First off, if have stated something that has already been brought up, just let me know because of the rapid responses to this thread. I personally don't really believe in the N/E/S/W idea. It serves a purpose, yes, but also there are much more sector splits in sophisticated TRACONS that can't be described with just directions. For example, how would you describe many of the Satellite sectors. If east Satellite of St. Louis has a STARS id of "Z" how would you even go about describing that in a controllers call sign. Along with Center, I think having actual numeral sector Id's is the best policy. Here at ZKC, we take multiple real sectors, combine them into one, and take one of the ID's (Picture Below). If I were to just make my call sign KC_W_CTR there is no way a pilot would know where that sector begins and ends. The ATIS maker is still probably the best tool we can use to get the information to the pilots. If they don't use the ATIS maker info. that's on the pilot. As stated above by someone, how does a pilot know how to find the right frequency in an event? I think the use of a pilot briefing is the best way. If you click
Here, you can see that we have laid out all of the possible staffed positions for a particular FNO, and their frequencies. I know this doesn't actually provide a visual of the airspace split but it's a starting point. Each ARTCC could provide a Pilot airspace visual on their website, but who says every pilot will go there and search for such information.
Thoughts?
Center splits for FL240 and below: