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Messages - Kyle Sanders

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1
General Discussion / Re: Is Frequency Spacing limitations still a thing?
« on: January 31, 2022, 01:40:55 PM »
Lol... so I guess upon launching of Velocity today, the frequency spacing won't be an issue anymore. We will be changing everything tonight hopefully.

2
General Discussion / Re: Is Frequency Spacing limitations still a thing?
« on: January 24, 2022, 10:12:37 AM »
Good advice. Thanks for the input!

3
General Discussion / Is Frequency Spacing limitations still a thing?
« on: January 22, 2022, 04:46:51 PM »
I was told a while back that if the RW frequency we (ATC) are using has a .xx5 at the end, just make it .xx0. So we did.

Our normal CTR combine frequency is 120.275 but we prime as 120.270.
I get a good amount of pilots responding via PM from the ContactMe that they can't tune to that but when they tune to the RW 120.275, it is fine.

I know that AFV handles this "forwarding" but I am curious if we can just start priming as the RW frequencies now or not?

4
The Control Room Floor / Re: Sector file
« on: October 23, 2021, 07:53:51 AM »
We generally use VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, and Euroscope. Piggybacking off of what Evan said, be understanding if ZAU is hesitant to provide you with the permissions to use their materials… after all, you are asking for support from a VATSIM community to support another community that won’t be using our network. Regardless, I hope your private event is a success.

5
The Control Room Floor / Re: Comms
« on: July 21, 2021, 07:17:33 PM »
The following is geared towards helping a controller at ZLC for setting up their AFV to monitor but you can get the idea from it here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQbGV4jYNy8lOtX3C0aQ-B5Vl_LXnWMZVlmz--ackHQ8HCnV1vNKp7vEJKNwg1JXuCHbKrp65SumROI/embed?

6
General Discussion / Re: Picking up a clearance
« on: July 21, 2021, 07:15:06 PM »
You don’t. Just fly as if you got the clearance. Most people squawk 2200 in these cases.

7
The Control Room Floor / Re: Pilot Expectations, cont...
« on: July 08, 2021, 05:53:31 PM »

If this type of pilot feedback/deviation reporting system was implemented and run on a global VATSIM-wide scale, this feedback could potentially be used to see global or regional trends. Common issues could be addressed by the Pilot Training Department, and training materials could be created to hopefully curb the issue. If a pilot made a common mistake, a link to that specific material could be sent to them.

If any of this is going to appeal to VATSIM HQ, it’s this^

8
The Control Room Floor / Re: Pilot Expectations, cont...
« on: July 08, 2021, 05:52:39 PM »

… as this is a learning environment [truncated]… we need to hold that learning environment accountable. There needs to be a way to validate that that learning is indeed happening.

If we were to wrap up this enter discussion into a single idea… this is it!

10
USA Division Updates / Re: 2021 Mid Year Update
« on: July 06, 2021, 11:18:36 AM »
Point 2 is beyond the scope of this Division update.  I don't want to shut down that discussion, I just don't want it to override the purpose of this post.

Agreed... Continued here then?
https://forums.vatusa.net/index.php?topic=10181.0

11
The Control Room Floor / Pilot Expectations, cont...
« on: July 06, 2021, 11:17:11 AM »
I am creating this thread because as Mani (USA1) stated in another topic thread, he does not wish to shut down this discussion, but it was a bit outside the scope of the topic it was posted under.
Reference: https://forums.vatusa.net/index.php?topic=10178.msg45876#msg45876




The following is the partial post from Dylan Lundberg on 05JUL2021 that triggered a following of those that agree that VATUSA Management should be advocating to VATSIM HQ for more accountability and reasonable knowledge checks for pilots prior to pilots being allowed to connect and fly.

Quote
2) What is the UNDERLYING cause of controllers not wanting to control? P I L O T S. I'll be damned if I'm going to staff more than I'm required, when us controllers are held to a crazy high standard, yet the 13 year old that gets MFSF2020 can connect without actually being checked for competency to comply with basic ATC instructions. Obviously this issue goes higher than VATUSA, but VATUSA isn't doing anyone any favors by telling facilities towards the bottom of the list "You should be online more." What VATUSA COULD be doing to help improve and motivate controllers to do more than what it required, is to be up at the front door of the BOG, knocking until they actually start taking pilot competency seriously. IT IS NOT FUN when we get online, and have to hand hold 50% of the pilots on our frequency. That alone is a big reason why most facilities don't have an higher uptime. Then you need to account for environmental factors like, I don't know, actually having a life outside the hobby, LOAs, etc. Controllers are BURNTOUT from dealing with the pilots that do not know what they're doing. We can preach to them that they should read the Pilot Learning documents, but currently that is merely a recommendation.

3) Last year (IIRC), VATUSA was more worried about having exit interviews with S1s (who cares?) when we should have been focusing on our C1+'s that got fully certified, worked some hours, and went away. Who cares why the S1 who did minimal training to work a DEL/GND position left? You'd have much more meaningful feedback if we focused on the fully certified C1+s that left after certification. If we did that, I'm willing to bet that you'd be hearing the same thing about pilots over, and over, and over again...if you had that feedback last year, maybe we could have made meaningful impact network wide regarding pilot competency, and eliminating that as a factor for Burnout.

4) You don't motivate leaders/members of a volunteer organization by comparing them to the guy next door. You're treating this as a company-type measurable metric, as if the pilots are our customers. No. Don't. PLEASE DON'T. By reaching out to some ARTCC leaders and telling them "We think your facility should be on more" again, is ignoring the underlying issues at hand. We need to first address the WHY, fix those issues, THEN we can begin to make headway in uptime.

My personal note:

I am a huge advocate for constructive feedback for management. Compared to years past, this particular group of individuals at the VATUSA HQ seem to be much more concerned with getting things done that have needed to be done for years and for the most part, approach these projects and tasks with a sense of logic and reason.

I would very much like this discussion to not be so much of a pilot and management-bashing thread but rather a constructive means to relay to our HQ department the reasons we are tired of controlling on the network with pilots that directly kill the “Realism” and therefore, “fun” of the simulation for us.

Yes, pilots have choices for the networks they can join (if any) to fly their sims and an argument could be made that ATC need Pilots, but not the other way around... sure, but if your activity hours for ATC start to dwindle, along with the quality in which we provide services, then that is an issue too. We might have found another hobby that doesn't annoy us so much. I am in favor of making this network just as attractive for ATC as it is for pilots.

For every pilot that is “one of those”, it seems that there is another pilot that takes the constructive criticism and resources we send via PM very well and appreciates the time we took to give them this information.

Why isn't this information provided to them in a more constructive way from the beginning? Even though I like the pilots that take the information well, it still takes away from me separating traffic and doing my job, and ultimately takes away from the simulation.

The Pilot Learning Center is fairly well done, but it does not seem to filter out “THOSE” pilots that have no intentions on making this a fun and educational environment, and it seems that the pilots that would benefit from that information and appreciate it still don't know it's there until we take the time to PM them.

Can we start the discussion on what can be done at the VATSIM level to correct this and hopefully propose it to the higher-ups?

12
USA Division Updates / Re: 2021 Mid Year Update
« on: July 06, 2021, 10:07:43 AM »

It's going to be a review and comment.  Rick, Dhruv, and I are on the Revision Committee.  The committee is being led by Matt Bartels.  I am the official VATUSA representative; Rick and Dhruv are at large members.

In that case, I am confident that any concerns I would have had, will have been already addressed by these people. Thanks!

13
USA Division Updates / Re: 2021 Mid Year Update
« on: July 05, 2021, 03:14:52 PM »
Also… will the new GRP be a “review and provide feedback” or is it going to be a “review and deal with it” like usual?

14
USA Division Updates / Re: 2021 Mid Year Update
« on: July 05, 2021, 03:13:38 PM »
Fair, it is cool to see who's at the top and who isn't. But what exactly is the point of ranking 'best to worst' in a volunteer organization?

