Note: This product has been superseded by Model M1588D to allow for more features in the software.

The Maxiflex M1588 Single Harwell NIM is an Omniflex product designed to communicate with the Canberra-Harwell range of radiological monitoring instruments, namely the AB96, iCAM and G64. The term ‘Single’ is used to indicate that the NIM has a single serial port to differentiate it from dual serial port versions. The Harwell NIM is not available in a dual serial port version.

The Harwell AB96 monitor is an alpha / beta monitor. The iCAM is a newer Harwell offering which effectively replaces the AB96. The G64 is a gamma monitor. A mixture of these monitor types can be accommodated by the NIM on the same network.

A typical system may consist of one or more Harwell NIMs each connected to one or more monitors. A multi-drop, 2 or 3 wire RS485 network is used to connect the NIM (Host) to the monitors (Slaves). The number of monitors that may be connected to one NIM is limited by the NIM configuration but in practice the limit is more likely to be physical. Assuming that cable meeting RS485 specifications is used a maximum cable run of 1km is permitted.

All data is accessible by a SCADA, DCS or PLC via the Maxiflex system CPU through a 4000 register Data Interchange Table. All system configuration data and dynamic data can be read and written through this convenient table interface.

Using the supplied Omniset configuration utility, advanced polling schemes may be easily set up without the need for programming. All polling and communications processing is performed in the module, unloading the Maxiflex CPU module for the more important system tasks such as control and SCADA communications.

Through the use of network routing capability built into the Conet/s protocol, this NIM may form part of a larger network of networks, passing data seamlessly across different network segments transparently to the supervisory computer.