A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/587238
§ October 9 , 2015, Scott Robillard (K90) and Joe Yannone (Region X) dialed into a telcon with the TAMR Program Office to discuss possible waterfall changes for ASR8 site in early 2017 to address a struggling CTD program. These discussions could lead to non - ASR8 sites in mid 2017 being accelerat ed to for a struggling program. · STARS/TAMR Phase 1 update submitted by Jimmie White - PHL o MDM. A90 reports some issues with their maps a nd range rings are fading out. § The MDM workgroup tested A90 ' s settings at the Tech Cen ter and confirmed the reports. Maps intensity issues and the perceived fading out are the same for ever y display through out the NAS. The maps and range rings to the right third of the monitor will fade at the lower brightness settings. This is due to the G6 fil ter that overlays the display. § The filter is designed to block light from sources within the radar room (ro om lighting, exit signs etc.). The filter glass is tinted, then etched, giving i ts elf a Venetian blind effect. Imagine a Venetia n blind partly open or closed. Depending on your angle of view, objects on the other side of the blin d come into, and out of focus. § As with the G6 filter, off angle views, such as from a trainer monitoring v iew, maps and range ri ngs are clear and undistorted. But, from the controller 12 o ' clock viewpoint , the maps/RRs will start to fade once you lower your brightness settings below 40. § The best solution is to keep map/RR brightness settings higher (let ' s s ay 45 or above) or raise the backlight (horizontal tubes within the display that lig ht the screen) to 40 or above. This was an educational issue that did not reach the controllers at A90. This is a communication failure of the program as a whole. ALL sites should, and will in the future, receive a comprehensive briefing on the differences b etween the Sony 2K and the MDM. § Different technology dictates changes that have to be made, to take advantage of t he positives the MDM gives us. No one wants to be told how to set their display, but when transitioning to a different style of monitor, controllers should be given an opp ortunity to make sure the display is set up to meet each persons personal satisfaction. o Seattle (S46) has been dealing with vertical line flashes on a few of their displays si nce the install, early summer. Despite the FAAs and Esterlines (formerly Barc o) engineers' best efforts so far, they haven ' t been able to bring this matter to close. § The engineers believe turning of LCD Flicker Control (LFC) will most likely solve this riddle. NATCA requests using this as a last resort, being that LFC prevents controllers from dealing with a more serious issue, "Flicker." Another possible smoking gu n is, converting images from an analog signal to a digital interface. To test these theories,