GLENDALE, Calif.—The 2026 NAB Show 2026 marks the return of Bittree as a standalone exhibitor following several years of co-exhibiting with distributors, though the industry’s leading patching supplier has not slowed down its pace of innovation.

Bittree’s full return to the NAB Show exhibit floor (C6985) highlights how the benefits of legacy patching technologies still apply for modern network infrastructure in broadcast, pro audio and AV, and government systems, with an emphasis on the company’s latest patchbays and enclosures for IP and hybrid facilities.

Established in 1978, Bittree continues to carry forward the vision of founder Glenn Garrard, who remains CEO as the company approaches its 50th year in business. Garrard recognized the need in 1978 to supply professional studios with pre-wired and chassis-based patching systems while in engineering roles for Motown, Merv Griffin Studios, and other legendary media and entertainment brands. His early innovations addressed the specific challenges of configuring, managing and modifying cables and connections, while helping engineers identify weakness in signal quality.

“These challenges still exist today, and the proven reliability of patchbays, panels and patching accessories remains the most valuable and effective approach to solving them,” said Garrard. “In many cases, the challenges have been multiplied as our customers navigate an evolving tapestry of cables and connections for moving video, audio and data through the infrastructure.”

Visitors to Bittree’s booth in the renovated Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center will find a host of video, audio and patching solutions for IP and baseband transport layers. Those include:

• Flush-mount, high-density, modular keystone patchbays for IP and data-centric workflows feeding ST 2110, AES67 and other modern networks. The series supports fiber, copper and mixed configurations, with connectivity options for ST, LC and SC fiber, RJ45 CAT6 and CAT6A punchdown, or feed-through, shielded or unshielded adapters.
• Bittree’s Patch32A, the world’s first Dante audio patchbay, streamlines the integration of analog audio and Dante network patching while providing professional, transparent A/D>D/A cross-conversions. This patchbay streamlines the integration of analog and digital network audio patching and establishes a foundation for interconnectivity across central equipment rooms, production studios, IT closets and more.
• Proven high-performance, wide-bandwidth 12G+ BNC Patch Panels for HD, 4K and 8K Applications, supporting data rates up to 48Gb/s and offer 75-ohm impedance with low return loss. Available in 1x16, 1x24, 1x32, 2x16 and 2x24 jack configurations to support a variety of densities and connectivity scenarios in SDI baseband and hybrid environments.

Other Bittree innovations on display include the DSFB124NL-ST fiber-optic patch panel enclosure for IT convergence. The feed-through, slide-out enclosure solution is built with connection to a core network switch and/or routing systems in mind, and ideal for managing interconnections and cross-connections inside data centers, TV and radio facilities, and live event venues.

“This is the first Bittree solution that includes steel gliding rails for easier access to connections,” said Garrard. “It is a true server-to-machine solution to interconnect backbone cabling to active equipment, or cross-connect to a main or horizontal distribution system. It is also a highly modular platform with removable inserts that favors modification and expansion in networked IT environments over expensive replacement.”

GLENDALE, Calif.—Bittree has announced a new addition to its 12G+ single-link video patchbay lineup that supports 4K transmission over a single 12Gb/s SDI connection, the 12G+ Micro-Video Self-Normalling High-Density Single-Link Patchbay.

This new patchbay offers 2x32 or 2x48 density in 1RU, 1.5RU or 2RU form factors. It delivers 24 GHz, high-bandwidth performance for SD/SDI, HD/SDI, UHD/SDI, 4K, 8K and HDR applications. The unit is also compliant with SMPTE 292M, 424M, 2081-1 and 2082-1, providing 75-ohm impedance with low return loss. Self-terminating and non-terminating connections are also available.

When the unit has built-in normalling capacity, it automatically routes a source signal plugged into a top port on the rear panel, with destination equipment connected to the port directly below it. A patch cord can then be used to send the source to another piece of equipment, per Bittree.

The 2x32 option offers BNC, HD-BNC (Micro) and DIN (1.0/2.3) back panel connectivity options; the 2x48 option offers HD-BNC and DIN.

The 12G+ Micro-Video Self-Normalling High-Density Single-Link Patchbay is now available. For more information, visit www.bittree.com.  

LAS VEGAS—Bittree has announced the launch of its new SMPTE Camera Hybrid Patchbay, which will be part of its exhibit booth during the 2020 NAB Show.

The SMPTE Camera Hybrid Patchbay is a hybrid connector patchbay with a newly designed SMPTE-style connector that can support up to 12 camera connections in 1RU. This helps create a space-efficient unit that can be used in OB trucks, multistudios and stadium environments, per Bittree.

The system allows for easy changing of camera positions when moving cameras within central studios or stadiums. As a throughput device, the patchbay can also support all-fiber rich content productions.

Each low profile patch point on the front panel features a locking, quick-thread hybrid connector with a red alignment indicator and polarizing pin for connectivity. It can also incorporate expanded beam technology on the front optical patch point connection, eliminating the need for frequent cleaning or adjustment. The fiber rear interface offers three types of single-mode connections—Dual ST, LC or SC.

In addition, the platform has four large contacts to accommodate 2-16 AWG power conductors and 2-24 AWG AUX connectors, connected by Bittree’s E3 connector. The patchcord and internal cabling are SMPTE-311 compliant. Patch points are also IP67 rated.

Bittree will showcase the SMPTE Camera Hybrid Patchbay at booth SU10507 during the 2020 NAB Show, taking place from April 18-22.

For more information, visit www.bittree.com.  

GLENDALE, Calif.—Audio, video and data patching system specialist Bittree has begun shipping its Patch 32A Dante audio patchbay. The patchbay, which streamlines integration of analog and IP network-based audio, makes moving 16 channels of analog audio onto and off Dante networks fast and easy, the company said.

“Media facilities are transitioning to IP-based infrastructures at an accelerating pace, but they require easy and cost-effective solutions to connect their existing analog equipment investments into next-generation media networks,” said Bryan Carpenter, senior sales consultant at Bittree.

“The Patch32A Dante patchbay is ideal for immediately solving problems in existing environments or as the backbone of new facility builds,” he said.

Providing a bridge between legacy audio and IP-based systems using Audinate’s Dante media networking, the Patch 32A patchbay also supports AES 67 and SMPTE ST-2110 IP audio transport, it said.

The patchbay eliminates complexity by minimizing required cabling, conversion equipment and their associated cost, the company said.

The 1.5RU patchbay comes in a desktop form factor featuring TT patching connections for analog I/O (16x16), redundant DC power inputs, external word clock I/O, network status indicators and LED audio VU metering, Bittree said.

The Patch 32A offers 24-bit audio sampling at rates from 44.1 to 192 kHz. It also offers professional analog-to-digital conversion to maximize signal integrity and audio fidelity, it said.

The patchbay interfaces with the Dante Virtual Soundcard, more than 1,600 third-party Dante-enabled devices and nearly all analog components in the same system, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

LAS VEGAS—Bittree will present video, audio and data patchbays at the 2018 NAB Show, including the 4K-capable Bittree 12G+ Mini-WECO Coaxial Video Patchbay and 12G+ BNC Coaxial Bulkhead Patch Panel.

Bittree’s video patching systems both enable 4K handling over a 12Gbps cable. In doing so, they eliminate the cumbersome quad-link connectivity often used for 4K-signal transport, while quadrupling the channels that can be routed through each unit. At 24GHz and 20GHz, respectively, the future-friendly 12G+ Mini-WECO and BNC patching systems provide headroom not only for 4K, but also 8K, HDR and potentially higher-bit rate applications.

Bittree’s ProStudio audio patchbays include the 1x16 PS16DB25QX, which provides audio I/O connectivity, choice of male XLR, female XLR, 1/4-inch TRS connections and the ability to pass audio signals to two rear-panel DB25 interfaces.

Other ProStudio audio patchbays include the front-programmable PS48DB25F, with 48 TT bantam connectors in a 2x24 desktop configuration and DB25 rear connectors for Avid ProTools and Tascam gear. The 96-connector PS96DB25F is a front-programmable, 2x48, 1.5RU rackmount version, while the PS96DB25i puts 96 TT (bantam) connections in 1RU of rack space.

Bittree’s high-density keystone data panels can be pre-configured or customized with fiber optic and copper data connections in a single panel, with a wide range of connectivity options.

The 2018 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 9-12. Bittree will be in booth SU3417. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

Read up on all of TVT's NAB Show Sneak Peeks and other 2018 NAB Show news here.  

Hamlet Stepanian

GLENDALE, CALIF.—Bittree has found its new operations manager internally, promoting Hamlet Stepanian to the role, effective immediately. Stepanian, who will report directly to General Manager Ari Baron, will handle all production, shipping and manufacturing of Bittree products and continue to develop operational and business improvements.

According to Bittree’s press release, Stepanian has plans to implement strategies to boost Bittree’s manufacturing operation, as well as a reorganization of the production floor.

Stepanian has been with Bittree since 1996.

GLENDALE, CALIF.—Industry veteran Ari Baron is now a part of the Bittree team, as CEO Glenn Garrard announced that he has been hired as the company’s new general manager. Baron will oversee the day-to-day operations of the audio and video patching systems manufacturer from the company’s headquarters in Glendale, Calif.

Ari Baron

Baron comes to Bittree after serving as the vice president of marketing at Eastman Music Company. He has also had previous experience working with UCLA, West Coast Choppers, Von Dutch, Ed Hardy and STA Travel.

