WinModbus

A computer is the brain of an entire operation in which multiple devices and machine take part. Special types of connections need to be established for devices other than your phone or media player, and with the help of applications like WinModbus, you can keep an eye on modbus ports, decode incoming messages, and set up replies.

On the visual side of things, the application makes it quite easy to get the hang of it. The main window is split into several sections so you can easily keep an eye on the list of functions, any messages that get detected, replies to send, as well as a message box with a breakdown of info sent by the source.

Before trying out the set of features, you might want to pay a visit to the setup panel in order to configure comm details. A small window shows up, letting you select the type of modbus like TCP, RTU, or ASCII, as well as the corresponding address. You can pick from either a network or serial connection, and a corresponding set of details becomes available right after selection, so you can specify network port, serial port, parity, stop bits, and a few more.

The application comes with a list of predefined functions, already configured to common types of connection. All these values can be modified, and you can even customize the order, and types of rules to allow in the project.

Messages are automatically detected and displayed if connection details are properly configured. By default, the application replies with the 0 (zero) value to all requests. However, there’s the possibility to manually add an address set, so the application treats each port individually, with an option to set reply value as well.

If things don’t quite go according to plan, you might want to take a look at the function range, and if none suit your needs, the list can be replaced, or you can edit entries on the spot. Read and write functions can be set up for coils, regs, floats, and doubles. In case you’re interested in analysis of the whole process, you can have a log file automatically saved to your PC.

To be fair, you don’t always use all communication ports on your computer, but when you do, it’s best to be prepared, and with WinModbus, handling modbus comms becomes an easy task. The clean interface lets you keep an eye on all incoming and outgoing details, with intuitive setup prompts for address ranges and functions, as well as an option to save operation info to file for later analysis.