What are you using for Data Collection and analysis? What does the future hold for this industry. If you had to buy 12 data collectors today...who would you go with? and why? What is more important? Support, quality, ease of use?

Your thoughts....

Question:
What brand of Data Collector/Software Suite are you using?

Choices:
Commtest-Vb3000/Asent
Rockwell-EnPac/Odyssey
CSI-2130/RbMware
SKF-Micrlog/?
DI-DI225/?

 

Mr. Reliability,

If you want to get some real responses, you had better identify yourself and state your reasons for asking.

"None of the above" seems to be missing from the form.

Seems to be missing some of the major options too...


Jon
Spintelligent Labs

quote:

If you want to get some real responses, you had better identify yourself and state your reasons for asking.

Well Mr. Harvey....I do want some "real" responses....so....

I own a small predictive maintenance company and am looking to move from the old Entek line of equipment to "the latest and greatest"....I thought it would be interesting to find out what the general consensus of opinion is out there in the real world. Nothing sinister going on here.....are you afraid to make known what equipment you use to do your job? and it so...why?

Are there any other major player in the collector/software industry that I have missed?

If so...please add them to you post.....If you are in the "none-of-the-above" cat. please just list your preference.

Thanks....I'm sure that there are others that are curious what is being used out there.

Mr. Reliability,

I'm not afraid to say what kind of equipment I use if I know who I am talking to nor am I afraid to identify myself. Seeing that you are still unwilling to do so, you must not need my opinion.

use CSI.

Reason: simplicity of use. But that might be because I have used it for so long.

Quality is great.

Support might be lacking a little now compared to the day I began using them so many years ago, but then again they might be as good as the others as far as support goes in this day and age we live in. No one can tell unless they have all the brands to compare all to.

Future Holds: Seems to be getting a little crowded, so maybe this will drive down the prices, but you always get what you pay for, well most of the time. High cost doesn't mean it is always the best in anything just like low cost doesn't mean it is the worst.

But to buy "12" units, WOW! Now that is not small.

Ralph,

Thanks for the great reply....I have used Entek/IRD equipment for over 23 years...I'm real familiar with it and have gotten comfortable....I recently started the inquiry process into buy new equipment and software and have found that since the whole sales of Entek has been pushed off onto Allen Bradley....well frankly...no ones knows anything....I've spent weeks on the phone and get pushed from one agent to another....and try to talk to your local AB rep...forget it...they never heard of an EnPac or Emonitor. I am therefore real worried about buying from them anymore for fear of little or no customer support.

I have heard that CSI makes a great box, but the RBM ware is not great....I guess if I could get the 2130 and the Emonitor to marry I'd have the perfect system???

Thanks much....ya'll have a great and safe day.

Chuck Frishcorn....(that's for paranoid Danny)

There are a host of vendors you left out from simple to complex. Rarely does anyone mention RTA's, Ono Sokki, HP, B&K, Dactron, etc...

In the data collector world there are very large number to choose from according to your need mostly.

But you started with a poll limiting choices and your motive. An unknown relative speaking and then insulting to others. A good way to win friends and influence people.

And now comes the name-calling. Well done.

Mr. Reliability
This forum is very open and very friendly.The people here will go to great lengths to help anybody who requires help.But I am sure you will agree that before you divulge any inforamtion to anyone regarding YOUR!! business you would at the very least like to know their name and purpose for their inquiry.It is kind of like walking up to someone and reaching into their pocket grab the wallet just to find out their name. This is a very personable board please keep it that way and you will recieve all the info you require. I use CSI and like Ralph I find it easy to use.The new 2130 took a little getting used to but it is feature rich and if you can grasp onto all this you have a box that will exceed and excell in every way. The software does have it's share of glichs but then again what program does not have gremlins? The support factor I personally have not had any real issues with and our Rep is prompt and knowledgeable and continues to grow along with the technologies being presented.I hope this is what you where looking for and that the slight growl you recieved was an eye opener that will detere you from the poll.

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Harvey:
And now comes the name-calling. Well done.

Well, you started it.

What the fuss about using:
* a nickname like Mr. Reliability, Darth Eugene Vader, or Vibeguy2004?
versus
* using real names like Josh, Vee, Rui Assis, or Danny Harvey.

Besides how can I (or even Terry) assure that someone around here who signs as John is in the real life "John" or "Richard"?

