A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/736089
A key component to transitioning the NAS to a single automation pl atform, which is fully NextGen compliant, is the digitizing of the ASR - 8s. In total, there are 41 A SR - 8 radars around the country. The week of September 12 - 16, 2016, NATCA fielded a test team at the Tech Center for the first look at the Common Terminal Dig itizer (CTD). The team wrote seven Discrepancy Reports (DR) on system performance. The team will have its second look at the new equipment October 24 - 28, 2016 , at RFD. RFD is one of two k ey s ites; the other is ROA. The CTD has already experienced two delay s in deployment and is negativel y affecting the TAMR waterfall. To keep on track , the FAA has acquired TDX - 2000 s from the DOD and utilizing NDP assets that are existent in the NAS for national defense purposes. However, all known assets are planned for de ployment. The vendor has discontinued the product. The vendor no longer builds software or hardware and the long - term supportability of the aging TDX - 2000 is seriously in doubt. If all known TDX - 2000 and NDP assets are fully deployed to support FAA facilit ies, the NAS will be left with nine analog ASR - 8 radars. This will leave nine FAA facilities in ARTS IIE , and these facilities will not be NextGen capable. STARS is part of the gateway to NextGen. STARS itself includes many NextGen features such as Fusion , ATPA , and CRDA. It also puts in place the ability for the F AA to deploy ADS - B technology. Without a CTD to digitize the ASR - 8s, ARTS IIE cannot be replaced with G4 STARS ELIT E; therefore no Gateway exists. Currently the TAMR program is conducting work in 21 legacy STARS facilities and 50 ARTS IIE facilities. This starts with site surveys, progresses to equipment design and install , and ends with operational cutover and the removal of legacy systems. The level of work being accomplished nation wide is unpre cedented. Since the last update, the following sites have transitioned to STARS: • PWM ( Portland, M aine) • CID (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) • EUG ( Eugene, O re.) Congratulations to all three! Up coming major events : • CRW STARS transition October 3, 2016 • BIS STARS transi tion October 9, 2016 • CTD User evaluation RFD October 24 - 28, 2016 V RB (V ero Beach, Fla .) and FPR (Fort Pierce, Fla.) will be joining an expanded Palm Beach (PBI). This expansion of PBI, to incorporate VRB and FPR , will bring terminal approach control servi ce to the towers. This was facilitated by transitioning PBI into their new building and transitioning the site from ARTS IIE to STARS G4 ELITE. Miami ARTCC is currently providing services to VRB and FRP. Once the transfer is complete, it is expected that P BI will become the largest STARS G4 ELITE site in the NAS. VRB and FPR will benefit from terminal automation and advanced adaptation as remote towers off of PBI. Once annually, the full NATCA Deployment Team meets with the FAA TAMR deployment team. Octobe r 11 - 14, 2016, 14 NATCA TAMR SMEs will be in Washington ,