Re: Kramer VDAs

oN 10-Nov-03, Cameron Dorrough said:

> What should I be looking for in a broadcast VDA (apart from the
> obvious like Gain & EQ control)??

In a broadcast VDA, gain controls are standard; EQ controls are not.
Generally, EQ is found only on equalizing VDAs, and then it is
specified as tailored to a particular cable type, and generally for up
to 1000 feet of that cable.

These days, most ordinary VDAs will probably be using the Elantec VDA
chips (and if they don't, the question should be asked: why not?) If
this is so, then it's very easy to achieve good performance.

I see on Kramer's site that their 104L VDA is specified as having a
420MHz bandwidth. That's much more than needed, and while it's good to
have >60MHz bandwidth, going much beyond 100MHz is of questionable
wisdom, and can create other problems (sensitivity to RF pickup,
tendency to oscillate, higher noise floor, etc.)

Without knowing how many VDAs you need, it is hard to advise. The units
from Kramer and their ilk are attractive when you need only one or two
VDAs, and the free-standing packaging may therefore be attractive.
Systemically, in larger installations, it is far better to consider
rack-mounted products, such as Leitch, Ross, and Videotek.

In VDAs, as elsewhere, you get what you pay for. The cost of VDAs is
generally a small percentage of any system cost, but the faults that
can result from prefering low cost over quality almost inevitably
qualify such decisions as short-sighted, at best.

-- 
Bill
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