A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/843966
SCT issues continue to be a large focus. NATCA SBS is heavily involved in the Surveillance Automation Analysis Team (SA AT), which is examining long - term alternatives to help improve overall surveillance in the SCT airspace. Their efforts are aimed at mitigating tracking issues in the LA Basin, including the effect of the new Stadium near LAX. NATCA and the Agency have agreed to move forward with raising the LGB radar site. This was thought to be one of the easier solutions to put in place, but the Agency cannot seem to get out of their own way to do so. Current target date for completion according to Western Service A rea is October to November 2017. Meanwhile the SAAT team has been working on a Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) design. Agency and Stadium proponents have completed negotiations over funding and announced that a shared cost agreement allowing WAM deployme nt to move forward. WAM in the LA Basin area will be in 3 phases: update 9 existing ADS - B Radios to support WAM via Virtual Radar (CLT configuration), add 8 new Radios to supplement the WAM coverage (still using VR), then update STARS to allow for WAM in Native format (1 second update rate). The first phase is moving along rapidly. The first phase Radio updates are complete. Contractor testing and tuning are nearing completion. An Air Traffic flight inspection is planned for July 17 - 18. Operational use of WAM could begin as early as August 2017. SAAT has been analyzing Potomac (PCT) Fusion issues for potential solutions. The facility has been struggling with a number of issues related to problem radar sites or a lack of coverage. Radar analysis is c onfirming the benefit of adding Quantico radar to PCT as well as reducing obstructions in the area. A long - awaited estimate for adding identified radars to CLE has finally been delivered. SBS Article 114 agreed to a path forward to add multiple radars to CLE in support of Fusion. A presentation to the facility is planned mid - July. N90 discussions point to a planned transition to Fusion in January 2018. Support activities could start in November or earlier. Vehicle ADS - B: Airport outreach briefing took place on June 21st. 1167 vehicles equipped in the NAS TIME BASED FLOW MANAGEMENT (TBFM) Eric Owens (I90) is the Article 114 Representative for TBFM. His report to the membership is below. After the budget issues were resolved, the TBFM Ops Team has be en very active assisting facilities with any issue they may be experiencing with TBFM. The First week of May a patch built to address ZTL's issues with TBFM 4.6 was delivered and installed. The patch resolved the underfeed to CLT that ZTL reported. Howe ver, the issue reported by ZID regarding TBFM to TBFM (T2T) is still being investigated to determine an appropriate solution. ZID recently went to TBFM 4.6 so we can determine if the