As the PCI connectors disappear from computers, the price on the National Instruments PCI-6229 card is beginning to fall. In January 2018, Ebay had several listings for sale in the range of $375. If a computer with a PCI connection is available, this now the preferred solution. In addition to the card, a way of connecting to the microscope is needed. A single $50 “12 foot Shielded VHDCI Male Cable” http://www.daqstuff.com/100768_vhdci_mm_cable.htm can be purchased and cut in half. Headers can be added to the following conductors and plugged straight into the STM. The wire color is correct for the 100768 cable only.

The connections are explained more fully in the electrical section of the build instructions. The only change between this list and the connections listed in the electrical section is that the digital ground for the stepper motor moves from pin 50 to pin 18. The reason for this change is that pin 50 is close to pin 52 on the connection box but pin 18 is twisted with 52 in the cable. This solution moves the total cost of the data acquisition system down to just over $400.