Sick UM30 - Interpreting the Teutonic alphabet

[danw2]

The spec and wiring diagram are for a Sick UM30 ultrasonic distance sensor.

The wiring is Teutonic, and I'm not sure what the alphabet translates to.

I suspect
- L+ is 12-30VDC+ supply

but
- NC ? ? the binary switching output ?
- M ? ?
- QA ? ? Siemens uses Q for output. A for analog? Is Q 4-20mA (+) out?
- NC* ? ?

Any suggestions? What's common (ground)?
specs:

 

[Skogsgurra]

M is Common (Masse, ground in German).

Qa is definitely analogue output. Selectable 4-20 mA or 0-10 V.

Thought NC was NC - as usual. But possibly something else.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[VEBill]

Sick appears to have an office in Minneapolis. Many people of German descent live in Minneapolis, but they should have spec sheets in English.

http://www.sick.com/us/en-us/home/Search/Pages/results.aspx?k=UM30

The applicable spec sheet should explain the pins' functions.

Good luck.

 

[IRstuff]

English spec sheet looks the same; Sick is not known for verbose documentation.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
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[VEBill]

Here's some info in Japanese:

http://www.sick.jp/product/sensor/supersonic/reflective/UM30-213/connection.gif

I see some "PNP" and "NPN".

 

[IRstuff]

NPN and PNP refer to voltage outputs, not the current output of the OP's unit. DM30 has more than 10 different configurations.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[jraef]

Sick is not known for verbose documentation.

Understatement of the year!

I used to work for a Sick integrator, we had all kinds of issues like this, the only solution was to find a sympathetic ear at Sick in MPLS, one willing to spell it out for you in terms you can understand. One problem I have with Sick and some other German mfrs as well, is that they assume that whomever is reading their data sheets ALREADY knows what these cryptic abbreviations and/or pictograms mean. It smacks of arrogance in my opinion. Sure, we Americans have been known for it as well and I can't argue that we haven't been guilty. But my point is, we are not the only ones and while I think there has been concerted effort on the part of many (of the few remaining) American mfrs to be more freindly to a worldwide market, I don't see that happening with the same kind of emphasis, especially with German companies like Sick, Turck and Siemens. Often times when I worked for Siemens I would have to go to Siemens UK websites to get a "translated" version of instruction sheets for components. The Brits seem to understand the issue and have taken the time to "translate" the Germantechnobabblepicutergrams into something meaningful. Unfortunately, my experience with Sick is that they don't allow their UK group to publish anything different than what Germany spews out either.

Oops, was my frustration showing?

"Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum."
— Kilgore Trout (via Kurt Vonnegut)
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[IRstuff]

Nah... The only reason we didn't need to translate our Sick LDM manual was because it had an integrated display, and that's all we were interested in. Don't think we ever did figure out what the other pins in the connector were even for.

TTFN
faq731-376