GEIC600BF900ASeries Six Local I/O Transmitter Module — Coaxial Remote I/O Link, 153.6 kbit/s, 1500 V AC Isolation

Product Description

What this part is

This is a Series Six local I/O transmitter module — a communications card, not an I/O card. In a GE Fanuc Series Six or Model 600/6000 system it sits in the processor end of the link and transmits input and output data between the CPU rack and I/O racks placed away from the processor. It takes the parallel signals off the Series Six backplane, serialises them, and drives them down coaxial cable to the receiving end. Nothing on this module connects to a field device.

Decoding the order code

IC600: GE Fanuc Series Six / Model 600 and 6000 product line.

BF: the rack-mounted module block within Series Six.

900: local I/O transmitter.

A: hardware revision letter. Series Six revision letters run A through Z on many part numbers and generally interchange; match the 900 first.

Also written IC600-BF-900-A, IC600 BF 900 A and IC600BF900. Related factory numbering seen in the market includes IC600BF900K and the IC600 BF900LCA1 configured form.

Published specifications

Function: local I/O transmitter — serial link between Series Six CPU rack and remote I/O racks.

Platform: GE Fanuc Series Six, Model 600 and Model 6000.

Slot: any standard Series Six I/O rack slot.

Backplane interface: 48-pin edge connector.

Serial interface: 25-pin D-sub.

Cable: 75-ohm coaxial.

Data rate: up to 153.6 kbit/s.

Isolation: 1500 V AC between field cable and backplane logic.

Status indication: two front-panel LEDs, power and data activity.

Operating temperature: 0 to 60 °C.

Internal PCBs: one.

Energy storage: none — no batteries, no supercapacitors.

Weight: approximately 0.9 kg (1.9 lb) as shipped by dealers; the bare card is lighter.

Quantity and configuration

Transmitter module only, one card. The link is completed by the mating Series Six remote I/O receiver module at the far rack, 75-ohm coaxial cable with connectors and terminators, and the Series Six rack and rack power supply, each ordered separately.

Mounting data

Status LEDs: the two faceplate LEDs indicate power and data activity; a lit power LED with a dark activity LED indicates the cable or the far end of the link rather than this card.

Link watchdog: communication resets after approximately 100 ms of inactivity, so a marginal cable presents as periodic rack faults rather than a clean failure.

End-of-line termination: an end-of-line termination switch is provided on the card for the coaxial run.

What these specs mean in practice

The point of a local I/O transmitter is distance. Instead of running dozens of field wires back to a central rack, you put the I/O rack out near the machine and run one coaxial cable back. On this generation of hardware that buys you a few hundred metres of separation at 153.6 kbit/s, which is slow by any modern standard but entirely adequate for the scan rates a Series Six system runs at. The tradeoff is determinism: every remote rack adds link latency to the I/O update, so time-critical interlocks belong in the CPU rack, not out on the end of the coax.

The 1500 V AC isolation between cable and logic is the specification that keeps a ground-potential difference between two buildings or two motor control centres from destroying the processor. On a plant where the remote rack sits on a different earth reference, that isolation is the whole reason this architecture is safe.

No batteries and no energy storage on the card means nothing to replace on a surplus unit and nothing that degrades on the shelf. Unlike a Series Six CPU or memory module, a transmitter card that was good when it came out of service is good now.

Interchange guidance

Search forms include IC600BF900A, IC600BF900, IC600-BF-900-A, IC600 BF 900 A, IC600BF900K and IC600 BF900LCA1. Within the 900 designation, revision letters are the interchangeable dimension. IC600BF904, BF910, BF942 and BF943 are different modules in the same rack family — output and analog cards, not equivalents to a transmitter, and not substitutes. Series Six is long discontinued with no factory replacement; surplus, reman and board-level repair are the supply channels, and communications modules are the scarce end of that market.