The Micro488/p Bus Controller converts a host RS-232 computer into an IEEE 488 bus talker, listener, and controller. It provides the basic IEEE 488-1978 bus implementation required for a system controller. The Micro488/p may be located up to fifty feet from the host and may control as many as eight IEEE 488 bus instruments. The Micro488/p interprets simple high level commands sent from the computer's serial port and performs the necessary, and usually complex, bus control and handshaking. The commands and protocol are similar to those used by the Hewlett Packard HP-85 computer.