PLT RPTR EXPRESSES CONCERNS REF INABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH CENTER WHEN CTLR IS XMITTING ON VHF AND UHF AND IS OVERLOADED WITH TFC.

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AS WE WERE BEING VECTORED FOR THE VISUAL APCH INTO ABY; CENTER LEVELED US OFF AT 7000. AFTER GIVING US ERRONEOUS HDG CHANGES FOLLOWED BY 'DISREGARD'; WE WERE TOLD TO 'CLB TO 9000 IMMEDIATELY.! UPON REACHING 9000 IN A VERY HASTY MANNER; WE WERE TOLD TO DSND BACK DOWN TO 7000 AND THAT CLRNC WAS NOT FOR US. WE NOW CONFIRMED OUR EARLIER SUSPICIONS THAT ATC WAS NEXT TO BEING OUT OF CTL. VERY CHAOTIC AND UNPROFESSIONAL; NOT TO SAY DANGEROUS. IF WE BOTH HEAR 'CLB TO 9000 FT IMMEDIATELY' AND THERE IS AN ACFT (OR 2) ABOVE US; WE HAVE BIG PROBLEMS! I BELIEVE THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR HERE WAS THE CTLR WORKING MULTIPLE FREQS INCLUDING UHF. OBVIOUSLY OVERLOADED; POSSIBLY OVERWORKED AND CERTAINLY TIRED FROM WORKING 40 HR PLUS WKS. OBVIOUS TO ALL OF US FLYING IN THE ATC SYS; MORE CTLRS AND EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED DESPERATELY; AND WHY MUST WE COMBINE SECTORS SO OFTEN AND OVERLOAD CTLRS AND FREQS? AND SPEAKING OF FREQS; PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO ASK: IS IT NECESSARY TO HAVE BOTH VHF AND UHF. THE EXTRA COST IN MAN HRS AND EQUIP MUST BE WEIGHED AGAINST THE RESULT OF EACH OF US (VHF AND UHF) NOT HEARING EACH OTHER. WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE GAINING? ESPECIALLY KNOWING OF THE CONSTANT SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSIONS THAT THE CTLR LISTENS TO; AND ALL THE RESULTING CONFUSION. IN SUMMARY; OUR PAX AND CREW MEMBERS DESERVE BETTER. WE PAY A LOT IN TAXES AND TICKETS TO NOT EXPECT A HIGH LEVEL OF SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY. WE'RE NOT GETTING IT. IF THIS WERE AN OCCASIONAL PROBLEM; I WOULD BE MORE TOLERANT. BUT THE FACT IS THIS SORT OF THING HAPPENS ALL TO FREQUENTLY.