So is WD in Winnipeg, Alberta or Southampton :D

I think it's wishing it was in Southampton :E

I'm still here Jerricho and I'll not have a bad word said against West Drayton.It must be at least 4 days since we last got woken up in the night by the Police chopper.

Wow. Sounds like things have improved since I left.

A relative of mine is a Met police dog handler and operates in the WD area. He likens it to the Bronx or LA south side 20 years age (his wife is from LA and he lived there from 80 - 90). The sooner the place is shut the better. He suggests that you do not walk in WD after dark!!! At all if female.:ouch:

Aye, you could run into Hammy on his way home from work :E

You don't actually need to move NAS to move TC, but it is planned to be in service at Swanwick long before TC moves. CCDS is being replaced with another (ACID) system which is also position independant to the TC move.

Thanks, involved in various projects in this area. It does not matter where NAS is (to Scotland or Manchester either) but it might affect business if we close WD and forget to take it with us - and ACID - if its working by then of course.

Minesapint
 

Might affect NAS if it were at Scottish 'cause unless they make a NAS midi (no chance) then the Scots are just an OLDI to NAS ;-)

BD

NAS won't go to Scottish. They are getting a new FDP system courtesy of Caspian. One which supports full OLDI protocols I understand ;)

PPRune Radar
 

Ah yes the mighty ITEC LOL!! Lets not hold our breath on that coming in any time soon.

BD

Mighty! I will believe that when I see it. iTEC means, I think, inter summat through european co-operation / co-ordination. No iTEC system exists yet. SACTA goes to ScACC. iTEC for London to replace NAS 2010 -2012. Yes, of course it will.:ok: :ok: :uhoh:

It was of course the SACTA one I was referring to, as mentioned by Mineasapint. It is already a fully functioning FDP system, with the ability to send PAC, MAC, and REV messages over OLDI. Something our current UK wide system can't.

Alas, I suspect the empire builders in NATS will be trying to dumb it down since NATS could never possibly buy something out of the box without tampering with it and taking useful functionality out :{

Time for NAS to realise its time is up and its life is limited. The engineers and support teams have done a great job of keeping it going over the years, but in comparison to modern day systems and what they can do, it looks very cumbersome and lacking in user friendly functionality.

For a thickie like me, could anyone explain briefly what a PAC, MAC and REV message is please?

Hhhmmm, the SACTA version of NAS does not do all that NAS can and has to. I'm no fan of NAS but there is no off the shelf replacement (except maybe the new version of NAS). Also remember that the SACTA thats going into nPC will be treated by NAS as ScACC currently is, as an OLDI, not as a part of NAS.

I'll speak to my experts on Monday about what the SACTA system and the proposed iTEC replacement does and does not do. My current understanding is that it is a long long way off of being anywhere near replacing NAS.

Wow - I'm glad I'm retired; I simply couldn't keep up with all this gobbledegook.... It took me 10 years to find out what EG meant.

SACTA v NAS is a none starter. NAS can handle the entire OLDI message set which goes way beyond PAC MAC & REV. NATS chooses not to spend the money on NAS to introduce additional functionality. Be aware though that its no good having all this functionality if the adjacent ACC's don't. I agree its time for NAS to go but only when the replacement is able to support the traffic levels. SACTA can? is Scotland/MACC but not in London, hence iTEC. Interoperability through european co-operation. Or, SACTA enhanced. Its safe to say that most controllers have a fairly limited understanding of their FDP system and that's the way it should be.

Forgot: PAC will be introduced in support of the NAS/SACTA split. PAC = Pre Activation Co-ordination. REV is a revision message and MAC is basically 'I aint commin'

careful with all this talk of NAS and any other ATC system that is automated - Jerricho will get jealous!
(should i insert a "wink" smiley here?)

Jealous of what? :p

EXCDS never fails.........ever (just ask them campers at EGSS ;) )