- Bittree's patching solutions are playing a central role in a new, state-of-the-art audio/visual installation for the landmark Union League of Philadelphia.
- The Bittree patchbays and patch cords enable fast and easy signal routing for a complex array of microphones, projectors, and monitors in The Union League's historic Lincoln Hall.
Bittree 969-S patchbays preserved the historic architectural features of Lincoln Hall by enabling a design for very small wall plates located in four different spots in the ballroom.
With a rich history dating back to Civil War days, The Union League of Philadelphia is one of the city's oldest and most venerated civic institutions, and has been ranked as the No. 1 city club in the United States. When it undertook a major renovation of the Lincoln Hall's AV capabilities, The Union League hired Philadelphia-based Metropolitan Acoustics to provide AV design and consulting. RTS Unified Communications installed Bittree's 969-S programmable, switched ground audio patchbays as the system integrator for the project.
"This was my first project using Bittree equipment, and I found the 969-S very straightforward and easy to configure. Since this installation requires several different signal types with wide voltage differences, the 969-S offers the cleanest signal and best grounding structure for protection against noise," said Brian Dempsey, project manager, RTS Unified Communications. "Since it's programmable, it builds more flexibility into the system and allows us to make quick changes while enabling future repurposing of the product."
An important consideration for The Union League's new AV network was to preserve, as much as possible, the historic architectural features of the Lincoln Hall, including ornate woodwork and lighting fixtures. The Bittree 969-S patchbays supported this effort by enabling a design for very small wall plates located in four different spots in the ballroom, and accommodating up to six microphone connections. From those wall plates, the patchbays handle patching of each mic into an analog audio console and then to audio distribution amplifiers. The patching equipment also enables audio signals to be patched to recording equipment in other areas of the room.
"Termination using the Bittree E3 rear interface connectors was extremely easy; we could do 16 of them in five minutes. This was a big cost-saver since we were using union labor," said Dempsey. "Also, Bittree's support services are first-rate. On very short notice, the support tech was able to provide me with an electrical schematic as well as a spreadsheet for labeling the system. This might seem trivial, but it saved us several hours of effort having to figure out the various connections."
