A hilltop location in Little Rock, Ark. was not advantageous for Equity Broadcasting Corp. when a late season thunderstorm delivered a lightning bolt that cooked the company's preproduction router.
Utah Scientific was quick to provide assistance for the ailing operation in the form of a new Utah-400 routing switcher. The new Utah digital device replaced EBC's older analog router and was set up with conversion cards loaded on the frame to provide quick restoration of analog switching capability. The new router was up and running in less than two weeks.
"Utah pulled us out of a bind and gave us an excellent product," said Chuck Stanley, chief engineer at Equity. "For a while, we were using workarounds to get everything on the air. We looked at other suppliers and manufacturers, but it was Utah that came through for us. They had a great delivery time, right on schedule."
Utah supplied 144x144 video and audio frames equipped with 48x48 SDI and AES matrices. A/D and D/A cards allow EBC to continue its analog operations. The integrated conversion cards provided savings in terms additional equipment, wiring labor and equipment space.
Equity provides programming for more than 100 outlets across the country from its Arkansas satellite hub site. The origination center serves up 50 different feeds and runs under Crispin automation. In addition to client stations, EBC has 40 stations of its own.
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