5A1 PLC Addon Board Series

The B&R 5A1 PLC Addon Board Series Interface Board provided an economical ARCNET solution for industrial PCs during an era when fieldbus technologies were first emerging. As an ISA form factor add-in card utilizing the ARCNET PCX20-CXB ASIC, it facilitated distributed control architectures over low-cost coaxial cable. The interface board supported standard 8-bit architectures with BNC connectors following EIA/TIA-485 specifications. This allowed for easy termination and networking to other ARCNET nodes using common RG62 cables with reliable transmission over distances up to 4,000 feet at speeds of up to 2.5Mbps. Compatible with SMC's COM20020 ARCNET PC card, the interface board seamlessly integrated industrial PCs running MS-DOS or other operating systems into networked field applications. It served as a cost-effective means of linking PC-based controls with programmable controllers and I/O before easy Ethernet adoption.