FANUCIC693ADC311HAlphanumeric Display Coprocessor Module — Runs CIMPLICITY 90-ADS, Drives an External Terminal, Single Slot, CPU Baseplate Only

Product Description

What this part is

A single-slot coprocessor module for the GE Fanuc Series 90-30 PLC. It runs the CIMPLICITY 90-ADS system software and performs 90-ADS display, report and alarm functions, communicating with the Series 90-30 CPU across the PLC backplane.

Correcting the source data

Two things in our previous copy needed fixing. First, it described the module as having “alphanumeric display capabilities” that “enhance the functionality of PLC processors and HMIs.” The ADC has no display. The name is Alphanumeric Display Coprocessor — it is the processor that generates alphanumeric screens and drives them out to a separate device: a GE Fanuc Operator Interface Terminal, any VT100-compatible terminal, or an IBM-compatible PC running TERMF. If you are looking for a screen, this is not it. If you are looking for the card that produced the screens on a 90-ADS system, this is exactly it.

Second, the brand read “FANUC.” IC693 hardware is GE Fanuc Automation product, and “Made in USA” on our condition note is consistent with that — GE Fanuc built the Series 90 range in Charlottesville, Virginia. Fanuc’s own CNC business never carried an IC693 number.

Decoding the order code

IC693 — GE Fanuc Series 90-30 hardware. (IC697 is Series 90-70; IC600 is Series Six.)ADC — Alphanumeric Display Coprocessor.311 — the model within the coprocessor group, alongside the PCM301/311 Programmable Coprocessor and the CMM311 Communications Coprocessor.H — hardware revision. Revisions C and H both trade against the same product; match the base number first.

Published specifications

Microprocessor: 80C188 at 8 MHzSlot width: single slotSoftware: runs CIMPLICITY 90-ADS system softwareReal-time calendar clock, synchronised to the PLCFront panel: reset pushbutton and three status LEDsConfiguration: soft configuration — no DIP switches, no jumpersSerial ports: 2, behind a single front connectorPort 1: RS-232, default 19,200 bps, used for programming and configuration from a PC running PCM Development Software (PCOP), or alternatively for an RS-232 printer for report loggingPort 2: pre-configured as a 19.2 kbaud RS-232 port for a terminal (keyboard input and screen output)User interface: fifteen user-definable function keys per screen, pop-up windows, pull-down menus, fill-in-the-blank system building formsWeight: approximately 0.45 kg

Placement rule that catches people out

The ADC must be installed in the CPU baseplate, not in an expansion or remote rack, and multiple ADCs may be installed in one Series 90-30 system only where the system uses a modular CPU, model 331 or higher. That rules out the small embedded-CPU baseplates entirely. Before buying, check two things on your machine: that the CPU is a 331 or above, and that a free slot exists in the CPU baseplate specifically. A slot in an expansion rack will not do, and that is not obvious from the module itself.

Cables — one is supplied with the module, one is not:
This matters because the ADC presents two logical ports on one physical connector and cannot be used without breaking them out.

IC693CBL305 — the Wye cable that splits the two ADC ports out of the single front connector. GE supplied this with the module when new.IC690CBL702 — a direct RS-232 cable from the ADC to a PC or other serial device. This was never included with the module and is a separate purchase.
Because this is new old stock rather than a sealed carton, we cannot promise the IC693CBL305 Wye cable is present. The photographs on this listing show what is physically here — check them, and ask us to confirm before ordering if the cable is essential to you. Without the Wye cable the module cannot be connected to anything, so it is worth resolving up front.

Software is also not included

The ADC is a platform for CIMPLICITY 90-ADS, and the 90-ADS software is installed onto the module using PCM Development Software (PCOP) from a Workmaster, Workmaster II or IBM-compatible PC. Neither the 90-ADS runtime nor PCOP is supplied with a surplus module, and neither is trivially available today. If you are replacing a failed ADC on a working system you will normally reload from your own backup; if you are building a 90-ADS system from scratch, the software is the hard part of the project, not the hardware.

Quantity and configuration

Two units in stock, sold individually. On a discontinued coprocessor that is a useful depth: one live card and one tested shelf spare, or one spare each at two sites. Module only — no baseplate, no CPU, no power supply, no terminal, no software licence.

Interchange and obsolescence guidance

Search forms include IC693ADC311H, IC693ADC311, IC693ADC311C, IC693-ADC-311-H, IC693-ADC-311, IC693 ADC 311 H and IC693ADC31. Related Series 90-30 coprocessors: IC693PCM300 / IC693PCM301 / IC693PCM311 (Programmable Coprocessor), IC693CMM311 (Communications Coprocessor), IC693TCM302 / IC693TCM303 (Temperature Control). The installation manual covering all of them is GFK-0356 (Series 90-30 PLC Installation and Hardware Manual), which carries the ADC connection diagram on the page referenced as Figure 8-21.

Obsolete with no factory replacement. Ownership trail: GE Fanuc Automation → GE Intelligent Platforms → Emerson. There is no modern equivalent to a 90-ADS coprocessor — the function it performed is now done by a PC or a modern HMI panel talking Ethernet to the PLC. That is precisely why an original ADC has value: replacing it means redesigning the operator interface rather than swapping a card.