The D/A16-08 and D/A16-16 are full-size cards that can be installed in any long I/O slot of PC-AT class computers. They contain either 8 or 16 double-buffered digital-to-analog converters (DAC) and provide 8 or 16 independent analog output channels of 16-bit resolution.
The analog output channels have a double-buffered input for single-step update and each is addressed at its own I/O location. The DACs have a two-byte (8LSB's 8MSB's) loading structure. The analog outputs can be updated either independently or simultaneously.
In order to prevent excessive outputs at power-up, D/A16-08 and D/A16-16 contain automatic circuits that set D/A outputs to less than 15% of span at system power-on. Upon power-up, the DAC reference voltage is set to a low voltage and the card is set in the Simultaneous Update mode. After all DAC's have been loaded with the desired values, a software command can be used to switch the reference voltage ON at its nominal value. Similarly, a software command can be used at any time to set the reference voltage to zero causing all DAC outputs to be zero volts.
The cards also support a unique "Software Clear" capability. This feature permits resetting the DAC output to zero volts without changing the output mode.
Operation on 10 V ranges requires optional DC-DC converter as PC computer supply is marginal.
