Product Description:

Pacific Scientific introduces the OC950-503-01 option card as part of the OC950 Option Cards series. The board installs in compatible motion or process controllers to add extra discrete inputs and outputs, non-volatile data storage, and field networking. Within industrial automation, it acts as a compact interface, accepting user-level logic signals, buffering them, and forwarding status over PacLAN or a serial link to the host CPU, thereby coordinating sensors, relays, and actuators with the main control program.

One card handles 21 discrete I/O points, each protected for transients up to 40 V. Incoming signals pass through a hardware filter with a 100 μs time constant, so switch bounce and high-frequency noise are suppressed before the controller sees a state change. A logic TRUE is registered once the line rises above 3.5 V, while anything below 1.0 V is considered FALSE, giving clear noise margins when interfacing to TTL or 24-volt field wiring. For outputs, the open-collector drivers can sink up to 100 mA per channel, which allows the board to drive small solenoids or optically isolated relays. All onboard logic draws from a regulated 5 V supply, and the user header must deliver 5 V ± 5% with no more than 200 mA of load so signal levels remain stable during operation.

PacLAN communication and non-volatile memory extend the card beyond local I/O handling. The network link operates at 2.5 MBaud over a single bus segment that may reach 305 m before a repeater is required, and a factory-installed 93 Ω terminator matches the cable impedance at the final drop. Configuration parameters and process variables are preserved in a 32 K × 8 NVRAM array that tolerates unlimited write cycles and keeps data valid for 10 years without external power. Additional diagnostic or setup commands can be issued through the dual-standard RS-232/RS-485 port, providing a serial interface when a PacLAN master is not yet available.