A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/639552
on a case - by - case basis. Every stakehold er is included in the process. They will be having clarification meeting on the VOR MON in DC 2/1 - 3. DATACOMM: Chad Geyer (ZLA) is the Artic le 4 8 Representative for DataComm. Mr. Geyer provided the membership an update below : • Another successful week on the DataComm program thanks to the hard work and dedication of our members. o AUS has declared Initial Operating Capability (IOC ), which is a l ittle bit different in the DataComm world than what you are used to hearing. The tower service consists of sending clearances directly to the flight deck and receiving their responses. This is just additional functionality that has been added to a system t hat is currently deployed in the NAS. Since this is just another capability, there really is no Operational Readiness Decision (ORD) that is common with new systems. IOC means that site has accepted the capability and will use it operationally. o Two sites of the waterfall deployment have declared IOC and 3 others are currently using the system operationally with voice read backs. Once the facilities that are sending Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) clearances with verification of voice read backs determine that the information that is being uplinked and downlinked to their satisfaction, the site will declare IOC. o Fifty - one CPDLC sites remain in the waterfall for deployment and fifteen enhanced PDC sites remain. All 72 sites should be comple ted by November of this year. • One of the many benefits that Version 12 of the Tower Data Link Services (TDLS) system brings is the ability to run auto mode. Before version 12 was deployed, about 5 sites were running in auto mode. Auto mode is the ability o f the system to auto process PDC s. o The reason that so few sites can run in auto mode is because depending on the SID they are flying, the configuration the airport is in, different departure frequencies and other reasons the controller needs to send diffe rent information. o Version 11 that is in the field only allows for the same information to be sent to every aircraft. o With Version 12, the system can be set up to send different information based on the SID/Transition that is assigned. It can even be set up to allow for only certain SIDs/transitions to be sent in auto mode and the controller must process the others. As version 12 rolls out across the country, auto mode will most likely be available for a majority of TDLS sites. INTEGRATED DISPLAY SYSTEM REPLACEMENT (IDS - R): Richie Smith (N90) is the iDS - R Artic le 48 Representative for NATCA. Mr. Smith's update to the membership is below. • The long anticipated Joint Resolution Council (JRC) decision regarding the future of the IDSR program was once again postponed. The program office keeps briefing NATCA that the JRC wants more data. The next time frame for a decision is the last week of February. Adding another month's delay to the decision on the future of the program makes the published waterfall schedu le unbelievable. If the program gets approval to move forward 30 networks would