How to Connect an Electronic Balance or

Scale to a PC and Read Weight Values

Directly into Excel

Most electronic scales and laboratory balances have an RS232 (Serial) or a USB port however no instructions are normally provided to show you how to correctly connect it to your PC or how to input weight values directly into programs like Excel or Access. The steps below will show you how to connect your scale to a PC and identify what port the scale is connected to and also how to input weight readings directly into Microsoft Excel. The only things that you will need are an appropriate cable that connects from the scale to your PC and a Windows program called a "Software Wedge". In this example, we will use a product called BC-Wedge from TAL Technologies, Inc.. Note: This tutorial assumes that your scale or balance has a "Print" button that will transmit weight values to a PC. Most scales and balances do have one although it may not be marked clearly. You may need to read the users manual for the scale or contact its manufacturer to learn exactly how it works. If your scale does not have a Print button, it does not necessarily mean that you cannot send weight data to a PC. It means that you probably need a more advanced software wedge like the WinWedge product from TAL Technologies.

Step 1: Identifying USB Cable Connectors

If your scale has a USB

connection then you would need

to determine what connector is

on the scale. The USB ports on a

PC are always Type A USB ports

therefore if your scale has a Type

B USB port, you would need to

get a USB cable that has a Type A

connector on one end and a Type

B connector on the other. Shown

above are the most common USB

ports found on most scales and

balances along with pictures of the connectors that fit the ports.

Important Note: If your scale has a USB connector then it should come

with a device driver that you will need to install in Windows in order for

the scale to show up as a standard COM port in Windows. Sometimes

this device driver is supplied on a CD that comes with the scale and

sometime you need to download the driver from the manufacturer's

web site. If your scale has a USB connection but does not come with a

driver or if you fail to install the driver, then it will not be possible to

read in data from the scale using off-the-shelf software tools (like the

BC-Wedge software wedge) and you will need to contact the scale's

manufacturer to find out what software tools they have that you can

use.

Step 2: Identifying RS232 Cable Connectors

If your scale has a RS232 port, it will

usually be located on the back of the

Weighing scale Indicator and it should

look like one of the ports shown above.

It is more common for a scale to have

either a 9-Pin male connector or a 25-

Pin female connector. Serial ports found

on the back of a PC will always be

either 9-Pin Male or 25-Pin female.

Almost all PCs built in the past 10 years

that have serial ports will have 9-Pin

male ports and usually only very old

PCs will have 25-Pin serial ports. If you

need to connect a 9-Pin cable to a 25-

Pin port or if you need to connect a 25-

Pin cable to a 9-Pin port, you can purchase 9 to 25 pin adapters at most

computer or office supply stores or on Amazon.com for under $10.00.

Just make sure that you match male and female connections correctly.

RS232 cables come in two varieties called "Modem Cables" and "Null

Modem Cables". Modem cables have the wires in the cable running

straight through and Null Modem cables have the transmit and receive

lines crossed in the cable. Most scales will typically connect to a PC

using a Null Modem cable however there are exceptions. One way to

make sure that you have all your options covered is to purchase a "Null

Modem Adapter". A Null Modem Adapter is a small connector that slips

in line with the cable and crosses the transmit and receive lines. A Null

Modem Adapter will convert a Null Modem Cable to a Modem Cable

and a Modem Cable to a Null Modem cable. They are also available on

Amazon.com or at any office supply store for under $10.00.

Step 3: RS232 To USB Converter Cables

If your scale has a RS232 port but your PC only has USB ports, you can

purchase a RS232 to USB converter cable at any computer or office

supply store for under $25.00. The best ones use either FTDI or Prolific

chipsets. Amazon.com also sells them for around $10.

All RS232 to USB converter cables require a driver to be installed in

Windows in order for the cable to work. Typically the driver is provided

on a CD with the cable and you normally install the driver first before

you connect the cable to your PC for the first time.

Step 4: Determining the COM Port Number

On most PCs that have a single built in COM port,

the port will appear to Windows as COM1 however

this is not always the case. If your scale uses a USB

connection or if you are using a RS232 to USB

converter, you will need to determine the COM port

number that the device is connected to. The best

way to do this is to look in the Windows Device

Manager in the section labeled "Ports (COM &

LPT)". This section will contain a list of all COM ports

that are installed on your PC.

