The Ross NK-3G144 3G/HD/SD router
WASHINGTON The National Press Club Broadcast Operations Center is part of a non-profit club for journalists that's been around for more than 100 years. We provide video-related services for the Club, but also operate as a for-profit production house.
The master control facility for the Broadcast Operations Center is located on the 4th floor of the building, along with our production facilities. We have two studios, two control rooms, and complete editing facilities. We're a full service production facility that maintains audio and video connectivity with all parts of the facility.
The Press Club hosts special events in its 13th floor banquet rooms where world leaders, corporate giants, and "A" list celebrities come to get their message out to the world's media. Since so many newsworthy events happen at the Press Club, we have video crews representing the world's press corps in-house on a regular basis. Many of these crews need to go out with live transmissions as events happen, and we have a routing switcher that's dedicated to the 13th floor events.
We were originally built out as a standard-definition facility, and also have our share of legacy analog gear. However, as the world is rapidly moving into the realm of HD video, we decided it was time to take the first step into high-definition waters by replacing our routing switcher with a Ross NK-3G144 3G/HD/SD 144x144 model, initially populated in a 32x32 configuration and operating with an RCP-NKQ controller. We're planning to migrate our analog lines over to the NK-3G144 in the future.
ONE SIZE DOESN'T FIT ALL
In making the move to a new router for HD, we researched offerings from several manufacturers and found several nice routing switchers with plenty of bells and whistles. However, in the end, it boiled down to most all of them being too much router for our application and with too large of a price tag for our budget. We just needed a good, reliable, easy-to-use, and affordable routing switcher. Ross came in at the right price, their router was easy to install, and its design will allow us to expand quickly when more capability is needed.
I initially had some installation help lined up through our vendor, but found that with the Ross unit we really didn't need it. We were basically able to slide the new router in where the old one was and continue operating. The entire transition took only a few hours.
Replacing a routing switcher is a big investment for a small business such as ours. The unit we selected had to be the right choice out of the crate and had to work for us in many ways. The router also had to be easy to install and provide expandability. In addition, we wanted great technical support and an affordable bottom line. The Ross NK-3G144 fit the bill perfectly. We know we have a long road ahead in our effort to completely convert to HD, but I'm sure Ross will provide many solutions along the way.
David Schrader is chief engineer at the National Press Club Broadcast Operations Center, and has worked in broadcasting for 29 years. He may be contacted at dschrader@press.org.
For additional information, contact Ross Video at 613-652-4886 or visit www.rossvideo.com.
