Hello Jandson,
We have had quite a few customers program their PLCs to be able to read our meters directly. Our meters use the same hardware (RS-485) as Modbus, but they speak in a different language (our adaptation of an IEC protocol).
There is a good running discussion of how to read your meters with your own software by using our RS-485 protocol. It is on our forum here:
http://forum.ekmmetering.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5
Here is a link to the Omnimeter protocol to get you started:
http://documents.ekmmetering.com/Meter_ ... ter_v3.pdf
The protocol is really very simple (easier to grasp than modbus in my opinion). This is because it is mostly one meter request format, which includes the meter number, and if you send this, the meter responds with 90 percent of its data. The most challenging is if you decide you need to implement the CRC-16 checksum.
We have designed a circuit board, and meter reading system, that allows you to leapfrog over a few steps. Instead of starting from "How do I read my meter over RS-485" the EKM Push handles all of this, it reads your meter, verifies and cleans up the data, and "Pushes" this data to a central database (eliminating the need for protocols, firewall access, dynDNS, etc). The data is then made easily available in .xml file format for you to utilize or build your application around. There is literally no configuration on your end. You take the Push out of the box, connect it to the data line of all of your meters (up to 256 meters), connect power, and connect ethernet. Thats it.
There is more information about the EKM Push here:
http://www.ekmmetering.com/push-communications
If you ever have any questions, please let us know.
Regards,
