[BC] wiring blocks

[Jim Seaman]

 > Christmas trees were wonderful! <
 
When I last did a project at IBB/Voice of America, they still had an entire rack row full of Christmas tree blocks in their NOC. That was two years ago. I never liked them much, anywhere, because Christmas trees are labor intensive and time consuming to work with. Who has the time for that anymore?
 
I've used lots of 66 blocks, and never had problems with them in analog service using shielded twisted-pair, Belden 9451 or equivalent. As long as the blocks were fresh or clean,  I encountered no issues with double punches. I also liked them because you could isolate problems by pulling bridging clips and there were accessories such as bridging blocks that could be fitted onto pairs for monitoring or temporary connections.  In a pinch, you could also stick the tip of a common 1/4-in headphone plug into a pair for a quick check of signal presence.
 
I think that 66-blocks, Krone, or any standard punch block are better suited to permanent wiring, and not for situations were configurations will often change.  I haven't come across much Krone since I shifted to video work almost 20-years ago, but my biggest complaint with Krone is that I they don't seem as versatile as 66 blocks.  I can't find accessories to bridge pairs as with 66 blocks, and I can't even use alligator clips on the terminals.  Like Mr. Meuser, I started using BIX while in New York, taking a cue from NYNEX which had started using them for new installs. I still like BIX for the reasons Robert mentioned and because they are space savers.
 
Jim Seaman