Advantech PCLS-848-P, User Manual

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CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INFORMATION 1
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1. Introduction to the Product
The PCL-848A/B MULTIFUNCTION IEEE-488 INTERFACE CARD is a valuable
addition to your PC that allows you to communicate with over 2000 products, made
by over 200 manufacturers, in over 14 countries. The IEEE-488-1978 standard that
this IEEE-488 card implements is the most widely used international standard for
information transfer between computer and electronic instruments.
There are numerous publications and articles that may be used in conjunction with
this manual to assist you to understand the interface standard. The IEEE reference
document may be ordered by writing to the IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane,
Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
The IEEE-488 interface card provides the hardware (electrical and mechanical) and
software required for you to interface your PC to the IEEE-488 bus. The software is
packaged in read-only-memory (firmware) and on a diskette to provide versatile and
easy-to-use IEEE-488 procedures for your Pascal language. Firmware cannot be
accidentally erased or overwritten and it is always available for use by application
programs. This manual provides a programming reference (Chapter 3.) and program-
ming techniques (Chapter 4. and 5.) to assist you in writing your own application
programs.
The key features of this interface card include:
* Operating in one of the two modes (switch selectable).
Mode A: Compatible with the PCL-748 IEEE-488 interface card and use the same
IEEE-488 function set.
Mode N: Software compatible with National Instrument PC-II and IBM-PC GPIB
adaptor and use the driver and software developed for them.
* Implementation of the entire IEEE-488 standard.
* Powerful and easy-to-use software command set. Fewer argu ments and simple
initialization.
* On-board RAMfor working space. No system memory space is needed for the
IEEE-488 interface operation.