Darren Hack and I would climb the Wrekin to setup the Radioline master. Take a look at the results in the video below.

Radioline is a radio transceiver solution allowing point to point, star and mesh networks to be built. This then can broadcast the following I/O types

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WLAN- the retrofit revolution

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & Automation

Over the last year, other than staring at four walls of the home office, we have seen a lot of retrofit projects come to us to help to bring older technology up to date. Most common needs are to replace serial systems with an ethernet based topology. The most common product family that comes up in applications is the FL WLAN 2100 and the FL WLAN 5110 to create a wireless cable replacement of what was the serial communication.

The most common application is retrofitting communications to overhead cranes. These faithful work horses play such a crucial role in everyday production that there is no leeway for a critical piece of equipment to be down due to component failure. A lot of maintenance departments spend thousands on spares that are depleting at an alarming rate due to obsolescence or the OEM that commissioned the crane originally simply does not exist anymore.

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Introducing the Smart Camera Box

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation

Many of you might be thinking “Wait, what?” Yes, a Smart Camera box! Then people have asked if Phoenix Contact is entering into the Security Industry? Well that’s a yes and a no.

Phoenix Contact had a lot of success in the Building Management System (BMS) industry. Where we have seen many great applications using many of our well known and trusted products. For example, our managed switches and fibre Splicing technologies. Also, with the rise of usage of PoE, customers have been trying to make their networks a lot more efficient.

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