Barron can be reached at ari@bittree.com or 818-500-8142.

SEATTLE—The term future-proofing gets thrown around a lot when customers evaluate components for an installation. But when designing and specifying products that make up the skeleton of the infrastructure—cables, wire and connectors—it’s also a good idea to evaluate whether they will serve well into the future.

Steve Lampen, Belden On the subject of future-proofing, Neutrik product manager Fred Morgenstern quoted Yogi Berra: “‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’” But Morgenstern did venture his own prediction: “In regard to broadcast signals on the acquisition and editing sides, the question appears to be not if facilities will move beyond HD signals at 3GHz, but rather when.”

He said it’s still up in the air how the industry will solve the challenges presented by these higher bandwidth transmissions. “Will the industry stick with tried-and-true SDI over coax?” Morgenstern mused. “Will we primarily migrate to Category [Ethernet] solutions? Or will fiber optics finally become the default option?

“Furthermore, as the industry migrates to IP-based workflows, allowing heterogeneous signals to be multiplexed over evermore powerful and inclusive hardware, what are the best physical carriers to transport those signals? Whatever choices facility designers make, we think that Neutrik has some compelling options.”

LEMO developed its 3K.93C connectors for SMPTE 304 standard 30 years ago, a standard that is still in use today.THE STATION OF TOMORROW
Bryan Carpenter, senior sales consultant for Bittree, said his company will introduce a new connector product at the upcoming NAB Show. “There is some momentum in the industry on trying to push UHD uncompressed video down a 12 Gbps coax line.”

According to Carpenter the new product will “be utilizing our MiniWeko-type plug. It’s re-engineered, because of all the high frequency and the precision involved in the parts. So this is where the miniBNC is gaining. It’ll be miniBNC on the back and Weko on the front end.”

Though the new product is being developed for uncompressed UHD transmission, Carpenter said customers will also find use for it in the HD world. “The advantages are that you not only run UHD across one single line, but you can also run eight 1.5 Gbps SDI lines or four HDSDI lines on that same coax cable.”

With the acquisitions Belden has made in recent years, its NAB booth has become massive. Steve Lampen, multimedia technology manager for the St. Louis-based company said the technical infrastructure to drive displays and demos is similar to the TV station of tomorrow. “We decided that the ‘Engine Room,’ [the part of the booth that houses storage and playout] which is traditionally out of sight, should be out in the middle of the floor so people could see how it’s wired up.”

He pointed out that while some have declared certain cable and wire to be “dead,” the booth will feature “equal amounts of coax, twisted pair, 10G data cables and fiber. And this is kind of the ‘station of tomorrow,’ at least at this point, some kind of amalgam of these three technologies. There’s no clear winner in any direction.”

In the future that may be less true, said Lampen. With the data world a hundred times bigger than the video broadcast world, “suddenly broadcasters are learning that this is a great way of putting stuff together because you could move the control room to the other side of the building by changing a couple of patch cords in a patch panel.” At its NAB Show booth Belden will show its new 10GXS CAT6a data cable, with a significantly smaller diameter and an absorptive layer to counter alien crosstalk, the bane of smaller diameter data cables.

OB Truck Market Demands Rugged Cables & Connectors

According to Shadath Shahid, engineering manager for Canare, preparing for the future means being able to handle higher bandwidths. “As technology’s evolving, everybody’s trying to get everything faster and quicker, and optics are one of the fastest ways to transmit signals,” he said. “We find that a lot of companies that used to use triax cable are now converting to complete fiber. That’s including some truck builders, stadiums and arenas that are using this fiber technology.”

For the rugged OB market Canare offers its SMPTE Tactical fiber. “It’s a more robust housing, with an outer jacket, and we use bend-insensitive fibers so it doesn’t break easily,” Shahid said. “It’s like a tough-shield cable, so it’s resistant to damage. It meets up with the conditions and comes out perfectly fine.”

The Fischer Connectors FiberOptic series is sealed to IP68 and can be cleaned with any water source for transmission without loss of data, making them perfect for mobile units and outdoor events regardless of the weather.Canare’s Tactical Fiber is slimmer, which allows for a lower weight per 100 feet.

One way to look at future-proofing is not just by meeting the future performance specifications of an installation, but also providing a product rugged enough to physically last into the future.

Rick Hobbs, director of business development at OCC (Optical Cable Corp.), a Roanoke, Va.-based provider of fiber-optic cable, says the company builds its products for durability. “Things are going to last, because we come from a military background,” he said.

But though OCC’s products like its B Series Mil tactical fiber cable are designed to meet military specifications, Hobbs said remote truck users of cable “are more harsh on the durability of the cable than military applications. They’re throwing things over the stands and pulling it through, and they have a short amount of time to set up in these venues, and when it’s set up they don’t want any issues to deal with.”

