A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/806148
April 3, 2013. This is the day Dallas TRACON (D10) transitioned from ARTS IIIE to STARS, and they have not looked back. Since April 3 , all 11 ARTS IIIE have transitioned and 40 of the 91 ARTS IIE facilities have followed. Thank you to the NATCA representatives that have facilitated this success : Bill Spence (BTV), Jim VanZee (GRR), Richard Thomas (GEG), Chris Falcone (MDT), Ross Costa (RSW), Hugh Wyckoff (TLH), Robert Faulkner (D01), Jimmie White (PHL), Jill Carr (TPA), Teah Lord (F11) , and Chris Hilbert (PHL). The professionalism and dedication of this core team is greatly appreciated. Software & Engineering Report Submitt ed by Kyle Ness (M98) NATCA SMEs from SCT and D01 were at the tech center mid - March and successfully tested the STARS S6R3e software revision. R3e will be the last build specific to previous ARTS 3e sites and in cludes numerous fixes such as: improvements t o AT coach, modifications to conflict alert, weather display, ADS - B tracking, internal RNAV routes for SCT and improving CRDA functions for D01. PCT and SCT are planning to key site the new software. Mr. Ness attended a meeting with AJV - 7 (FAA Terminal Re quirements) and NATCA weather representative Matt Tucker. Discussions revolved around terminal weather improvements and how to move forward. Two options have been advanced - improve the existing STARS weather display or develop a new standardized terminal weather product. Much of the discussion focused on Airport Surveillance Radars (ASR) and the failings of each ASR platform to accurately output precipitation information. ASRs are not fundamentally intended to provide weather data and many ASRs are plagu ed with false weather and inconsistent or unreliable presentations. Furthermore, ASRs do not completely cover all terminal airspace leaving some controllers without any weather depiction on their display. The group agreed that a dedicated weather product t hat provides the same information to all terminal controllers is the preferred solution. Metrological technology has advanced greatly giving controllers a composite weather product that is not only uniform, but also easily interpreted would greatly enhance safety. Future meetings need to be held with a wider audience and a requirement to interface a NextGen Weather Product with terminal automation. The STARS strategic software - planning group is finishing up the build content for S6R9 scheduled for release in 2019 and subsequent builds are beginning to take shape. Currently, there are over 50 fixes and improvements planned for R9. Tech refresh and software upgrade activities at legacy STARS sites exposed an issue related to using MACRO keyboard entries to make data block changes. Working with NATCA multi - unit representatives, the problem was identified and mitigations have been established either by adaptation or training. AT Coach improvements requested by N90 are still under development. TSLE (FAA Second Level Engineering) has continued to support N90 with answers to questions and mitigating concerns about AT Coach scenarios. Upcoming system engineering events: April 13 PTRWG