The IO64 is often used as an input/output expander for our other products, but it's also a complete stand-alone show controller. It's designed to control a single serial device plus lots of discrete I/O. At its heart it uses the same operating system as our larger controllers, so it can handle many tasks at once.

Anyone who’s owned a PC takes the occasional crash and reboot for granted. With show control that’s simply not an option. That’s why our products use special, highly reliable hardware, connectors, and our super-stable ScriptOS real-time operating system. Some Alcorn McBride show controllers have been powered up and operating continuously for fifteen years without a reboot or power cycle. Try that with a PC!

Not only is ScriptOS extraordinarily stable, it’s also powerful, yet easy to use. Each controller is loaded with a script written using our Windows programming software, WinScript. You create your show's script by entering instructions in an English-like scripting language, much the same way data is entered into a spreadsheet. Once the unit is programmed, a PC is no longer needed.

Each script may contain as many as 256 sequences, which are completely independent. One sequence could handle a preshow, another the main show, and a third could simply monitor the entrance doors.

The IO64 has one RS-232 serial port, brought out on an easy to use DB-9 connector. This port may be configured for MIDI. WinScript comes with protocol files that speak the language of thousands of different devices. And if yours isn’t listed, it’s easy to create a new protocol file using our Protocol Editor. Your new commands become a permanent part of the ScriptOS language.

The IO64's uses self-restoring polymer fuses on its 32 discrete outputs. Even a dead short in the field won’t harm them; they simply open the circuit until the problem is corrected, then almost miraculously heal themselves.

All inputs and outputs are brought to removable Phoenix-type terminal blocks, so it's easy to swap a controller without undoing a bunch of wires.

Using our WEBster Ethernet expansion option, the IO64 can be controlled, monitored, and downloaded across a local area network or the Internet. Control screens can be served to operator consoles throughout the facility or even across the Internet.