If a member chooses to leave his identity private, we shall respect it.

Eugene,

I think Lee expressed it very well. I like to know who I am talking to. It is my preference and shouldn't be of concern to you. If you want to contribute to the discussion, be my guest.

Sorry to interrupt, only pointing out that a message over the internet saying "I am Robert Smith" does not provides me more assurance than a message saying "I am PM Master or XYZ123".

A good point. I'll bet you are not the real Darth Vader, either.

To All,
My heart goes out to any of you using RBM ware. There is a reason why a software package ought to use a standard, of the shelf, supported database engine. RBM illustrates all of the reasons why that is such a good idea. I put my CSI stuff on the shelf 7 years ago and never looked back. In fairness to 'lack of support' from the suppliers, it seems like the walk around data collector world has joined the world of the 'mundane'. It is true that going through 'distribution' is horrible. They take a name and a number, pass it on for the company to do all the work and then say 'pay me'. If you have stayed current with your Odyssey software, I can't imagine a better product for the job.
Hey Dan, lighten up. You either answer the man's questions or not. No one forced you to answer. As for everyone on the board, it's up to them as well. Do you think I have any better information on anyone on the board (that I don't know personally) other than their name, or handle and where they work?

quote:

have heard that CSI makes a great box, but the RBM ware is not great....I guess if I could get the 2130 and the Emonitor to marry I'd have the perfect system???

Sounds like you really like the Emonitor software, huh?
I have never seen it, so I can't comment on it, but RBMware is not really all that bad IMO. I have ran the Ascent software and as far as simplicity goes, CSI is hands down better for me in analyzing, but there are some features in Ascent that I would like to see in RBM and some of RBM's in Ascent. But that is just me.

I really like the simply display of RBMware on spectrums and waveforms and trend plots. Seems like everything is so easy to locate at a simply glance, like rpm, overall values, date, how the data was collected, measurement point names, machine names, labels, Etc. But cost is the main controlling factor in chosing what to go to, at least so it seems, and CSI is good but expensive.

OH! BTW! I don't have any ties to CSI, just like their tools.

Have a great week end.

Be gone on a training venture next week so I might not be visiting the board. So everyone have a great week.

For a reason I do not know my Force Choke, telekinesis power, and ability to contact and talk to others at long distance without transmitters are not working anymore. Seems like The Force is not operating in this galaxy. .

Ron,

How many times have you seen a post of this type from an anonymous source that turned out to be an equipment supplier doing market research? If Mr. Reliability had identified himself and his intentions appropriately (as he has now done) he probably would have gotten many more responses, including mine. Also note that no one provided any information until after he showed that his intentions were honorable.

But now, your comments about RBMWare have forced me to enter my opinion anyway. I regulary use both RBMWare and Oddyssey and have the opposite opinion as you. I don't see any comparison between the two, but I see RBMWare as far superior. You say there is a reason why a software package should use a standard, off the shelf database engine. How does RBMWare show that? I know very little about a database program, either standard or whatever RBMWare uses, but know that it is much easier to change data values in Odyssey and suspect that is what you are referring to. If you dump a reading to the computer in error with RBMWare, it is a real pain to correct, but just a bunch of easy changes with Odyssey. It is very likely that is because I understand the use of RBMWare better than Odyssey. The fault frequency displays in Plot Data in RBMWare is reason enough for me to stick with it. Trying to track faults in complex drive systems in Odyssey is just like it's namesake, a long journey. Maybe it's because I learned on RBMWare (really on IRD 7090, but that doesn't count), but I don't see any of the analysis or data collections advantages in Odyssey that are in RBMWare/2120-2 or Consultant. BTW, what is the current version of Odyssey? I havn't used the 2130, so I can't comment on it. Unless Entek/IRD/Rockwell/Allen Bradley has come up with something new, I would stick with CSI/Emerson/whoever or look elsewhere.

Chuck,

I don't know what I'd do if I were a long time IRD user. It seems like they have become a division of Rockwell that no one wants, but I'm not sure that is much different than CSI/Emerson. Do a search of this forum and you will find a recent conversation that included comments about trial times of up to 6 months for 1 unit. If you are looking to buy 12, then you should have enough clout to get some good trial terms.

Good Luck,

Paranoid Danny