B&C Microsystems PC488A IEEE-488 GPIB HPIB ISA Interface Card Rev 3 USA

B&C Microsystems PC488A IEEE-488 GPIB HPIB ISA Interface Card Rev 3 USA

The B&C Microsystems PC488A is an IEEE-488 (GPIB / HP-IB) interface card for ISA-bus personal computers. It allows a desktop PC to communicate with, control, and acquire data from test and measurement instruments over the standard instrument bus, acting as a controller or listener/talker on the GPIB network. The card connects via the standard 24-pin GPIB female connector on its rear bracket. Board markings confirm Rev-3 and Made in USA.

Specifications & What's Included

• Model: B&C Microsystems PC488A
• Interface standard: IEEE-488 (GPIB / HP-IB / HPIB)
• Bus type: ISA (8-bit)
• Bracket connector: 24-pin IEEE-488 / GPIB female (Centronics-style)
• PCB revision: Rev-3
• Country of manufacture: USA (printed on PCB)
• Onboard ICs: large DIP controller IC, multiple 74LS-series logic ICs (LS27, LS30, LS04, LS00 and others visible), crystal oscillator
• Form factor: ISA expansion card (full-height bracket)
• Included: card only — no cables, driver software, or documentation

Applications

IEEE-488 (also known as GPIB, HP-IB, or HPIB) is the instrument communication bus originally developed by Hewlett-Packard in the late 1960s and standardized as IEEE-488 in 1975. It became the dominant interface for connecting bench test and measurement instruments — oscilloscopes, signal generators, spectrum analyzers, multimeters, power supplies, and programmable loads — to a controlling computer for automated test and data acquisition. The PC488A was designed for the ISA-bus PC/XT/AT generation of computers, allowing those machines to serve as GPIB system controllers running automated test programs. Cards like the PC488A were standard fixtures in ATE (automated test equipment) setups and instrument-control labs through the 1980s and into the 1990s, when the ISA bus was the dominant PC expansion standard. Today, these cards are sought by engineers maintaining or restoring legacy GPIB-based instrument systems, vintage computing enthusiasts, and labs still running older test equipment that requires an ISA GPIB host adapter.