Connectors are a similar story. When system integrators at Mobile Studios saw a need for more robust fiber-optic cable and connectors, they formed Tactical Fiber Systems (TFS) to fill that need. “We saw more and more people going into high-definition sports production,” said Richard Rubin, president of the Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based company. Affordable connectors for fiber cable were often very fragile, so “we came up with our own connector and cable combination that was very robust for video production [and] field production.”

The weak point in many of these connectors was the exposed male fiber sticking out. “Our Magnum Connector is unique in that it’s a solid piece of machined stainless steel, and the connector itself has got female connections, so the fragile fiber tips are inside the connector,” Rubin said. This allows a stainless steel cap to protect the connector when the fiber is being pulled. Mud and water are a fact of life for OB broadcasters. “With all of our competitors, the mud will get inside all the mechanical components inside the connector, and it’s going to be a nice mess to clean,” said Jacques Miéville, product manager for Fischer Connectors. “So the broadcaster must send the whole reel back to the guy who supplied them.”

Fischer attacked this problem on two levels: “On the interface we have an IP67 ceiling, which prevents any water or debris or dirt to go into any of the mechanical parts of the connector, of the terminal, the fiber optic terminal.” With the mechanical parts isolated, a crew member “can really clean it properly in the field,” Miéville said. “And this is really interesting for broadcasters because when their connector is really dirty, they can have the first level of maintenance on the field for the connector.”

John Orona, sales and product manager for Lake Cable, pointed out the ever-increasing need for OB broadcasters to watch their weight. “Weight in the trucks is everything,” he said. “Every ounce counts on a truck.”

So Lake Cable set out to engineer a lighter ruggedized replacement for traditional 9.2mm SMPTE 311 cable that could carry the signal a similar distance. The STEALTH Special Ops cable is 7.8mm in diameter with a polyurethane jacket that’s flexible and more durable than traditional jackets while easily sliding over sticky surfaces. Lake Cable also replaced the 16-gauge steel conductor with a Kevlar strength member, “It’s stronger and lighter than steel,” Orona said. “In fact, it’s 33 percent lighter than the traditional 9.2mm cable overall.”
Craig Johnston

INVESTING IN PROTOCOL
Steven Lassen, manager of product and applications at LEMO, said that a good way of judging a company’s ability to make future- proofed equipment going forward is to look at how well they’ve future-proofed their earlier devices. Three decades ago, the Swiss-based company developed its 3K.93C connectors to meet the needs of the then new SMPTE 304 standard.

“That technology is still in use today, and we see it in support of 4K, UHD, and 8K UHD to the studio,” Lassen said. “So for futureproofing, we look pretty good with the existing connectors even today, 30 years later, and beyond.”

Lassen said that the company wanted a hybrid type of configuration, “so there are two fiber-optic contacts, what LEMO calls the ‘F2’ type, which is a 2mm, as well as two high-voltage contacts and two signal contacts.”

As to the future, Lassen said it starts with improvements in protocol. It’s up to “the industry to develop the protocol for the future, and we’re willing to work with the industry to do that,” he said. “Of course you can only get so fast over copper contacts, so eventually, at some point, for higher bandwidth type of things you’re going to have to change over to fiber. And we’re working on that.”

As the broadcast industry moves toward video over IP—where data cables replace traditional coax or fiber—Steve Cooper, vice president of engineering for Chicago-based Switchcraft, said the specifications of the cable and connectors are critical for CAT5, 5a, 6 or 6a cables to deliver future performance.

“We try to specify and obtain the best cable that we can with the least number of dB loss per foot, so that we can get the maxi-mum distance,” Cooper said. “So you have to look at your connectors, make sure your connector meets the spec, and also you need to verify the connectors when terminated with the cable you’re using still meets the spec.”

The most common RJ45 data cable connectors are built to withstand little more than air conditioner fluctuations in the single digits, with none of the environmental conditions OB truck crews are accustomed to. So Switchcraft has developed RJ45 Weathertight Connectors that are sealed to IP67 and IP68 NEMA 250 (6P) when mated.

Corning Cable Systems has traditionally been focused on fiber and cable manufacturing for the B2B market, but the company has looked into the needs and future needs of post-production houses and sees a market to address.

“Post production facilities and video production facilities use a ton of cable, especially to connect up with their storage devices,” said Sang Min (Joshua) Yoon, product line and marketing manager for the Emerging Applications team for USB and Thunderbolt Active Optical Cables for Corning. “Previously it was very hard to connect any sort of devices that actually were six or 10 feet away from the devices they wanted to connect to.”

With Corning’s Thunderbolt and USB 3 optical cables, “we were able to eliminate the inconvenience of multiple cables and connectors with one simple cable that is able to provide a ‘plug-and-play feature,’ and it works. A lot of the facilities are now running as much as 200 feet from PCs or laptops are to where the connected devices are located.”