1. 2016 Schedule -
Ok, the results are in, and by a narrow margin option A prevailed. That is the option with 3 16's and both mids as 23's. So, that will be our schedule for next year. Here is a copy of it for your reference:
2016 D Area Schedule (2 CWS) Final
I talked with Renee yesterday and she says that right now the plan is to start bidding the week of October 12.
2. Guides -
Guides are going to be lowered starting next year. I know we have had a bit of a discussion about these, and I know that initially people seemed against this idea, but I think more people have come to realize that it will only help bring us closer to what we actually do anyway. It will also be that much easier to get one more person off the schedule. They aren't being lowered across the board however. I think we are only going down one on the weekday day shifts, so it will basically be:
Weekdays 10/8
Weekends 8/8
It's not final, but I'll let you know when I know.
3. Early Shift Change Requests -
I don't know how many times I've written about this, but it has come up again. This time however, some people's shift change requests actually were deleted by management and not reentered at the bottom of the list. I've already notified people whose requests were deleted, so if you didn't hear from me, you're good. Just know that if you put in your request early, it can be removed and not necessarily put back in for you. I know that sometimes people get away with it because nobody catches it, but I just wanted to have you watch out for that so you don't lose out on your shift change. If you have questions about when you can put in a valid request, let me know.
4. Wearable Technology in the Control Room -
This info came from Troy. He expects this to be briefed to the facility soon. I just thought I'd throw it out here for your reference:
The Parties have conducted a joint review of the capabilities, functionality and use of cell phone watches (Apple, Andriod, etc.) and fitness trackers. The parties have agreed that these devices are permitted in operational areas but shall be set in the “off” (powered down) position. If the watch/tracker cannot be powered down (turned off), it shall not be permitted in operational areas. Turn Off Tune In, and Professional Standards programs provide tools and resources to assist in educating employees. Issues arising from implementation of this joint guidance will be addressed using Article 8 and Professional Standards prior to more formal measures being initiated.
Shelly Mlakar and Phil Barbarello
5. All Members Meeting -
I'll be out of town, but there is an all members meeting coming up this Friday, September 25th. It will be at the Spunky Monkey at 3pm. This could be a very informational meeting as we have a lot of things looming on the horizon right now. i.e. Next year's schedule and MOU's, staffing, elections for next year's reps, and also the sequestration/funding/furlough stuff that is coming up very soon.
6. Nerdy Radio Stuff -
Mary Chandler sent this to me about the recent frequency congestion we've had on sector 13. This is totally just FYI, but I thought it was kind of interesting because I didn't realize that this was how frequencies worked:
Apparently Sector 13 has been having some frequency interference issues (remember you can send me a little note now that Dan has retired so I can track problems on your behalf).
The technicians out in the field took many trips and went through all sorts of trouble-shooting on their equipment and then they bumped into a broadcast station engineer at the access gate to Powell Butte (east of Redmond, Oregon) and found that a new radio station had started broadcasting on 8/25/15. Apparently the FAA was not on someone’s checklist to ensure the new station wouldn’t interfere with our frequencies but we should have been. One of Sector 46’s RCAGs (CH29) is at the same location as one of Sector 13’s RCAGs (CH48) and when CH29 transmits plus the two radio stations (one old and one new) are transmitting, the frequency waves add up to Sector 13’s UHF frequency.
121.35 (sector 46)
+ 107.7 (existing radio station, no problem)
+ 106.5 (new radio station, a problem)
= 335.55 – Sector 13’s UHF frequency
Honestly, I’m not making this up … I got this info straight from the radio guys’ mouths/email.
Anyway, the new radio station is “on the hook to change frequency, add filters, lower their power, or pay for whatever changes we would make to our site to accommodate their operation” according to the FAA frequency management engineer. I will let you know if I hear more on the subject and please don’t hesitate to ask if you need further information!
That's the latest,
Chico