What the IS215VCMIH2C Communications Board Does
The IS215VCMIH2CB is a VCMI — VME Communications Interface — board for the GE Speedtronic Mark VI turbine control system. It acts as the bus master for its rack: every I/O board in that rack reports through the VCMI, which then passes that data to the UCVE processor over the VME backplane. The VCMI is also the board's link to IONet, the coax network that connects it to the VPRO protection boards and to the VCMI cards in the other two cores of a triple-redundant system.
This is the H2 version, built with three IONet 10Base2 ports rather than the single port on the H1 design — one port per <R>/<S>/<T> channel, which is what a TMR (triple modular redundant) Mark VI needs. Under the hood, the VCMI runs on a Texas Instruments TMS320C32 digital signal processor with dual-port and flash memory sized for the H2C generation of the board.
Its Place in the Mark VI VME Rack
In a Mark VI rack, the VCMI occupies the left-most slot, with the UCVE processor next to it and whatever application-specific I/O boards the job requires filling out the rest of the rack. The VCMI does not talk to the HMI directly — that's the UCVE's job, over Ethernet using Toolbox and Cimplicity. The VCMI's role is entirely internal: backplane traffic to the I/O boards, IONet traffic to the protection module and other cores.
The card also keeps an eye on its own health, monitoring the internal power supply rails (5V, 12V, 15V and 28V) and raising a diagnostic alarm if one drifts out of tolerance.
Is It Really the VCMI? Diagnose First
A VCMI diagnostic alarm doesn't always mean the card logging the alarm has failed. Documented field cases are worth knowing before you order a replacement:
- Techs have found that a fault code logged against one core's VCMI can actually point to a communication problem with a different core's VCMI card on the same IONet loop — read the fault code and core designation carefully in Toolbox or the .m6b file before condemning a specific board.
- Loose or corroded IONet BNC connectors, bad terminal resistors, and low VME supply voltage (5V, 15V) at the card are common, non-board causes of a loss-of-communication alarm. Powering down, removing the card, cleaning the card and slot, and reseating it has resolved persistent alarms in documented cases.
- GE TIL-1905 covers VCMI boards (H1B, H1C, H2B, H2C) built between May 2006 and February 2009, where a socketed IONet transceiver chip can oxidize and cause intermittent communication faults that look like a hard board failure.
- RF interference from radios near an open panel, poor grounding, corrosive atmospheres, and condensation have all been reported as causes of intermittent VCMI diagnostic alarms that clear without any board being replaced.
If the fault is isolated to a single rack and a single card, and cabling, connectors, and power all check out, a VCMI replacement is the right call.
Reading the IS215VCMIH2CB Part Number
IS215 marks the Mark VI assembly family, VCMI the function, H2 the three-IONet-port design used in TMR systems, C the memory/flash revision (the C-series board carries more flash memory than the earlier B-series), and B the specific revision letter on this unit. As with any Speedtronic board, match the revision to what your Toolbox configuration expects — a photo of the label will let us confirm before you order.
Related Speedtronic Boards
VCMI work often overlaps with VPRO, terminal boards, or older Mark V hardware in the same outage. Our GE Speedtronic Part Number Decoder covers how to read any IS200/IS215 board number, and Mark V vs Mark VI: DS200 to IS200 explains how the two generations relate. Browse the rest of the rack in our GE Mark VI IS200 Boards collection.
What to Send for a Quote
- Full part number and suffix (IS215VCMIH2CB), including revision
- A photo of the label on the board you're replacing
- Turbine model and Mark VI configuration (simplex or TMR)
- Quantity and how urgent the outage is
Get Your IS215VCMIH2CB Quote
This IS215VCMIH2CB is used, clean and tested, with a 1-year warranty. We quote worldwide with DDP shipping, accept purchase orders, and turn quotes around within 24 hours. Click Request a Quote to get started — pricing isn't published here, since every quote reflects your specific board and timeline.
General Information about the Product |
Part Number |
IS215VCMIH2C Mark VI IS215 |
Description |
General Electric IS215VCMIH2C IS215VCMIH2CB Speedtronic Interface Board Mark VI |
Condition |
used Clean and Tested. With 1 Year Warranty |
