A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/1110049
PNS IDST failed due to the display presentation being fuzzy and not to standard. A number of efforts were made over two days to correct the issue, but it was eventually concluded that a larger effort of cable runs and rack relocation will be needed to fix the display. Engineering services will be working with others to get a timeline to Ops for the fix. This may delay the implementation of IDAC at PNS, but all agreed that utilizing a sub-standard display in the tower is not a viable option. The TBFM Ops Team will continue to work with Tech Ops, engineering services, the Program Office, and the site to ensure that all are working together to get a proper system that can be used for implementation of the IDAC capability. That same week, Ops Team members travelled to ZOA to work at the TBFM support lab. During previous keysites at ZOA, it was found that the TBFM support string was not running well enough for the site to utilize it for new release verifications. Specifically, the GUIs were running slow and the IDST displays were allowing aircraft to be scheduled into 'red space'. The initial thought was that there was an issue with resolution of the GUIs but during this visit it was found that there was an adaptation file at ZLA that was causing some of the issues that ZOA was using in their support string. Engineers recommended ZLA make a slight change in their system and this cleared up most of the issues. The Ops Team then let ZOA test the support string before they left, and it appears that it will be satisfactory to utilize for operational verification of future releases. There are still a few issues that the team would like to investigate, so tickets were created to continue testing. Work on the PHL demo at the Tech Center continued this week as well. Additional visitors, including the PHL FacRep and ATM, were in attendance for some of the week, and were able to see the amount of work that is being done to support this project. The team continued to work on a number of options to utilize for the eventual runs at the Tech Center for the facilities. Agenda planning was also conducted throughout the week to ensure that the timeline of the various activities of the demo week go smoothly. The NEC team will be back at the Tech Center for two more weeks of testing and prep, prior to the demo, the week of May 6. During the week of April 15, the TBFM Ops team will be traveling to three events that will be covering TSAS, NEC, and Sustainment. NEC personnel will be at PHL doing work leading up to the demo. A couple TSAS SME's will be in El Segundo, Calif., with reps from STARS/TAMR to work on selected future TSAS training items that specifically relate to STARS equipment. TBFM sustainment work on 4.8.3 P2 will be conducted at the TBFM lab at the Tech Center. Terminal Sequence and Spacing (TSAS) submitted by Paul Carroll (PCT) The week of March 25, the TBFM Program Manager advised us that the planned implementation at the first TSAS keysite, Denver TRACON, has slipped to the fall of 2021. Headquarters made the decision to avoid conflicts with other programs that had