A few questions on PC
 

Hello All,

I am a bit confused about the new Prestwick Centre and was hoping those in the know might be able to explain.

Firstly, Im aware that the old MACC, ScACC, D & D, Mil and Oceanic are all in the same ops room, however which are seperate, and which join to be one unit?

Secondly, are ScACC moving to NODE? I would have thought it quite strange to have different sections of the Ops room on different systems (with an exception on Oceanic, of course). All the pictures I have seen of PC so far have been using NODE.

and finally, will there be any sectorisation or frequency changes that anyone is aware of? I can imagine MACC sectors like East and North Lower/Upper would have misleading names if both MACC and ScACC were one unit.

I hope some of you can enlighten me!

Thanks in advance,
Jonjo

"Are ScACC moving to NODE?"
Yep. - Television is coming home!

well, it used to be scacc and the mil in the one ops room , with the D&D cell in the box room in the corner. and shanwick had their own ops room round the corner. Macc were located at manchester airport just below the tower.
as things stand, shanwick are located in the new place, and the mil are imminently to move, if they haven't already, with scacc moving in in early december and macc sometime in january i think.
Yes we are indeed moving to the node system. and we are getting a fully comprehensive :} set of training days to learn the node systems plusses(many) and negatives(many as well). we are also getting a new telephone and radio panel system which we are having to learn, as well as a new backup r/t and telephone system, a new information retrieval system(SIRS), oh and mode S of course. did i leave anything out?
As far as i'm aware , the transition should be seemless from the pilots perspective, with no frequency or sector changes. however, if we sound a bit lost on the r/t , bare with us , we are losing all our little aid memoirs posted around each sector which are deemed to be huuge fire risks and all this information is going to be on the new SIRS, but we need to find the right page
thanks awfully

sectors and freqs
 

as far as it goes sectors and freqs are all the same, except MACC Control will be known as Scottish Control for purposes of RT.

haha! and i love the fact that u can no longer take jackets and bags in! except for us ladies and our handbags!! (size dependant lol!!)

Ayrprox New power system and multi radar tracking probably are the main one's missed .............

RT

but apart from
a new telephone and radio panel system
New power system
Node
SIRS
mode S
Multi radar tracking
a new backup r/t and telephone system
new canteen with new 'improved' prices

apart from all that

what have the romans done for NATS?

:E

Is it true along with our nice shiney new headsets we will all be getting a "Tommie Tippy" beaker for use in the ops room? :cool:

apparently so, will just need to make sure i dont mix it up with my toddlers one!! i wonder will the have our names on them?! Im already on my second shiney new headset! only been in the tdu since may!! lol!!

I expect I may be a couple of months too early asking this question, but quite a few years ago ( I can't recall the exact year but certainly before 2000 ) I was fortunate enough to be part of a group that visited Atlantic House one evening. As part of a short presentation at the end of the visit, we each received a copy of a booklet describing the work undertaken at the Scottish and Oceanic Centres. The booklet was published by the CAA and had " CAA Document No. 259 " on the back cover.

I was wondering if anyone knows if it is the intention to publish a similar document describing the new Centre.

During the year I organise quite a few flying club visits in order to educate some of my customers (PPL's) on the mysteries (to them) of ATC. As part of these visits I have a small booklet produced by the unit giving basic details of our operations ( nothing as grand as an official CAA doc!! ). As for PC I am unsure as yet how next years flying club visits will progress but I am sure once the dust settles demands on my spare time will once again come!...:cool::cool::cool:

Where are we with PC are Oceanic in already and when do Scottish Domestic move in? Also what disadvantages does NODE have over the prehistoric system domestic are using now?

Oceanic already in, the boys in blue go live on Saturday, Scottish Airways move in December and the Manchester team follow on in January....:cool::cool::cool:

Sorry cannot answer that as all they trust me with is a green biro and a 1:500,000 paper chart!! :cool::cool:

Do "Tommie Tippie beakers" change colour with increasing temperature, causing a McNATS logo to miraculously appear? :E

marble bar - NODE system is very good, apart from the fact that to incorporate Scottish, we have now had the letter 'A' foisted on us to denote altitudes, when we did perfectly well without beforehand in London airspace.

Just more pointless clutter in the LTMA...

Alerting & Fixing Cell A&FC

Will they fix my bike?? :cool::cool:

What you mean the new entrance is open from tommorrow...??? Oh bugger that means 5 minutes less in bed so as I can re programme the Tom Tom to find the new entrance!....:cool::cool: