Spectrum Controls2706-PENETP2-SCInView Ethernet Communication Module for 2706-P22R Message Display, EtherNet/IP + Modbus TCP, Dual RJ-45

Product Description

The 2706-PENETP2-SC is the second-generation InView Ethernet communications module. Its job is to get message data from a controller into an InView marquee message display. The factory carton legend states it plainly: “INVIEW ETHERNET COMMUNICATION MODULE — FOR USE WITH 2706-P22R DISPLAY”.

What it is for — and what it is not:
This is not a general-purpose PLC or HMI communications card. It is display-specific: it accepts messages over Ethernet and drives an InView sign over a serial link. If you do not have an InView display, this module has no application.

Which display: the “P2” is the critical field
The trailing letter in the 2706-PENETP2-SC family selects the host display and the power arrangement — not the protocol. All four gen-2 modules share one manual and one firmware and all speak the same protocols. What differs is where they mount and where they get power:

P2 — this module. For the 2706-P22R-SC panel-mount display only. Mounts on DIN rail inside your own enclosure and needs an external 24 V DC supply.M2 / M2C2 — for the 2706-P42x / P44x four-inch displays; draw 5 V DC from the display.K2 — for the 2706-P7x / P9x displays; mounts inside the display and draws 5 V DC from it.The “2” means second generation: this one part replaced both the legacy 2706-PENETP-SC and 2706-PENET1-SC. Ordering the wrong letter gets you a module that will not physically or electrically fit your sign.

Protocols

EtherNet/IP (the preferred method), Modbus TCP on port 502, and TCP/IP passthrough on port 44818. “Easy Tags” builds the message frames for you, so no PLC add-on instruction is required, and tags can be exported to CSV for Logix.

Power — and the jumper that ruins modules

Requires an external 24 V DC ±25% at 1 A supply; the usable input range is +9.6 to +28.8 V DC at 10 W maximum, with inrush below 1.75 A and dissipation under 6 W. Input protection is 30 V DC.

Note carefully: jumper J2 selects 24 V or 5 V operation and ships from the factory in the 5 V position. On a P2 module fed from an external 24 V supply that jumper must be moved before power is applied, or the module is damaged. This is the single most common way a new PENETP2 is destroyed on first commissioning.

Ethernet and the display link

Two RJ-45 ports, Eth1 and Eth2, independently configured — this is not a switch, so do not daisy-chain through it. Eth1 is the default. Each port can be static or DHCP.

The display connection is a shared 10-pin terminal block (J5) carrying either RS-232 or RS-485, one at a time — there is no daughter board. The P2 ships with a 5 m shielded cable terminating in a DB-9F for the P22 display (RS-232). If you use RS-485 instead, terminate both ends of the bus: a 120 ohm resistor across RS-485 (A) and (B) at the module end, and a jumper at the last sign. The supplied ferrite must be fitted to keep FCC compliance.

Firmware: read this before you buy
Since 1 January 2021, firmware 1.05 or later is mandatory to reach the configuration web interface — the older interface depended on Adobe Flash. Worse, modules below firmware v1.02 cannot be updated at all and have to be replaced. This unit is a factory-sealed carton dated 2017-01-10 and is therefore very likely to carry pre-1.05 firmware. Budget commissioning time to run the firmware update utility, and check the installed revision before you commit it to a live sign.

Configuration and diagnostics

Everything is done from an embedded web page — no software to install and OS-independent. Chrome or Edge 79+, or Firefox 75+; Internet Explorer is not supported. Default address is 192.168.1.100, credentials admin / spectrum. Diagnostics include a system report, error, engineering and reboot logs, ping from the UI, and a downloadable diagnostics file.

Physical, environmental and approvals

Board 5 x 5.625 in. or smaller; 0.20 kg bare, 0.82 kg boxed with the plastic DIN-clip enclosure. Operating 0 to +55 °C, storage −25 to +70 °C, 5–95% RH non-condensing. Shock 15 g operating / 30 g non-operating; vibration 1.0 g channel-mounted, 2.0 g DIN-rail mounted. Approvals: UL 61010-2-201, cUL CSA 61010-1-12, UL/cUL hazardous locations Class I Division 2 per ANSI/ISA-12.12.01, CE EMC, UKCA EMC, CMIM, FCC Part 15 Class A. ATEX and IECEx are not published.

Condition and status

The photographs show an unopened factory-sealed carton, Series A, “PRODUCT OF USA”, with the original 2017 customer purchase-order labelling still attached. Spectrum Controls (an Allient company) still lists this module as a current, active product — it is not obsolete, and it includes Rockwell Automation TechConnect support at no extra cost. Note the forward risk that its only host display, the 2706-P22R-SC, is a legacy red-LED unit with no announced full-colour two-inch successor.

Interchange and searching

Also written 2706PENETP2SC and 2706-PENETP2SC. Supersedes 2706-PENETP-SC and 2706-PENET1-SC. Sister parts: 2706-PENETM2-SC, 2706-PENETM2C2-SC, 2706-PENETK2-SC. InView is a Rockwell Automation Encompass product manufactured by Spectrum Controls.