Ziatech ZT 1444A IEEE 488 GPIB Interface Controller Card 8-Bit ISA Bus Rev 0.1

Ziatech ZT 1444A IEEE 488 GPIB Interface Controller Card 8-Bit ISA Bus Rev 0.1

The Ziatech ZT 1444A is an 8-bit ISA bus interface card that provides a full IEEE 488 (GPIB / HP-IB) port for IBM PC/XT-compatible desktop computers. It allows an ISA-bus host PC to communicate with and control IEEE 488-compliant test and measurement instruments over a standard GPIB bus. The card connects via a 24-pin GPIB Centronics-style connector mounted on the slot bracket. The revision on this unit is Rev 0.1, as printed on the PCB label.

Specifications & What's Included

• Manufacturer: Ziatech
• Model: ZT 1444A
• Revision: Rev 0.1
• Bus Interface: 8-bit ISA (PC/XT-compatible)
• Interface Standard: IEEE 488 / GPIB / HP-IB
• External Connector: 24-pin IEEE 488 GPIB (Centronics-style), bracket-mounted
• Logic ICs (visible on PCB): DM74ALS520N, 74LS08N, SN74LS86AN, SN74ALS245N, SN74ALS175N (74ALS-series TTL logic)
• DIP switch block: SW2 SIP2 (visible on PCB, used for address/configuration selection)
• PCB designation: 3489
• Form Factor: Full-height ISA card with standard slot bracket
• Included: Card only — no cables, manual, or driver media

Applications

IEEE 488, also known as GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus) or HP-IB, is the instrument control bus developed by Hewlett-Packard in the late 1960s and standardized in 1975. It became the dominant standard for connecting bench test and measurement instruments — oscilloscopes, signal generators, spectrum analyzers, power meters, multimeters, and similar lab equipment — to a controlling computer. The ZT 1444A enables an IBM PC/XT or compatible ISA-bus computer to act as a GPIB controller, sending commands to and collecting data from up to 15 instruments connected on the bus. Ziatech was a California-based maker of ISA and CompactPCI embedded computing products active through the 1980s and 1990s, and cards like the ZT 1444A were used to automate test stations and data-acquisition setups in electronics labs, ATE (automated test equipment) systems, and R&D environments. Today these cards are sought by engineers maintaining legacy GPIB-based test systems, by collectors of vintage computing hardware, and by anyone needing a low-cost ISA-slot GPIB interface for an older PC-based instrument controller.