In industrial facilities, engineers and technicians are often tasked with configuring or troubleshooting HART devices that are sometimes installed in remote or hazardous locations. Traditionally, this means walking out to the field with a handheld communicator or temporarily connecting to transmitter wiring from a control room or instrument panel location. This manual approach is not only time-consuming and inefficient, but it also increases risk and limits continuous access to valuable HART diagnostic data.
While many facilities use PC-based asset management tools or device configuration software like PACTware for advanced HART communication, bridging those tools to HART field devices typically requires complex networking or dedicated multiplexers, introducing extra hardware, integration headaches, and cost.
With HART Tunneling through the HES HART to Ethernet Gateway System, these challenges can be solved by enabling direct, remote access to HART field devices from any HART-capable application on a PC such as PACTware.
With HART tunneling, users can send read/write HART commands over Ethernet directly to a wired HART device connected to the HES. Acting as a gateway, the HES transparently transfers HART packets between Ethernet and the HART loop, eliminating the need for field visits or other specialized hardware. This allows facilities to configure, calibrate, or monitor HART instruments without leaving the control room, local plant intranet, or from anywhere in the world via a secure Ethernet connection.
To tunnel HART data through the HES, users will need to use a Virtual Serial Port (VSP) software application on their PC. The VSP creates a virtual COM port that HART applications can connect to. Users then configure the VSP to point to the IP address of the HES.
Once set up, any HART packets sent by the HART host software application are transmitted via Ethernet to Channel 1 of the HES (for four-channel HES models, tunneling is supported on Channel 1 only). From there, the HART field device(s) receives the command and responds, with the data transmitted back through the HES to the HART PC application in real-time.
Key Benefits of the HES with HART Tunneling:
- Remote Configuration: Easily configure, calibrate, or monitor HART devices from a PC without required trips to the field
- Software Compatibility: Compatible with HART-capable PC software applications like PACTware or other asset managers
- Reduced Downtime: Rapidly troubleshoot or update HART devices without disrupting operations
- Cost-Effective Alternative: Using HART Tunneling with the HES means no need for expensive HART multiplexers
If you’d like to talk to sales or request a quote, call us at 1 (800) 999-2900 in the US and Canada or +1 (818) 894-7111 and select 1 for Sales, or send us an email via our online form.
