Crosscreek taps QuStream Cheetah router for Voyager VIII HD

Crosscreek Television Productions has purchased a QuStream Cheetah 288×576 HD video router and award-winning DRS Audio Router to outfit Voyager VIII HD, their latest top-of-the-line, high-definition (HD) broadcast truck. This new addition to the Crosscreek fleet of mobile broadcast facilities will be on the road August 2007. ESPN will use this truck for the 2008 season as well as other events. This significant purchase by Crosscreek is comprised of DRS Audio Routers and a Cheetah 288×576 router — one of the most recent additions to the QuStream product line.

“We purchased QuStream routers for their versatility and distributed architecture,” said John Peers, vice president of engineering for Crosscreek Television Productions. “We wanted a rugged, road-ready router that provided standard-sized BNC connectors and internal power supplies in a compact form. The QuStream product offered the smallest router with the most functionality,” said Butch Mueller, director of engineering for Crosscreek Television Productions.

The Cheetah 288×576 provides a large number of outputs to handle large monitor walls for broadcast and mobile applications, or applications that feed a large number of devices concurrently, in only 18RU. The Cheetah routers use standard-size BNC connectors, internal redundant power, redundant frame and system controllers, and have the ability to mix copper, fiber and CWDM fiber all in the same frame.

The award-winning Cheetah DRS multi-format audio router uses patent pending distribution technology to route audio over Gigabit Ethernet with either a single CAT-5 or Fiber cable allowing Crosscreek multi-frame connectivity between “A” and “B” units. They can create a Distributed Routing System (DRS) scalable from 64×64 (occupying 1RU frame in one location) up to 2048×2048 (in 36RU of space in one or many locations). Cheetah DRS allows Crosscreek to place input and output frames where they are needed most ― in Production to feed audio monitors and in the Replay Area to feed servers and tape machines. This keeps cable runs extremely short, preserves signal quality and reduces cable costs, time of installation and maintenance. Additional inputs or outputs can be added by changing cards or increasing frames in any location. Format flexibility in the Cheetah DRS allows a mix of AES and Analog, Synchronous and Asynchronous audio, with support for Dolby-E.

“QuStream has focused on providing practical HD solutions to meet the unique requirements of the mobile production market,” said Bob McAlpine, senior vice president of sales and marketing communications. “With its patented distributed architecture and award-winning designs, QuStream high definition video and audio systems are the ideal choice for mobile applications.”

QuStream leads the mobile production market with its full line of HD-SDI routing, distributed audio routing, and HD signal processing equipment providing innovative and high quality products for many high profile sporting and entertainment events throughout the world.