Switronix PTC-A7S D-tap Issues?

[powervideo]

I was just about to get a Switronix PTC-A7S then read this user review on B&H;


"This cable introduced horizontal banding frequency noise into the image, most likely due to the noisy voltage regulator electronics in the battery block adapter. Switronix told me that it's the same exact circuit they use for their other power adapters for other cameras, so my guess is that the super-sensitive a7s picks up on the frequencies generated by the cable. It is an inherent design flaw. Switronix was nice about it in terms of refunding my first cable (the one I got from B&H was supposed to be a replacement but ended up being worse!!), but they don't seem to be equipped with the proper in-house engineers to deal with the issue.

Before I returned it, I went to a local dealer here in LA and tried out the cable in their floor a7s and saw the same issue. They were a bit alarmed, so we tested out all the cables in their inventory and found the same noise issue in all the cables. I asked to return it immediately and am still waiting for a refund, I shipped it back right away.

It's quite unfortunate, because this is the only separate cable I see on the market that does this right now."


Has anyone else noticed interface issues with this cable? As the poster said, it's the only cable out there at the moment under a hundred bucks.

 

[olof]

I was actually going to make an inline voltage reducer for the FS700. And i decided not to. Because I could do it, but I had to have it be FCC certified and this is very expensive, if I did not have it certified my liability insurance would be void. Even if I put the shield in the device and kept RF to the FCC permitted limits, it still has to be certified. So even though I can do this for $30 a piece, I can't afford the $10K to get the FCC certification.

Bottom line only buy FCC certified electronics, it is illegal for any dealer to sell any electronic device that is not FCC certified in the USA and Europe has its own version.

 

[powervideo]

Thanks Olof for the clarification. Maybe Swit do have FCC certication for their cable (as the major retailers do sell it), but maybe it is just a poor design.