The Anchorage ARTCC is seeking a motivated individual that possesses a high degree of energy and commitment to serve as the Facilities Engineer

Job Description

•   Answers directly to the Deputy Air Traffic Manager (DATM)
•   Maintains and updates the sector files for all ATC clients approved for use on the VATSIM Network
•   Maintains the Video Maps, POF and Alias files for ATC Clients
•   Maintains the vATIS configuration files
•   Coordinates with adjoining ARTCCs to maintain inter-facility LOAs and Frequency use
•   Maintains a frequent online presence on the VATISM Network
•   Able to receive constructive feedback and make corrective action
•   Notify Senior ARTCC Staff of AIRAC cycle updates affecting the ARTCC operations
•   Support and represent the ARTCC in a professional manner at all times
•   Attend periodic meetings called by the ARTCC Staff

Minimum Requirements

•   Hold a rating of S3 or higher
•   Be in good standing on the VATSIM Network with no significant disciplinary actions in the last 12 months
•   Have extensive knowledge of VRC and vATIS, and at least a basic understanding of vSTARS, vERAM and Euroscope
•   Must be able to create and/or modify sector files for all ATC Clients and all associated support files
•   Committed to the advancement of the Flight Simulation hobby on the VATSIM Network

Desired Skills

•   Able to create training scenario files for use with TWRTrainer and ACSim
•   Have knowledge of obtaining resource materials to produce Sector, POF and Alias files for the various ATC Clients

Any and all works generated for use of the ARTCC while holding this position become the sole property of the ARTCC once accepted by the ARTCC Senior Staff.

Interested candidates shall submit the following to the ZAN ARTCC Staff at staff[at]vzanartcc[dot]net:

1.   Letter of interest. This should include:
   a.   a brief description of qualifications
   b.   list of prior, verifiable, experience

This position announcement will remain open until filled. Qualified candidates can expect to be contacted for an interview within two weeks of submission of all required information.

Recently the questions has come up as to whether it's appropriate for an ATC to attempt to reach a NORDO aircraft on GUARD frequency. In the past I seem to recall a Division policy prohibiting this, but cannot locate it now. VATSIM CoC only states

Controllers should not carry on private conversations between themselves, pilots or other individuals on the active communication frequency, the ATC channel or on the "guard" frequency (121.50). This interferes with providing ATC services to other pilots. The guard frequency should only be utilized in cases of emergency and under no other circumstances. Controllers are encouraged to use private chat boxes for carrying on private conversations.

Ref: CoC C9.

The question is, is attempting to reach a NORDO pilot acceptable under this "emergency" clause, or should we stick to using the .contactme PM and UNICOM to attempt to reach an otherwise unresponsive a/c?

Hi Thomas, and welcome to VATUSA! It looks like you would be at step 3 of the "Join us" instructions for VATUSA found here. Your next step would be

After you join the VATUSA division, you must complete the "Basic/S1 Exam." Click on the "Assign Basic ATC Exam" under "My VATUSA" to be assigned the exam. If it's already assigned, that link will not appear. Go to "Exam Center" under "My VATUSA". Before you complete the exam, you must complete the "Block 1 - Basic ATC/S1" Computer Based Training (CBT) course. This can be found at https://www.vatusa.net/cbt. ALL items under Block 1 must be checked complete before you will be permitted to start the exam.

P.s. Daniel beat me by a minute!

First off I'd say that a display with ATC bookings (and pilots) would be fantastic. I regularly book when I can (although that's not often as my time is usually spur of the moment these days. What I would add though is instead of re-inventing the wheel here I'd like to see support and a push from Division down to the ARTCC's to integrate the popular booking platform VATBOOK. The advantage here is that it's already displayed in several of the online clients (notably vRoute, although if I recall ServInfo also pulls data), as well as offers a global audience. I believe this is the platform used most often in ICAO land, although I could be wrong about that. It's also (from what I have poked around with) easily integrated on both VATUSA's website, as well as ARTCC websites for those facilities that wish to do so. It's about as "cross-platform" (i.e. multiple website) as you can probably get to avoid having 23 booking systems with 23 different sets of data.

Please see announcement, Anchorage ARTCC seeks committed Facility Engineer to join our ranks. Applications accepted through 2359z 31-DEC-2017.

I saw some of that thread (if it's the one I'm thinking about), I find it surprising that they even have ANY controllers with a "license" lol.

I'll echo what was said already in thanking all the pilots that participated in this event, and on behalf of Anchorage ARTCC I certainly look forward to future events with Iceland and the Canadian FIR's. It's great to see such grand events being carried out successfully in the "forgotten north".

You should (if you can attempt a handoff) have the aircraft in your radar range. Unless the controller who you are handing off to is well outside their range, you *should* be able to handoff normally.

This could be what's happening actually, is that the pilot is not with either the visibility range or radar coverage range on vERAM. Just another hypothesis. Is it happening in a certain area all the time or is it scattered across the enroute controller's airspace? If you can coordinate with the controller have them use the "showradar" command prior to you sending it or see if they can see the target prior to attempting the transfer.