CTLR STATED THE IDS HAS PROBS. WX OBS ARE NOT RECEIVED UPDATED; UNREADABLE UNUSABLE; OR ARE DELAYED PRIOR TO UPDATING.
Synopsis
CTLR STATED THE IDS HAS PROBS. WX OBS ARE NOT RECEIVED UPDATED; UNREADABLE UNUSABLE; OR ARE DELAYED PRIOR TO UPDATING.
Narrative
THE INFO DISPLAY SYS (HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS IDS) AT MCN RAPCON IS CONFIGURED TO RECEIVE WX OBSERVATIONS FROM MCN ARPT AND WRB (ROBINS AFB). PRIOR TO THE NATIONAL WX SVC REMOVING THE AFOS FROM MCN; THE MCN RAPCON RECEIVED WX WITH VIRTUALLY NO PROB. HOWEVER SINCE THE NATIONAL WX SVC HAS REMOVED THE AFOS A REPLACEMENT SYS WAS CREATED TO PROVIDE THE RAPCON WITH THE WX OBSERVATIONS. THIS REPLACEMENT SYS HAS BEEN RIDDLED WITH PROBS. THE PROBS ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) WX OBSERVATIONS FROM MCN/WRB NOT RECEIVED/UPDATED AT ALL. 2) WX OBSERVATIONS FROM MCN/WRB UNREADABLE/UNUSABLE. 3) WX OBSERVATIONS DELAYED UP TO 15 MINS PRIOR TO UPDATING IDS. 4) WX OBSERVATIONS GOING BACKWARDS IN TIME. ADDITIONALLY; THE PROBS OF NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE ACFT; AS REQUIRED; WITH TIMELY WX INFO ARE WELL KNOWN AND WELL DOCUMENTED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT THE POSSIBLE PROB WITH THE IDS WAS NOISE ON THE TELCO LINE USED TO SUPPLY WX DATA FROM THE MCN ARPT AND WRB. HE SAID THAT THERE IS TALK OF INSTALLING AN OID (OPS INTERFACE DEVICE) TO READ OUT THE WX FROM MCN ARPT. HE STATED THERE IS A DISCRETE DISPLAY PROVIDED BY WRB THAT CAN DISPLAY WX DATA FOR UP TO 5 RPTING STATIONS WHICH IS THEN MANUALLY INPUT TO THE IDS AFTER CLRING OUT THE UNREADABLE DATA. RPTR DID NOT INDICATE THE TIME REQUIRED TO CORRECT THE IDS PROB.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.