FIRST PCMCIA INSTRUMENTATION PRODUCTS FOR MACINTOSH POWERBOOK COMPUTERS

Cross-Platform Compatibility Means Engineers and Scientists Can Switch
Cards Among Industry-Standard Platforms

Austin, Texas - Aug. 28, 1995 - National Instruments - the Virtual
Instrumentation Company - announced today seven low-cost, high-quality
PCMCIA data acquisition (DAQ) and IEEE 488 (GPIB) instrument control
products for Macintosh PowerBook computers. Engineers and scientists can
use the DAQCard-1200, DAQCard-700, DAQCard-500, DAQCard-DIO24,
DAQCard-AO2DC, DAQCard-ER8 kit, or PCMCIA-GPIB interface with the
just-announced PowerBook 5300 series and PowerBook 190 series computers,
to develop low-cost, portable test and measurement and industrial
automation applications. PowerBook 5300 series users can use LabVIEW
graphical instrumentation software and HiQ numerical analysis and data
visualization software, both native-mode Power Macintosh applications, to
develop high-performance, portable instrumentation systems. University
students can use the Student Editions of LabVIEW and HiQ for
instrumentation applications on the PowerBook 190 machines.

"Customers in technical professions are a key focus for Apple Computer,"
said Steve Andler, Senior Director of Mobile Systems for Apple Computer.
"By teaming the power of PowerPC processors with the National Instruments
PCMCIA data acquisition and instrument control products, our technical
customers can create high-performance, portable instrumentation systems.
They can take their PowerBook computers anywhere their research takes them
 in the lab or into the field."

The DAQCard-1200 is the only full multifunction PCMCIA DAQ interface
available on the market  it features analog, digital, and timing I/O.
Until now, developers had to purchase several cards to achieve this I/O
functionality, which is made possible through the company's custom 50-pin
connector. With more capabilities of the company's popular Lab-NB plug-in
board for Macintosh computers, the DAQCard-1200 features a 12-bit ADC with
eight single-ended or four differential analog input channels, a 100 kS/s
sampling rate, and gains of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100. The DAQCard-1200
has two 12bit analog output channels, three user-available counter/timers,
and 24 lines of digital I/O. The card is fully calibrated in software, and
all functions of the card are software configurable.

The DAQCard-700 is a low-power analog input, digital I/O, and timing I/O
DAQ PCMCIA card. It has a 12-bit ADC with 16 single-ended or eight
differential analog inputs, a 100 kS/s sustained sampling rate, a
512-sample FIFO ADC buffer, multichannel scanning, and 45 V overvoltage
protection with power on or off. The card also features 16 lines of
digital I/O and two user-available, 16-bit counter/timer channels. The
card is fully calibrated in software; all functions of the card are
software configurable. The DAQCard-500 is a low-power, analog input,
digital I/O, and timing I/O PCMCIA card. It features a 12-bit, 50 kS/s ADC
with eight single-ended analog input channels, two user-available
counter/timers, and eight lines of digital I/O. The card is fully
calibrated in software; all functions of the card are software
configurable.

The DAQCard-DIO24 is low-power, low-cost parallel digital I/O PCMCIA card
that can connect Macintosh PowerBook computers to:

* Peripherals with parallel digital I/O
* BCD-compatible panel meters and test equipment
* ER-8 and ER-16 electromechanical relay accessories
* SC-206X Series optically isolated digital I/O and
  electromechanical relay boards
* SSR Series solid-state relay boards

The DAQCard-DIO24 uses the 8255, a 24-bit PPI, which can be further divided
into three 8-bit ports. It features transfer rates up to 250 kbytes/s.
Users can generate periodic interrupts for pattern generation. It can
operate in either a unidirectional or bidirectional mode. All functions of
the card are software configurable. The PCMCIA bus interface has 16-bit
data paths with interrupt-generation circuitry.

The DAQCard-AO2DC is a two-channel voltage and current output and digital
I/O card. It is the only PCMCIA card capable of the 0-20 and 4-20 mA
current outputs commonly necessary for process monitoring and control
applications. It features two channels of 12-bit analog output,
software-selectable voltage output range of 0-10 or 5 V, 0-20 and 4-20 mA
current output range, and 16 lines of digital I/O. All functions of the
card are software configurable.

The DAQCard-ER8 kit is an eight-channel electromechanical relay kit for
switching signals up to 3A at 30 VDC or 250 Vrms. The kit contains the
ER8, an eight-channel electromechanical relay accessory; the DAQCard-DIO24
digital I/O card; and a cable.

The PCMCIA-GPIB turns a PowerBook into a completely portable,
high-performance IEEE-488 Controller for numerous applications in
laboratory automation and automated testing. It uses the TNT4882C ASIC for
low power operation (only 65 mA typical), which is increasingly important
in battery-powered systems. It can sustain programmed I/O data transfer
rates exceeding 1Mbytes/s. LabVIEW and HiQ Software for Mac OS

PowerBook 5300 series users can take advantage of performance benefits
offered by the native versions of LabVIEW and HiQ. LabVIEW is a
general-purpose programming tool with extensive libraries for data
acquisition, instrument control, data analysis, and data presentation.
With LabVIEW, engineers and scientists build software modules called
virtual instruments (VIs) instead of writing text-based programs. HiQ is
an object-based numerical analysis software package that gives scientists
and engineers more than 600 mathematical functions; publication-quality
output; interactive three-dimensional graphics; a scripting language; a
compiler; and a set of application-specific "Problem Solvers." HiQ follows
a worksheet metaphor for exploring numerical integration, expression
evaluation, optimization, differential equations, nonlinear systems, and
other applications. University students can use the Student Editions of
LabVIEW and HiQ on the PowerBook 190 series to build instrumentation
applications with the PCMCIA cards.

Driver Software for Mac OS

All DAQCards include NI-DAQ software Version 4.8 for Mac OS. NI-DAQ is a
library of functions that controls DAQ hardware for analog input, analog
output, waveform generation, digital I/O, and timing I/O. NI-488.2
software, which is shipped with the PCMCIA-GPIB, is a library of
instrument control functions. Both packages eliminate low-level
programming tasks and integrate the hardware capabilities with high-level
programming environments. Because the NI-DAQ and NI-488.2 function calls
are independent of the platform or operating system, users can easily
migrate their PCMCIA applications among platforms.

About National Instruments

National Instruments, headquartered in Austin, Texas, manufactures software
and hardware products for PCs and workstations that scientists and
engineers worldwide use to build virtual instrumentation systems. These
systems are used for research and industrial applications such as
automated testing, laboratory automation, advanced research, industrial
control, factory automation, physiological monitoring, numerical analysis,
and data visualization.

National Instruments stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System
under the symbol NATI. Further information on National Instruments may be
obtained from the company's SEC filings or by directly contacting the
company's Investor Relations Department at (512) 338-9119.

For More Information

Users who already have DAQ Cards or PCMCIA-GPIB running under DOS or
Windows can purchase NI-DAQ or NI-488.2 software for Mac OS and can then
use their PCMCIA cards with Macintosh computers. Conversely, users who
want to run their PCMCIA cards on Intel PCs can purchase NI-DAQ or
NI-488.2 software for DOS or Windows.

National Instruments
6504 Bridge Point Parkway
Austin, Texas 78730-5039
(512) 794-0100

Or call toll free in the U.S. and Canada at (800) 433-3488, fax (512)
794-8411.
 
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