Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers [Paperback]

Richard A. Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0766814270 | ISBN-13: 978-0766814271 | Edition: 4

One of the most popular books available today, Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers, 4th Edition includes complete explanations, examples readers can relate to, plus a writing style well-suited to electrical students as well as journeyman and apprentice technicians, make. Its systematic approach enables readers without prior knowledge to gain a comprehensive understanding of what a programmable logic controller is, how it works, plus how it is programmed and installed. Numerous and varied troubleshooting techniques are also introduced, making this book a valuable reference for professional maintenance electricians and plant engineers. Fully updated, the fourth edition now reflects use of personal computers for programming devices, including detailed programming information on both the Allen-Bradley SLC-500 and the MicroLogix family of programmable logic controllers. Supplemental information on logic gates has also been added to assist readers in gaining an understanding of programming and the symbols used.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Cox is a Department Chair of the Electrical/Robotics Department at Spokane Community College in Spokane, Washington. He is also a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 73.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 4 edition (November 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766814270
• ISBN-13: 978-0766814271
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear and concise with practical information for beginners, October 17, 1998

By 

Larry B. (Berwyn IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers (Paperback)

I used this book to train industrial electricians and recommended it in the PLC course I designed at Coyne American Institute in Chicago in 1989. They still use the book along with a lab manual and Allen Bradley PLC's in the electrical maintenance course. I reviewed other books and felt this one was the right choice for the length of course, training level and content. It is clearly written with hardware and instruction set examples from various PLC manufacturers, troubleshooting, number systems, start-up hints and some useful general computer information. Also included is a chapter on understanding MS-DOS commands-very handy for people (a lot of them around) with no computer background except a point-and-click once in a while. The soft cover format, number of pages (372) and size make it easy to carry and throw in a brief case. If you are learning PLC's for the first time, this is a good place to start. If I was going to add anything to it for the next edition, I would include things like data highway, serial communications, remote displays and PID loop. Maybe a little more about programming details involving analog I/O would be nice.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor excuse for a PLC book, December 18, 2005

By 

rma1998 "rma1998" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers (Paperback)

This book is intended for the beginner, it has so may misprints and errors in it makes a hard subject for the beginner to an impossible one to understand! This 4th edition has many of the same misprints in it from the first edition! I would never recommend this book to anyone!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference for PLC beginners., January 14, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (industrialvb.com WA. State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Technician's Guide to Programmable Controllers (Paperback)

I used this book with great success in the course, Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers, which I developed for a leading aircraft manufacturer. This book was recommended reading prior to attending other PLC courses offered in my training business.