A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/761055
complete th e waterfall by the end of 2019. The CTD is still not a proven product; NATCA is working dil igently with the agency to help bring the CTD to an op erational acceptance standard. Issu es still linger with AT Coach. N90 requires changes to AT Coach in order to complete the final transition to STARS i n the training environment. Without the fixes , N90 cannot transition to fu sion or complete OAPM training. TAMR is working closely with Raytheon to close the loop and move N90 toward Operational Readiness Decision (ORD). ATSAPs continue to be filed by facilities that have transitioned t o STARS in the last six months. Rose answered ERC questions and coordinated with Operational Support Facilities (OSF) to alleviate adaptation i ssues, which led to the ATSAPs. The week of Nov 15 th , Mr. Rose traveled to the Willi am J. Hughes Technical Center. Meetings include d the PMO Terminal Cohort, Scenario Processing and Organization Tool (SPOT) for terminal, TA MR hardware, and CTD meetings. The SPOT meeting with Tom Marynik (ZAB) and Gian Burdhimo (FAA PMO) was very pr oductive. This tool is used in the En route world to c reate scenarios an d tracks training requirements. The team has been exploring its us e in the terminal environment. This has the ability to replace AT Coach and would bring terminal training into this century. Rose , in addition to the above meetings , atten d ed an award ceremony for TSLE. Kyle Ness and Aaron Rose conducted an emergency te st of new R3 software for D01. This passed and should b e loaded the week of Nov 28th. TAMR welcomed Columbia, S.C. to the STARS w orld on Nov 4. Congratulations!!! Candy Barr (NEOSF ) will be retiring on Nov 30th. Candy has been an important p art of STARS since the late 1990s. Her hard work and dedication to NATCA cannot be over emphasized , and her depth of knowledge and spirit of union cannot be replaced. Candy will be missed ; enjo y a well - deserved retirement. TAMR Systems Engineering Update submitted by Kyle Ness (M98) Mr. Ness traveled to the Tech Center November 14 - 18 for informal meetings and to test a revision to the R3d software which fixes a data - block issue identified during key site activity at Denver TRACON (D01). Issues worked during the week were software planning, upcoming OT&E events, surveillance field support , and integrating software delivery targets with tech re fresh implementation acti vity. There are five s oftware builds that will be tested and/or deployed within the next five months. Discussions with TSLE revolved around effectively managing build content while maintaining an ambitious rollout schedule. The PTR working group meeting was also held during th e week with NATCA SMEs from NCT, PHL, RSW , and M98 in attendance. This group meets monthly to evaluate, rank, and prioritize STARS software problems/improvements. During this meeting , the group addressed approximately 35 PTRs. The value of having NATCA repre sentation at these meetings was proven once again as we elevated a data block presentation issue to the highest position on the ranked order list. Two software issues of importance to Potomac TRACON (PCT) were also addressed.