Christopher Mauro Posted December 18, 2009 at 07:29 PM Posted December 18, 2009 at 07:29 PM Good day everyone I have seen many controllers in Oakland Oceanic logging on as "ZAK_FSS." Unfortunately, that is incorrect. The primary sector is "ZAK_E_FSS" on frequency 131.950 and shall cover the East sector only (East of the International Dateline) The main reason is the visibility range on VATSIM. A flight service station can usually see on their radar up to around 1000-1500 miles. The full Oakland Oceanic sector is around 6000 miles, which is about 6x the limit for the visibility of an Oceanic controller. Once again, this is the primary position information: Callsign: ZAK_E_FSS Frequency: 131.950 Coverage: EAST of the International Dateline Thanks! Chris Mauro ZAK Mentor Chris Mauro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Littlejohn Posted December 18, 2009 at 07:54 PM Posted December 18, 2009 at 07:54 PM This brings up the question. Surely this doesn't mean that if someone wants to open ZAK, they must open ZAK_E_FSS first prior to any other sector in ZAK, right? Say that someone wants to run the FSS over the western rim islands (Mariana, Guam, Marshall, Wake, etc.), which are all west of the IDL. Are you saying that E_FSS has to be open and running prior to W_FSS opening up? BL. Brad Littlejohn ZLA Senior Controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Mauro Posted December 18, 2009 at 08:28 PM Author Posted December 18, 2009 at 08:28 PM The main reason is traffic reasons. The majority of the traffic is in the East sector anyway. There really is not a loss if West can't be staffed. I mean, if you want to staff W_FSS at your own discretion, that is fine, but like I said, you rarely will have an aircraft in the West sector that is actually awake.. xD Chris Mauro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cierpial 1008209 Posted December 18, 2009 at 10:06 PM Posted December 18, 2009 at 10:06 PM The main reason is traffic reasons. The majority of the traffic is in the East sector anyway. There really is not a loss if West can't be staffed. I mean, if you want to staff W_FSS at your own discretion, that is fine, but like I said, you rarely will have an aircraft in the West sector that is actually awake.. xD If they want to stay connected to the network, they'll be awake CTP Planning Team Member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Mauro Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:19 PM Author Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:19 PM That is why we have supervisors Chris Mauro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Rutila 974112 Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:27 PM Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:27 PM You guy's don't consolidate both sectors into one position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Littlejohn Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:32 PM Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:32 PM The main reason is traffic reasons. The majority of the traffic is in the East sector anyway. There really is not a loss if West can't be staffed. I mean, if you want to staff W_FSS at your own discretion, that is fine, but like I said, you rarely will have an aircraft in the West sector that is actually awake.. xD Understandable, but I was also thinking of how this works out with traffic from VATPAC. It's a medium haul run from YBCS-PGUM (as little as 3 hours with favourable winds), as well as the same from Japan, and 2 hours from RPLL. Should those areas be staffed, it would suck for the pilot to not have any sort of Oceanic service for such a short flight, because someone certified for ZAK has to staff E_FSS first, when there may be no traffic there (due to time difference), while Australia/Oceania/Far East are lit up. BL. Brad Littlejohn ZLA Senior Controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Mauro Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:49 PM Author Posted December 18, 2009 at 11:49 PM Like I said, if you'd like to hop on W_FSS if there is some traffic (actually in the cockpit) flying to for example Guam from Tokyo, then yea that is appropriate. Chris Mauro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romano Lara Posted December 19, 2009 at 02:22 AM Posted December 19, 2009 at 02:22 AM I flied once from RPLL to KLAX before and saw E_FSS online, but then again, we got no cover because its only servicing the East. Maybe ZAK guys could consider West sometimes? Traffic never runs out in the West actually, its not just as many as you would see in the East. Romano LaravACC Philippines, Manager - Training & Standards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Blackburn Posted December 19, 2009 at 02:44 PM Posted December 19, 2009 at 02:44 PM The ability to cover both sides of the IDL is actually a technical issue rather than one of simply stretching. If you imagine the world as they did in days of old as being flat, the area covered by zak_e was on the left side between the Americas and the IDL and zak_w being way over the other side. To cover both before multipoint vis was impossible. Eveb now would require the controller to have two windows open, one for either side of the IDL HTH Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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