IOtech 1700-0113 GPIB IEEE-488 Controller Card 16-Bit ISA NEC D7210C

IOtech 1700-0113 GPIB IEEE-488 Controller Card 16-Bit ISA NEC D7210C

The IOtech 1700-0113 is a 16-bit ISA GPIB (IEEE-488) interface card that connects PC/AT-class desktop computers to GPIB-equipped test and measurement instruments. Built around the NEC D7210C GPIB controller chip, the card handles all IEEE-488 bus protocol and handshaking in hardware, offloading instrument communication from the host CPU. The board is dated to IOtech Inc.'s 1991 copyright and features configurable factory DIP switches and jumpers for address and interrupt selection.

Specifications & What's Included

• Manufacturer: IOtech Inc.
• Part Number: 1700-0113 (silkscreened on PCB)
• Bus Interface: 16-bit ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
• Communication Standard: IEEE-488 / GPIB
• Main Controller Chip: NEC D7210C GPIB controller IC
• Secondary IC: Texas Instruments TPC1010A (visible on PCB)
• External Connector: 24-pin IEEE-488 / GPIB (Centronics-style) on rear bracket
• Configuration: DIP switch block and jumper headers for I/O address and IRQ selection
• PCB copyright date: IOtech Inc. 1991
• Form Factor: Full-length ISA expansion card with single-slot bracket
• Included: Card only — no cables, software, or documentation

Applications

GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus), standardized as IEEE-488, is the instrument interconnect bus developed by Hewlett-Packard in the late 1960s and widely adopted across the test and measurement industry throughout the 1970s–1990s. Cards like the IOtech 1700-0113 are used to add GPIB host-controller capability to PC/AT-class desktop computers running DOS or early Windows, allowing them to programmatically control and acquire data from GPIB-equipped instruments — oscilloscopes, signal generators, power supplies, multimeters, spectrum analyzers, and similar bench equipment. IOtech was a well-regarded manufacturer of GPIB interfaces and data acquisition hardware for PC platforms during this era, competing with National Instruments (GPIB-PCIIA) and Capital Equipment Corporation. These ISA GPIB cards remain in demand today for maintaining legacy automated test equipment (ATE) setups, vintage instrument control, and industrial/lab environments still running older PC hardware or DOS-based instrument control software.