The ME-9000 series of serial I/O boards now includes a floating, opto-isolated version, the ME-9000p. The new board features “island” channels: All channels resemble individually isolated islands, in that each port has its own ground, so no common grounds are shared between the PC and any other port. Such opto-isolated ports are needed whenever, for example, electrostatic discharges can affect the interfaces of systems. All lines are isolated up to 1000 V and ESD-protected up to 15 kV. The ME-9000p comes in versions for use with standard PCIbus or CompactPCI/PXI bus systems. They have 2, 4, or 8 half-duplex RS-232 or RS-422/485 serial ports, or mixed (half-duplex RS-232 and half-duplex RS-422/485) serial ports. Maximum data rate is 1 Mbaud. The board also has a standard, 16-bit counter with eight multi-function, digital TTL lines. A cable from the ME-9000p’s 78-pin connector to either two, four, or eight standard 9-pin male D-sub connectors is available. The ME-9000p comes with the ME-Power-DVD, which supplies complete driver and software support for Windows 2000/XP, Visual C++, Delphi, Visual Basic, Borland C/C Builder, Linux, and QNX. MEILHAUS ELECTRONIC GMBH, Puchheim, Germany. +49 89 89 01 66-0.