I'd suspect that facilities under, probably 10th are getting messages or emails from their RMs with something along the lines of "You should do better in your facility" (in fact, I know some are). So let me dive into why this, in my opinion, shouldn't be done:

1) Each facility has a different membership base with different circumstances. Some have a lot of new-ish members that are just here to have a good time, some take it more seriously, etc etc.  Yeah, they all have a VATSIM CID. Let's use, ZMP as an example (ranked last). (Using HOME controllers only) ZMP has 78 controllers on there home roster. Now lets take out the OBSs that can't do anything (29). Now we have 49. Now, lets take into consideration how many controllers actually have a cert for any level (GND, TWR, APP, CTR): 40. Now, lets look at ZMPs uptime on any level of controlling, YTD (1/1 thru 6/30): ~756 (+/- a few, math done by hand, and there's probably positions I missed). Lets take that 756 and divide that by how many controllers were active with certs (40). That's an average of 18.9 hours per active, certified controller. Take into account ZMPs activity requirement (3 hours per calendar quarter) and they're doing just fine per their required hours (6 hours required for the two quarters, Jan thru June...literally averaging triple their requirement). Point here is, you can't just rate this all by up-time. It should be done using the logic above, to actually see how their doing.

2) What is the UNDERLYING cause of controllers not wanting to control? P I L O T S. I'll be damned if I'm going to staff more than I'm required, when us controllers are held to a crazy high standard, yet the 13 year old that gets MFSF2020 can connect without actually being checked for competency to comply with basic ATC instructions. Obviously this issue goes higher than VATUSA, but VATUSA isn't doing anyone any favors by telling facilities towards the bottom of the list "You should be online more." What VATUSA COULD be doing to help improve and motivate controllers to do more than what it required, is to be up at the front door of the BOG, knocking until they actually start taking pilot competency seriously. IT IS NOT FUN when we get online, and have to hand hold 50% of the pilots on our frequency. That alone is a big reason why most facilities don't have an higher uptime. Then you need to account for environmental factors like, I don't know, actually having a life outside the hobby, LOAs, etc. Controllers are BURNTOUT from dealing with the pilots that do not know what they're doing. We can preach to them that they should read the Pilot Learning documents, but currently that is merely a recommendation.

3) Last year (IIRC), VATUSA was more worried about having exit interviews with S1s (who cares?) when we should have been focusing on our C1+'s that got fully certified, worked some hours, and went away. Who cares why the S1 who did minimal training to work a DEL/GND position left? You'd have much more meaningful feedback if we focused on the fully certified C1+s that left after certification. If we did that, I'm willing to bet that you'd be hearing the same thing about pilots over, and over, and over again...if you had that feedback last year, maybe we could have made meaningful impact network wide regarding pilot competency, and eliminating that as a factor for Burnout.

4) You don't motivate leaders/members of a volunteer organization by comparing them to the guy next door. You're treating this as a company-type measurable metric, as if the pilots are our customers. No. Don't. PLEASE DON'T. By reaching out to some ARTCC leaders and telling them "We think your facility should be on more" again, is ignoring the underlying issues at hand. We need to first address the WHY, fix those issues, THEN we can begin to make headway in uptime.

Disclaimer - I wouldn't have made this post, if some ARTCCs weren't being told to "Do Better" when there are things that need to be addressed first, before we start asking more of VOLUNTEERS. This isn't meant to be an attack [insert legal jargon here] but is just honest feedback from a concerned VATUSA member :).

I’d like to +1 this^… especially point #2.

Give the controllers reasons to be here. There are times I have time to control and consider that I have to handhold a lot of people and it breaks the realism factor for me… so I just go watch TV or something else.

Now… credit where it is due: Command Center (though not perfect) has been a Great Leap Forward to making controlling “EVENTS” more enjoyable. Let’s not stop there… VATSIM headquarters needs to hear our voices and VATUSA HQ is our representative there. So, even though I’m not sure this is exactly the thread to have this discussion, I am 100% in agreeement with it.

15
News / Re: Command Center Changes
« on: June 30, 2021, 03:02:07 PM »
Very well done Ryan! Thanks for your contribution to the organization and I look forward to Jeremy’s leadership going forward.

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