NI GPIB-140A 186135F-31 GPIB Interface Card

The National Instruments GPIB-140A (part number 186135F-31) is a GPIB interface card that enables a computer to communicate with IEEE 488 (GPIB) instruments. It provides full controller capability, supporting up to 14 GPIB devices per system. The card is compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems and integrates seamlessly with NI-488.2 driver software, LabVIEW, and other programming environments.

IEEE 488 Controller Capability

The GPIB-140A implements the full IEEE 488.2 controller protocol, allowing the host computer to act as the system controller, talker, and listener on the GPIB bus. The card can address up to 14 instruments, send device-specific commands, read measurement data, and synchronize multi-instrument measurements. The NI-488.2 driver provides a consistent programming interface across different GPIB hardware, simplifying application development.

Software Integration and Performance

The card is fully supported by NI-488.2 driver software, which includes configuration utilities, diagnostic tools, and the NI Spy debugging tool. The driver supports both traditional NI-488.2 calls and the simpler GPIB-32 API. Applications written for this card are portable to other NI GPIB hardware with minimal changes. The card achieves 1.5 MB/s data transfer rates, suitable for high-speed data acquisition and instrument control in automated test systems.

Application Domains

The GPIB-140A 186135F-31 is widely used in automated test equipment (ATE) for production test, research and development laboratories for instrument automation, calibration and metrology laboratories, and industrial process monitoring where GPIB instruments are deployed. It is compatible with oscilloscopes, multimeters, spectrum analyzers, signal generators, power supplies, and other GPIB-enabled test equipment.