The Hardware Report

In the last year, I wrote extensively about Reports but didn’t discuss the Hardware Report in detail. The Hardware Report in CBAS can be a useful tool in building automation, from troubleshooting to estimating. In many cases, technicians and engineers will print these reports for each controller and place them inside the panel containing the controller.

This can help with troubleshooting because you can easily know which terminals\wires connect to which sensor or relay. When estimating an add-on to a job, the report can help you to know what equipment the controllers are controlling and how many points are available on the controller in case something needs to be added. You can also get the number and types of controllers that are on RS485 sub-channels along with the points that are programmed on them.

To access the Hardware Report, go to the Reports tab on the Main Menu and select Hardware Report. You will see the following:

The first option you are given is to include or hide software points, which might not be needed when troubleshooting. Including them is default and can make the report much longer.

The next choice is also the default and that is to show All Controllers in the report. First, there is a cover page then the controllers are shown one by one. The report shows the IP address of the controller. Next is the list of Hardware Points in numerical order, showing point number, point type configuration, and point name. See example:

After Hardware Points are the Software Points that are not numbered. Then come the “Child Controllers”, which are things like VAV-Bs and MN-S3 stats that reside “on controller”.

Next are the BASNet and OPTO Channels which contain Computrols Controllers such as our VAV-B’s and UNI-C’s. They are listed in order by their serial address and they include child S3 stats attached to UNIs. Finally, there are the 3rd party protocol controllers like BACnet and Modbus.

The next option you have is to only include Controllers from a selected Channel. When you check the box, a pop-up listing the channels will appear for you to select. This is a good way to do the report if you only have a project on one floor and you need to know what you already have there.

The next option for the report is to include only a specific Controller. When you select this option, you will have to first select the Channel that the Controller is on, then select the Controller.

The final option is the Controller Tree. The first part of that report is the cover page that lists the number of each type of controller in the database, including BACnet and Modbus Generic, and other third-party controllers. See example:

The rest of the report does not show points, but shows channels starting with the TCP\IP Controller Channel. It shows each controller and its Child controllers, giving you info about what is installed in each part of the building. This can be helpful in estimating new jobs, especially when the job requires demolishing a floor.