MLG FLC COMMENTARY REGARDING THE POOR QUALITY OF THE COMPUTER GENERATED ATIS VOICE. MANY LISTENING CYCLES REQUIRED TO COMPREHEND THE INFO.

Narrative

FAA HAS INSTALLED A 'TDLS' AUTOMATED ATIS SYS. KNOWN AT COMPANY AS THE 'SWEDISH CHEF' (FROM THE OLD 'MUPPETS' TV SHOW); THE VOICE IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND; REQUIRING SEVERAL LISTENING CYCLES TO COMPREHEND WHAT INFO IS ON IT. IT'S WORSE BEYOND 100 NM FROM XMITTER SITE. COMPUTER VOICE USES POOR PRONUNCIATION; DIFFICULTY WITH HARD CONSONANTS; IE; 'OSCAR' COMES OUT 'AH-HER;' 'WHISKEY' IS 'WICKI' AND 'KILO' IS 'ILO.' OCCASIONALLY MACHINE WILL XMIT THE MYSTERIOUS SETS OF NUMBERS FOUND AT THE END OF MOST AWOS WX RPTS. END RESULT REQUIRES PNF TO STAY OFF ATC FREQ TWICE AS LONG AS REQUIRED WITH THE OLD-FASHIONED HUMAN VOICE ATIS. DEN TWR SAYS THEY HAVE RECEIVED MANY COMPLAINTS FROM FLCS; THAT A PROPOSED VOICE CHANGE IS IN THE WORKS; BUT DOESN'T KNOW ANY TIME-FRAME. ANY AUTOMATED TELEPHONE ANSWERING SYS SOUNDS BETTER THAN THE 'TDLS.' I HOPE THE FEDS ASK FOR THEIR MONEY BACK! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THE COMPUTER CANNOT PRONOUNCE C; K; OR S. THERE IS NO VOICE INFLECTION; IT IS A MONOTONE AND THERE ARE PAUSES IN STRANGE PLACES. IF ONE IS MORE THAN 70 MI OUT THE TIME TO DECODE IS OFTEN MORE THAN 5 MINS. CLOSER IN OR ON THE GND IT ONLY TAKES ABOUT 3 TIMES LISTENING TO DECIPHER THE INFO. THE DEN TWR CHIEF INDICATED THAT IT IS ON A TRIAL BASIS BUT MUST RUN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE THE TEST IS COMPLETED AND THEY WILL TAKE IT OFF THE AIR. RPTR IS A LINE CHK AIRMAN AND OFTEN HAS FAA PERSONNEL ABOARD THE ACFT CHKING PLTS; HE ALWAYS MAKES THEM LISTEN TO THE COMPUTER GENERATED VOICE SO THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROB.