Legacy Utah Scientific Router Meets 3-Gbps Challenge At Arizona Public Media

Utah Scientific, a leading manufacturer of routing switchers and related products for the broadcast industry, has announced that Arizona Public Media (AZPM) has expanded, upgraded and proofed its legacy UTAH-400 router for 3-Gbps HD.
The UTAH-400 routing switcher at AZPM may have been manufactured and installed in 2003, but like all Utah Scientific products, it was engineered to meet the HD demands of today and tomorrow.
The recent HD plug-in upgrade at AZPM is further testimony to the many advanced design features of the UTAH-400, which is the first 3-Gbps-capable routing switcher.
David Ross, AZPM Director of Engineering and Technical Services, said: "The routing switcher is the centrepiece of our technical infrastructure and as such is a 20-year investment. When we were shopping in 2003, we were looking for future-proof design of software and hardware coupled with guaranteed service and support. We had been orphaned in the past by manufacturers who claimed their products would bridge the digital transition, so we were very sensitive to design.
"When we bought the UTAH-400, we did so with confidence. Our confidence is borne out every day by the router's solid, reliable operation, and it has been reaffirmed by the plug-in upgrade to 3-Gbps switching."
AZPM is the nonprofit public media organisation of The University of Arizona and includes PBS stations KUAT Channel 6 and KUAS Channel 27, as well as public radio, AZpublicmedia.org, and award-winning local television production. Its facilities are on the campus of The University of Arizona in Tuscon.
At AZPM today, the UTAH-400 router and a Utah Scientific MC-2020 master control switcher support five broadcast streams of unique programming channels, plus local HD production and editing.
The router AZPM purchased in 2003 was the second UTAH-400 ever delivered. Populated 64 X 64 SD, it was selected as part of AZPM's conversion of master control to an all-digital operation, which was the first step in its overall digital conversion.
The public broadcaster installed the Utah Scientific MC-2020 SD for master control at the same time, with the aim of implementing a simplified, single-format master control workflow that would expand incrementally with the addition of inputs and outputs and MC-2020 processor frames.
That plan has worked as envisioned and today AZPM's UTAH-400 router is populated 112 X 96 SD video, 24 X 24 HD, with one HD 2020 and four SD 2020 processors.
In late 2008, when AZPM again needed to expand the HD portion of the router, the broadcaster anticipated local production's eventual transition to 1080p video and opted for 3-Gbps I/O cards to accommodate it. Utah Scientific engineers simply swapped out the plug-in I/O cards for the new multirate 3-Gbps HD cards. No other modification to the UTAH-400 router was required.
Tom Harmon, President and CEO of Utah Scientific, said: "At Utah Scientific, we know our customers buy for the long term, and that's why we engineer for the long term. Our routers are built to be adaptable and scalable for the most demanding applications now and in the future. Other manufacturers trumpet their latest routers' readiness for 3-Gbps, but our UTAH-400 routers have been ready for more than five years."
Further information is available at: www.utahscientific.com
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