Time. It flies. It stands still. It is valuable. But time is awful. I dislike time. In particular time zones and the complexity surrounding how to handle time on SCADA systems. SCADA systems run on time. Daily records are recorded at contract hour. Alarms and Events are logged with time stamps. Should be easy right? Nope. Time […]
Author: Dustin Symes

Using git for Industrial Automation
Almost all industrial programmers will use some sort of basic version control at the file system level. This generally consists of keeping copies of dated files and folders in a central file folder structure. Until recently I kept a project database listing clients at the first level, site surface locations at the second level and […]
Report on Exception – A DNP3 Success Story
The year was 2013 and I was working for a client in Northeastern British Columbia (NEBC). We had just finished implementing another multi-well pad RTU installation and it had gone well. The client was preparing for the next set of drilling and completions as well as construction of their new plant. It was the perfect […]
Redpark Serial Cables
I have been working in my spare time on a couple projects that should help instrument techs everywhere. To that end I am exploring the use of Redpark’s serial cables with an iOS app to connect to a EFM gas meter (like a SCADAPack or ROC or Floboss). Its been tough slugging because Objective C […]
Learnings and New Beginnings
Its been a very long time since I last updated this web site and its content. I think the last real contribution was in 2011 which is an eternity for the web. Work has been insanely busy for the past three or so years. I have learned SO MUCH that my head is constantly hurting. […]