division change

[arno coetzee]

Good day.I am looking for some advice and guidance in this matter. i am currently in the Southern Africa( South Africa) division. also holding a s2 rating. my concern at this moment is the following... due to the current traffic volume we have here which is almost non existing i am finding it almost impossible to have sufficient atc training and experience. i am therefor requiring how to go about to effect a change to a European division where there is always a bigger traffic volume. i would like to do the s3 rating but i cannot see it happen in this division. any advice in this matter would be appreciated

[Michael Uy]

Hi,

 

If you're looking for a good amount of traffic, I would personally go with VATUK. I was a controller for VATUK for quite some time and it was a very good experience - the training is great and mentors will make sure that you're up to standard. However the main concern there is the waiting list, for some airports (or probably all airports) have a huge waiting list so you will also need to wait for some time for you to start training for a position.

[arno coetzee]

Thanx Michael for the reply. At this moment i am also interested in a division change and am not sure how to do that. any help regarding this?

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

my opinion would be not to chase the traffic. often only ends in frustration in both the training time and traffic later.

 

your current division is completely capable of doing your S3 and even C1, they just shouldnt be relying on live traffic to do it if thats what is happening. training staff has other options like sweatbox to do that.

 

I would also contact your current training department with your concerns and they will help you figure out if its better for you to stay or go somewhere else. saves everyone from wasting each others time.

 

keep in mind there is a waiting period if youve just joined your current division. believe its 90 days before you can transfer out. if youve been there longer then that, again make sure to contact your training staff and division staff.

 

before transferring out though, think long and hard where you want to go, take the time to visit those areas and join their forums, ask as many questions as you can so you know what you are getting into, as Michael mentioned above, VATUK is one with a really long waiting list and youll not be controlling any time soon. something to watch out for when considering where to go. popular areas are likely to be filled up and waiting lists longer then usual

[Shrikar Galgali]

Why worry about traffic when we have such a wonderful tool called SweatBox

Here is video of SweatBox Session in VATSAF itself :

[Kieran Samuel Cross]

Arno,

 

Make sure to read the comments from this thread, there are some really really good points. If you're 100% sure you want to change, follow these instructions.

 

The requirements to change division (and region) are as follows:

• Has been a member of home region for at least 90 days.
  
• Has not had a controller rating upgrade within 90 days.
  
• Has controlled 50 hours at your current rating.

 

To change division to a European division, you'll need to also change region. You can use this link to change region. You'll also need to select a division. If you want to see which countries are [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned to each division, you can see in part 1 of the region policy, here.

• To control in VATSIM-UK, select UK.
  
• To control in VATRUS, select Russia.
  
• For everywhere else in Europe (VATEUD), select Europe (Except UK).

 

 

 

Side Note:

To those trying to say how SweatBox is the answer for lack of traffic, I disagree. SweatBox is and was designed to be operated as a training-aid for areas with little traffic (just like South-Africa!). However, SweatBox was not designed for controller to keep their proficiency on, nor was it created as a parallel VATSIM network for areas with no traffic. To me, Arno wants to both be able to handle nice amounts of real traffic, and wants to upgrade his rating. Is SweatBox an ideal solution for him? Probably not.

 

Edit: Added 50 hours @ current rating, (credit to Daniel).

Edited May 3, 2017 at 08:52 PM by Guest

[Daniel Hawton]

To be eligible as well, you'll need to have controlled at least 50 hours under your current rating.

[Shrikar Galgali]

Side Note:

To those trying to say how SweatBox is the answer for lack of traffic, I disagree. SweatBox is and was designed to be operated as a training-aid for areas with little traffic (just like South-Africa!). However, SweatBox was not designed for controller to keep their proficiency on, nor was it created as a parallel VATSIM network for areas with no traffic. To me, Arno wants to both be able to handle nice amounts of real traffic, and wants to upgrade his rating. Is SweatBox an ideal solution for him? Probably not.

 

SweatBox is used for OTS/CPT in many Divisions. They can be used to check the proficiency of a controller.

My motive was to convince Arno to stay in VATSAF and help them develop the region. I know how it feels after staring at an empty radar screen for hours just waiting for 1 aircraft to appear on the screen. It is very frustrating. But If everyone starts abandoning the areas with no traffic , how are we as a network supposed to grow and develop the region?

 

Of Course , No one can stop Arno from changing divisions and it is completely his choice whether to stay or shift this base somewhere else. He can always visit other Divisions as a visiting controller

[Sachin Gnath]

To those trying to say how SweatBox is the answer for lack of traffic, I disagree. SweatBox is and was designed to be operated as a training-aid for areas with little traffic (just like South-Africa!). However, SweatBox was not designed for controller to keep their proficiency on, nor was it created as a parallel VATSIM network for areas with no traffic. To me, Arno wants to both be able to handle nice amounts of real traffic, and wants to upgrade his rating. Is SweatBox an ideal solution for him? Probably not.

 

Here in India we use Sweatbox as our major training tool due to the lack of traffic in our airspace. Sweatbox has really helped us for conducting proficiency check & OTS.

[arno coetzee]

thank you for all the replies. Kieran, you abolutely nailed it.

[Johan Kotze 1284015]

Hi Arno, how are things? I hear theirs lots of traffic at EHAM .

[Thimo Koolen]

Hi Arno, how are things? I hear theirs lots of traffic at EHAM .

 

And a waiting list for a mentor. The Dutch Vacc has quite a a lot of people that want to be a controller in Dutch airspace (especially EHAM).

[Johan Kotze 1284015]

Hi Thimo, just a joke between him and me. he will understand my meaning.