Maynuo DC loads and the Modbus protocol

[Mr. Scram]

Currently I'm looking at my options in regards to buying a DC load. I've always had a soft spot for the Maynuo loads, but they come with a major drawback. They don't talk SCPI. Instead they seem to talk the Modbus protocol. Unfortunately I have zero experience with this and even though I've looked at various tutorials, descriptions and the Maynuo manuals, I can't quite wrap my head around it. Before spending a not insignificant amount of money, I'd like to know how feasible it is for me to talk to one of these units.

Ideally, I'd talk to the unit using Visual Studio and VB.net specifically. I've found various libraries that should take the hard work out of talking to anything using Modbus, but I'm still not quite sure what I would be looking at. I know it's an older industry standard, so I suppose plenty of people should have experience. Is there anyone who can shed some light on what would go into talking to a device this way or point me in the right direction?

http://www.maynuo.com/downloadfile/2012050437183497.pdf from page 33

[sca]

Looks like they impement the server, so you get to do the easier client.

Try the Sapia modbus winforms control. Their demo app will do all the functions you need. Trial version only, but you can use it to prove everything is working, then either licence it or spin your own

http://www.sapia-inc.com/software/SMRNControl.html

Modbus standards are at

http://www.modbus.org/specs.php

and include code for doing the crc which is easy to port from c.

sca