[sdiy] question about cables

[Cary Roberts]

>In the mid 90's the broadcast company I worked for built a new "state of
the
>art" studio / production centre. In the central apparatus room, the audio
>circuits from and to equipment and patchbays all went through Krone
>termination frames and used solid core 10-multipair cables and IDC blocks
>such as these :-
>
>http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/40133/46-101-KRONE-ABS-Module

I probably did a hundred or so sites with Krone blocks back in the late
'90s.  They were all smaller sites with only a couple thousand pair each.
The Krone blocks were only used within the confines of the competive
carrier's cage though, all connections out to the main or intermediate
distribution frame were wire wrap.  Each set of rails held 20 blocks (200
pair) and if I recall correctly each 19" or 23" 7' relay rack could hold 16
sets of rails for 3200 pair per rack.  One nifty feature of the Krone blocks
we used is that they had an interuptable jack between the top and bottom
pair connection.  This allowed the use of test cables or lightning
protection devices.

Krone blocks were more gentle (and reliable) than 66 or 110 blocks for
stranded cable making them ideal for audio wiring in broadcast and post
production.  The patent details why the connection is better than typical
parallel contact IDC terminals:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=BjAkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5647760
Unfortunately, with ADC's purchase of Krone, they have redesigned the block
to make it compatible with a standard 110 punch tool and I fear this will
adversely affect the performance of the block.


-Cary