A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/719223
possibility was proven during V3.6 testing when the simulated SCT network suffered an IP storm after a router caused a tower ' s sub network to brea k away from the host and try to create a new conflicting network, flo oding the FTI lines with data. Preliminary testing of new software is scheduled to begin during the week of August 29. NAS VOICE SWITCH (NVS): Jon Shedden (ZFW) represents the NATCA memb ership as their Article 48 Representative to the NVS project. His report is below: NAS Voice System (NVS) demo labs are currently running on Build 11.11, which is still a stability build. Harris remains focused on eliminating as many known bugs as possible . The FAA test teams are currently evaluating this latest build. Build 12 is in development (these are still beta builds), but should be deployed in the next couple of months. There will be a Stability Demonstration at the William J Hughes Technical Center in November to gauge the systems readiness for Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT). FAT was scheduled to begin in November 2016, but it has been delayed until February of 2017. Harris continues to work on defect reso lution and feature integration. Chris Lloy d (ZDC), NVS Training Lead, is currently participating in Task And Skills Analysis (TASA) for the controller, supervisor, and configuration specialist user roles on NVS. He participated in the initial review of the ATC TASA on July 13th. Mr. Shedden was in Melbourne, FL at Harris HQ August 1 - 5 and August 15 - 19 to provide on - site support for development and defect detection. Next Generation Air - Ground Communication (NEXCOM) continues deployment of new CM300/350 V2 radios to terminal facilities across the cou ntry. Deployment is going well. Testing of a new RCAG at Houston Center (ZHU) has begun. This RCAG will replace the ARINC ' s VHF Extended Range Network (VERN) in Cancun. The FAA successfully replaced the Key West VERN last summer. These RCAG/VERN radios pro vide long - range directional radio coverage in the Gulf of Mexico. The area rep, Shawn Sharpless, indicates that initial testing shows the site works as well as the VERN in regards to signal strength and coverage. The issue where the controllers hear bleed over from Mexican ATC during incoming transmissions has been resolved, and testing has resumed. Mr. Sharpless indicates tha t testing continues to go well. NAS Voice Recorder Program (NVRP) is the replacement for existing NAS voice recorders (DALR, DALR2, D VRS, DVR2). The NVRP Integrated Requirements Team met on March 24th to begin validating and shaping the requirements for the initial Program Requirements (iPR) document. Key site for NVRP will be Seattle Center in the 2018 time frame. Plantronics was awarde d the Headset contract , so almost everything will remain the same. There will be a few headset models that will no longer be available under the new contract due to obsolescence. Mr. Shedden is working with the program office and LR to develop a br iefing o n the changes. The Headset Splitter final design h as been completed. The splitter, which is designed to allow three or four headsets to be connected to existing voice switches , should be produced and deployed later this year. Air Traffic Services is curren tly looking at the quantity necessary to address the ATSAP CAR (CAR 2012 - 001 ). A SRM Panel was completed July 19 - 20 . Chris Bakke (SLC) was in attendance representing terminal controllers. The splitter will also be a part of the headset contract and may be ordered in the same manner as headsets. Air Traffic Services is attempting to obtain funding for deployment of the splitter. Grand Rapids Tower/TRACON (GRR) is reporting multiple issues with their aging voice switch. The Voice Switching Team in Oklahoma Ci ty (AJW - 173) is working closely