DVB-T Dongle

[Rob Seastrom]

<wb4jfi at knology.net> writes:

> How much did those router cards cost?  To an early adopter DTV
> station, just the HD encoder cost well over half a million dollars
> each.  The costs of an early adopter DTV station was typically between
> $3.5 million and over ten million, for only the transmission systems,
> no HD production included.  Much of that equipment did not last its
> capital depreciation cycle.  "Early adopter" was an official term from
> the FCC, BTW.

Depending on when you got them and generation/size/your discount,
anywhere from $150k to a half mil.  Per card.  On average at least two
per chassis, probably more.  Not installed in every chassis in the
network, but the core stuff with more card count balances off the very
edge where there are none.  How many routers in the network would have
super duper hot shit brand new cards varies with the company of
course...  50 would be on the small side.

Funny side note - I remember right after I got my white Land Rover (so
late summer '97) filling it with brand new Cisco OC3 cards and driving
to another facility with it.  Along the way it dawned on me that the
property damage component of my insurance policy was insufficient by
an order of magnitude to cover the value of the goods in the car.

Anyway, these cards are the gift that keeps on giving - after you have
the TTM cards installed there are the operational difficulties, code
built earlier this morning with your initials in the build identifier
(regression testing?  wuzzat?), and business costs associated with
doing it over a second time to make it right.  Here in the future, we
try to not do business that way anymore.

Capital depreciation cycle?  The TTM cards' value goes substantially
to 0 when the performance cards come out.  Not only do they not last
their depreciation cycle, sometimes they don't last a year.

Taking a hit for only $10mm all in due to a router company's TTM
cards?  That's getting out relatively unscathed.  

-r