Note: If your scale connects directly to a USB port or

if you are using a RS232 to USB converter, make

sure that the scale or the converter is connected to

the PC and that it's device driver is installed before

looking in the Device Manager.

Step 5: Download and Run the BC-Wedge Software

Once you know the COM port that the scale is connected to, you can download the BC-Wedge

software Setup program from the TALtech.com web site using the following URL:

www.taltech.com/files/demos/BC-Wedge.zip

The file is a ZIP file so you will need to save it to a folder on your PC and then extract its

contents using the Windows File Explorer and then run the Setup.exe program that was

extracted from the ZIP file. After you install BC-Wedge, run it and select the COM port for your

scale from the COM Port drop down list in the main BC-Wedge window.

The BC-Wedge software was primarily designed to input data from a bar code scanner however

it can also be used with most scales and balances. TALtech has a full line of Software Wedge

products that have much more advanced features than what are available in the BC-Wedge

program. You can learn more at: www.taltech.com/winwedge

For the purpose of this tutorial, BC-Wedge should work just fine.

Step 6: Running the BC-Wedge Software and Selecting the Communications

Settings

Now that you have your scale connected to your PC, the next step is to determine

the serial communications parameters that the scale uses. The very best way to

do this is to either look in the scale's user's manual or contact it's manufacturer.

You will need to know the Baud Rate, the Parity setting, the number of Data Bits,

and the number of Stop Bits. In order for your PC to communicate with your

scale, the settings that you select in the BC-Wedge software must exactly match

the settings that your scale uses. (The "Flow Control" option and the "Scanner

Beep String" can be ignored.)

To enter the serial communications settings in BC-Wedge, you would click on the

"Settings" option in the BC-Wedge main menu. This will display the window

shown above where you would enter the communications settings.

Note: You do not have to change any serial communications parameters in the

Windows Device Manager. The parameters that you select in the BC-Wedge

software (or any other software) will always override any parameters set in the

Device Manager.

Step 7: Testing the Connection to the Scale

If you have the correct communications parameters set in the BC-Wedge

software, you should be able to see a weight reading in the text box labeled

"Input Data From Scanner" when you press the Print button on your scale. The

image above shows typical data from a scale. If no data appears after you press

the print button then you may have the wrong COM port selected. If data appears

but is garbled or completely unreadable then you have the right COM port but the

wrong serial communications parameters selected. You may need to experiment

with different settings until you see data that looks correct. Try setting the

Number Of Data Bits to "7", and the Parity to "Even" and then try each different

Baud Rate until you see data that contains weight values that match what is on

the scale's display.

Step 8: Inputting Weight Values to Cells in Excel

Once you are able to see data appear correctly in BC-

Wedge, leave it running in the background and launch

Microsoft Excel and put the cursor in a cell where you

want your weight values to go and press the Print button

on the scale. If everything is working correctly, you

should see the weight value appear in Excel. BC-Wedge

works by tricking your PC into behaving as if the data

coming in the COM port is coming in from a keyboard.

Because of this, you should be able to send weight values

directly into any program that you can type data into -

including database programs, shipping software, or just

about any other Windows program.

Note: If you want just the weight values (without leading

spaces or the units) to be stacked in a column in Excel

automatically each time you press the Print button,

check the checkbox labeled "Filter Out Non Numeric

Characters" and select the word "{DOWN}" from the

"Postamble Keystrokes" dropdown list in the BC-Wedge

window. You can learn about other features available in

the BC-Wedge program by selecting Help - Index from

the BC-Wedge main menu.

Resources by :

Umatech Scales Tirupur

about.me/umatechscales.tirupur

39,K.P.N Colony,5th Street,

Tirupur - 641 601,Tamil Nadu,India.

Call : +91- 82205 72205, 0421-6052205

Email : info@umatech.in, umatechscales@gmail.com

Web : www.umatech.in

www.industrialweighingmachines-manufacturer.com

Great Job! Finally You Got it !! Great Chance to Contact RIGHT Weighing

Company...

As we are the Real Fabricators & Manufacturer of Weighing Scales, we supply

Weighing Scales & Fabrications at Any Size, Any Capacity & Any Design with

International Standard of Quality @ Best Prices in Industry.

http://umatech.in/about.html