A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/889675
FDIO The first arti cle testing is still on going. The FD IO Team is dealing with num erous quality assurance issues. To date , all issues are being corrected by BOCA and then the FDIO Team r e - tests the corrected printer. The printer is also in its final stages of its FCC Class B certification and should be certifie d by end of Sept. The key site install was slipped back to January 2018. The plan is to have five key sites consisting of a Tower and TRACON and due to their unique printer demands we are also using Honolulu, Alaska , and Puerto Rico. EFSTS There is nothing to update at this time. FIDI There is nothing to update at this time. INTEGRATED DISPL AY SYSTEM REPLACEMENT (IDS - R) Richie Smith (N90) leads NATCA's efforts on the IDS - R project as t he Article 114 Representative. Below is Mr. Smith's report. During the week of Sept. 11th the newest software build passed testing. During the following week the software was deployed at CMH - one of the agreed upon key site networks. The agreed upon post installation time frame for support for that network ended during the wee k of Oct. 9 with the system stable. The second key site installation at I90 will take place on Oct. 16 and support will be on hand for three weeks afterward. This installation was delayed due to the impact of hurricane Harvey on the Houston area. The nat ional release of the software is Oct. 24 and the FAA plans to have on site support at the largest network (SCT) to assist and look for issues. The FAA and vendor are negotiating packaging and a time frame for the next software build and operating system. There are no firm estimates to report at this time. NAS VOICE SWITCH (NVS) Jon Shedden (ZFW) represents the NATCA membership as their Article 114 Repr esentative to the NVS project. His report is below. NAS Voice System (NVS) Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) Dry Run ended June 23rd. The system still has stability problems so Harris will continue working on defect resolution prior to starting formal FAT. Formal FAT was scheduled to start July 18th, but has been officially delayed. The FAA is working with Harris to address the impacts to the deployment s chedule because of this delay. Harris has kicked off Release Stability Assessment Testing (RSAT) along with rapid development to improve stability in the next several months. Mr. Shedden was in Melbourne, FL October 2nd - 6th participating in the RSAT kickoff. Next Generation Air - Ground Communication (NEXCOM) continues deployment of new CM300/350 V2 radios to terminal facilities across the country. Some terminal facilities in the NAS using very old radios h ear a pop back or " squelch tail " when they release their transmitters. The new radios being deployed under NEXCOM Segment 2 do not have this " feature " as the squelch tail is generally regarded as undesirable in radio