EastofKoksy
I suggest you keep it simple.
But that was the whole point of the procedure that now, with the advent of mode S, some are objecting to.
The problem as I see it from our side of the operation is that setting the MCP to give ATC the mode S readout
they want so they can confirm each and every step on a complex SID doesn't keep it simple for
us, it makes things more difficult. It increases workload and there's an increased the risk of us failing to make a mandatory step up - if we forget to wind the MCP altitude up to the next step quickly enough, for whatever reason, you'll have an "hard" altitude capture and the aircraft may trundle on at a constant level, regardless of any subsequent steps required by the SID/ATC and programmed into the FMC....
Journeyman - Apologies for continuing to hi-jack your threads. I'm minded of the early days of TCAS where a pilot questioning ATC about separation usually got short shrift (at best) because we were told TCAS didn't have the complete picture and didn't tell the whole story.... I do feel perhaps the boot is on the other foot here and it's an issue that you rightly point out needs resolving.