HP C1600V Vintage Industrial Computer HP-IB IEEE-488 RS-232 MFM HDD For Parts

HP C1600V Vintage Industrial Computer HP-IB IEEE-488 RS-232 MFM HDD For Parts

The HP C1600V is a vintage industrial computer and controller system from Hewlett-Packard, built for use in automated test, measurement, and process control environments. Housed in a card-cage desktop/rackmount chassis, the system accepts multiple proprietary HP expansion boards and integrates an internal MFM hard drive and a dedicated linear power supply. The front I/O panel provides a range of industry-standard and HP-proprietary interfaces for connecting instruments, peripherals, and control systems.

Specifications & What's Included

• HP Part Number: C1600V
• Power Max: 110W
• AC Voltage Input: 100–120V AC
• Frequency Range: 50–60 Hz
• Current Max: 1.5A
• Made in U.S.A.
• Board 1: HP C1600-69109 / 2944-11 with C1600-08051 Chip — TPB-J.VO (HP P/N 0957-0033)
• Board 2: HP C1600-60107 B / 267311-0006 / 2821-11 — TPB-J.VO
• Board 3: HP C1600-60101 B / 267272-0007 / 2809-11 — TPB-J.VO
• Board 4: HP C1600-60103 B / 267286-0010 / 2840-11
• Backplane Board: HP C1600-60100 / 267259-0005
• Hard Drive: Seagate ST-251-1 / ST-251-1 MFM Hard Drive (installed)
• Power Supply: Acme Electric Power Products Group HF-75544, 140W Max Total Output
• PSU Input: 120 VAC, 2.5A, 50–60 Hz
• PSU Outputs: +5.1 VDC at 20A; +12 VDC at 3.1A (4.1A max for 30 sec. start-up); −12 VDC at 0.1A
• PSU Certifications: CSA, UL (Component Type Custom Rectifier)
• Front I/O Interfaces: HP-IB/IEEE-488, Parallel, RS-232-C/CITT V.24 (DB-25), VRC I/F, CTRL I/F
• DIP switch configuration panel for interface select (RS-232-C, Parallel, HP-IB, SCS, Listen Only), address, baud rate, and parity
• Card cage with perforated ventilation panels; desktop or rackmount orientation

Applications

The HP C1600V belongs to Hewlett-Packard's line of dedicated industrial computer and instrument controller systems from the early-to-mid 1980s. Systems like this were designed to serve as the central computing and communications hub in HP instrument clusters and automated test systems, coordinating multiple instruments over the HP-IB (IEEE-488 / GPIB) bus — the standard HP instrument interconnect of that era. The RS-232-C/CITT V.24 and parallel ports allowed connection to printers, terminals, and serial peripherals, while the VRC and CTRL interface ports linked the system to video display units and external control hardware. MFM (Modified Frequency Modulation) hard drives like the Seagate ST-251-1 were the dominant fixed-disk storage technology of this period, typically offering capacities in the 20–40 MB range and operating via a dedicated MFM controller card. These HP industrial controllers were commonly found in semiconductor test, electronics manufacturing, and scientific laboratory settings where HP instruments needed a coordinating host. Today, units like this are sought by collectors, vintage HP instrument enthusiasts, and technicians maintaining legacy HP automated test equipment (ATE) systems that require a compatible host controller.