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National Instruments GPIB External Controllers

National Instruments is a leading supplier of GPIB interfaces and provides an unparalleled variety of GPIB controllers. GPIB controllers monitor and detect activity on the GPIB. When the controller detects a device or instrument about to send a data message, or talk, it connects that talker device, which then broadcasts the message across the bus. Another device on the bus or the controller then assumes the role of the listener and receives that message.

GPIB External Controllers

National Instruments offers a wide variety of GPIB external controllers so you can control GPIB instruments through the latest PC buses including:

  • Ethernet: With NI Ethernet-to-GPIB controllers, you can control and share instruments located anywhere in the world via a TCP/IP network. Because these controllers use the same NI-488.2 driver and API, you can work with applications written for other NI GPIB interfaces without modifying them.
  • USB: You can use the NI USB-to-GPIB controller with desktop or notebook computers equipped with a USB port. It is easy to install and use and offers plug-and-play capabilities.
  • IEEE 1394: This GPIB controller for IEEE 1394 or FireWire is suitable for portable applications using a laptop computer or desktop applications where the computer has no internal I/O slots.
  • Parallel Port: You can control GPIB devices from the parallel port of your computer with this bidirectional parallel-to-GPIB controller.
  • Serial Port: With these controllers, you can connect RS232 and RS485 serial devices to your computer and make them appear as GPIB devices.

These controllers are either provided with NI-488.2 driver software for one or more of the operating systems listed below or with the NI-488DDK.

  • Windows 2000/XP/NT/Me/9x: A native, 32-bit kernel-mode driver that takes full advantage of the features of Win32 operating systems
  • Windows 3.1/DOS: A 16-bit driver for Windows 3.1 and a driver for DOS that includes interface libraries for C, Basic, Pascal, and FORTRAN
  • Mac OS X: A native driver for Mac OS X that works with the PCI-GPIB and the GPIB-ENET/100
  • Mac OS: A driver that supports Macintosh GPIB interface products for both desktop Power Macintosh computers and PowerBooks
  • Linux: A native driver for the PCI-GPIB and the GPIB-ENET/100 for several Linux distributions