Wang 8987-0 Ricoh Scanner Controller Card 16-Bit ISA Bus Interface PC Board

Wang 8987-0 Ricoh Scanner Controller Card 16-Bit ISA Bus Interface PC Board

The Wang 8987-0 is a 16-bit ISA expansion card designed to interface Ricoh-manufactured document scanners with Wang workstations and PC-compatible systems. The card translates commands and data between the host ISA bus and the scanner's parallel interface, enabling controlled document acquisition within Wang's scanning software environment. PCB silk-screen markings read "8987AB LAYER 2 WANG," confirming this is a genuine Wang-manufactured board.

Specifications & What's Included

• Model / Part Number: Wang 8987-0 (PCB marked 8987AB)
• Bus Interface: 16-bit ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
• External Connector: DB25 (25-pin D-sub) on rear bracket
• Internal Connector: 50-pin header (visible on board surface)
• Controller IC: Z-PAC / Zilog EPAC (large black IC, center of board)
• Logic ICs: Multiple TI SN74ALS-series and DM74ALS-series chips (SN74ALS374AN, SN74ALS86N, SN74ALS135N, SN74S225N, SN74ALS520, DM74ALS02N, DM74ALS74AN, DM74ALS244, SN74LS164N, and others)
• Configuration: Red DIP switch bank (labeled TMS, OPEN) for hardware address/IRQ selection
• PCB Origin: Malaysia (per date codes and country markings)
• Form Factor: Full-length ISA expansion card
• Included: Card only — no cables or accessories

Applications

The Wang 8987-0 was produced for use with Wang Laboratories' line of document scanning workstations, primarily in the late 1980s and early 1990s — the era when Wang was a dominant force in office automation, word processing, and document imaging. Wang partnered with Ricoh for scanner hardware, and controller cards like this one served as the physical and logical bridge between the scanner and the host computer's ISA bus. These systems were widely deployed in government offices, law firms, financial institutions, and large corporations that needed to digitize and manage high volumes of paper documents — well before affordable flatbed scanning and network-connected MFPs became mainstream. Today this card is sought by technicians and collectors maintaining legacy Wang document-imaging installations, as well as vintage computer enthusiasts interested in late-1980s ISA-bus peripherals. The 16-bit ISA interface was standard in 286- and 386-era PCs, and the card's full-length form factor is consistent with controller cards of that generation.