A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/826356
Jeff Woods (ART 114 PMO) and Mr. Rose have been working the Corpus Christi (CRP) and Joint Control Facility (JCF) issues. Coordinating with the DOD (Department of Defense) to e nsure NATCA members at each facility have the proper functionality to ensure a safe operation. Congratulations to R90, Y90, BTR, MLI, and MOB on achieving IOC this reporting period. Each facility was very unique with one exception, the controllers. They were prepared and helpful at every step. Mr. Rose attended numerous meetings and telcons to include weekly TAMR Segment 2 deployment telcons, N90 Post ORD, hardware system engineering, IOC, ORD, adapt ation, STRWG, and PTR meetings. Coordinated SME release s for Moses Lake (MWH) training, and TWP1 meetings schedul ed at MITRE end of May. STARS and Common Terminal Digitizer (CTD) Deployment Update Submitted by Scott Robillard (K90) After several weeks of travel restrictions due to Activity 5, TAMR is getting back on track. During the Activity 5 restrictions, TAMR was limited to those activities that were directly linked to Initial Operating Cap acity (IOC) supporting events. This required that work on future transitions be delayed while we all waited for a fun ding bill. With that behind us, a major reworking of the waterfall is being accomplished to make up for lost time. This includes all ARTS IIE to STARS G4 ELITE, G1/2 to STARS G4 , and G1/2 to STARS G4 ELITE. The Common Terminal Digitizer (CTD) is scheduled for an Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) for the week of June 5 - 9, 2017. NATCA will have a team of four on site: three controllers who have seen the CTD at prior events and one engineer. As the system is currently configured, there are known issues with the CTD: some are hardware - related and some can be fixed with software. The PMO is on track to have the issues resolved. NATCA nationally has entered into an agreement to achieve IOC at the 2 Key Sites (RFD and ROA) with a limited number of outstandin g issues. On May 17, 2017, NATCA will be meeting with the CTD PMO, AJV - 7, PASS , and AJW to draft what is being called the Initial Operating Capacity (IOC) to In Service Decision (ISD) agreement. This plan will spell out specific system states with workaro unds for controllers and technicians during this IOC to ISD period. As part of the agreement, no other CTD system can achieve IOC until all listed issues are resolved and a regression test is satisfactorily completed. This approach will allow the PMO to mo ve forward and meet waterfall and APB milestones. Tech Ops training can be completed while holding the vendor and PMO accountable to bring the system to a truly operational and fully functional state within a defined period of time. Until the agreement is fulfilled and all listed issues are resolved, no other ASR8 will be digitized with the CTD and no sites other than RFD or ROA will h ave access to the sensor feed. As the CTD prepares for its first IOC in January 2018, installation and deployment activity increases. The ASR8s across the NAS are in a very uneven state of performance. Some perform well while others have had issues that span years. To