VOR unmonitored??
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G.N. Thompson
- Rank 3
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VOR unmonitored??
Saw this as local Notam. What exactly is going on here and why?
It could mean a couple things, but some common reasons are that the panel/equipment that shows the status of the VOR has failed, but the VOR itself is working. Perhaps they are changing/upgrading the monitoring equipment. Possibly someone cut the phoneline/cabling that provides the monitoring. Or when a navaid's monitoring is transferred from the local level to the central monitoring desk (TOC) at each FIR. Then it might be unmonitored for a few hours to a couple days.
hydro
hydro
Yah, what hydro said is correct.
Just a little background on the subject, all certified approach and navigation aids are monitored by someone 24/7. They are monitored to ensure that they are working correctly and that everything is as i should be. At the center, we are able to see on our OIDS screen at the position which approach aids are "in the green" for major airports. Part of the requirements for a lot of approaches are that the associated navaids are monitored, and are working properly so this is important to have for terminal controllers.
As far as seeing that on a notam, the only thing I would do any differently is if you are dialed into that navaid and notice it's not working, a call to RDO or center with that information would probably be a good idea, since they might not know it's out.
The only other thing it will affect is the center will not be able to advise you the navaid is out until someone else discovers that and relays the information to us.
It by no means indicates the NAVAID isn't working. At any given time there are 5-10 NAVAIDS notamed unmonitored in some FIRs and the aircraft can use them just fine.
Just a little background on the subject, all certified approach and navigation aids are monitored by someone 24/7. They are monitored to ensure that they are working correctly and that everything is as i should be. At the center, we are able to see on our OIDS screen at the position which approach aids are "in the green" for major airports. Part of the requirements for a lot of approaches are that the associated navaids are monitored, and are working properly so this is important to have for terminal controllers.
As far as seeing that on a notam, the only thing I would do any differently is if you are dialed into that navaid and notice it's not working, a call to RDO or center with that information would probably be a good idea, since they might not know it's out.
The only other thing it will affect is the center will not be able to advise you the navaid is out until someone else discovers that and relays the information to us.
It by no means indicates the NAVAID isn't working. At any given time there are 5-10 NAVAIDS notamed unmonitored in some FIRs and the aircraft can use them just fine.
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thatdaveguy
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- Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:07 pm
at the FSS i work at, the monitoring equipment is *very* old and will often give false failure alarms.
i can listen to the NDB, and it sounds fine but my alarm panel is wailing away telling me its broken. and often there are no aircraft around to check.
so we notam it unmonitored because we have to mute the alarm so if it did really fail during that time we'd never know.
i can listen to the NDB, and it sounds fine but my alarm panel is wailing away telling me its broken. and often there are no aircraft around to check.
so we notam it unmonitored because we have to mute the alarm so if it did really fail during that time we'd never know.
Correct me if I am wrong but anytime I see a navaid unmonitored for any length of time, it is usually a secondary navaid such as an NDB where life without it is still OK.
The average pilot, despite the somewhat swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring.
These feelings just don't involve anyone else.
These feelings just don't involve anyone else.
oldtimer wrote:Correct me if I am wrong but anytime I see a navaid unmonitored for any length of time, it is usually a secondary navaid such as an NDB where life without it is still OK.
Oldtimer; any Navaid can become unmonitored regardless of what type it is. Anything from an ILS to an NDB.
FSS: puting the Service back in Flight Services....
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G.N. Thompson
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- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:35 pm
Pygmie: from the cockpit the needle is centered whether "on course" or "VOR has failed" so monitoring is very important.
Dave: not good enough in my books.
Oldtimer: normally you would be right, but it did say VOR. So could be VOR and DME, right?
Big Guy: How long can an ILS go unmonitored?? Understand we are still bouncing the signal off snowbanks all accross this country so with a storm going somewhere at all times, I'm suggesting 24/7 should be minimum on the monitoring.
Further to original post: Icom make a very good hand held transceiver with VOR function for maybe $600. Seems to me, rather than new carpets for FSS manager, we could have an ICOM at every fifth airport loanable to whoever is having monitoring problems. That way we are back to 24/7 monitoring very quickly right??
GNT
Dave: not good enough in my books.
Oldtimer: normally you would be right, but it did say VOR. So could be VOR and DME, right?
Big Guy: How long can an ILS go unmonitored?? Understand we are still bouncing the signal off snowbanks all accross this country so with a storm going somewhere at all times, I'm suggesting 24/7 should be minimum on the monitoring.
Further to original post: Icom make a very good hand held transceiver with VOR function for maybe $600. Seems to me, rather than new carpets for FSS manager, we could have an ICOM at every fifth airport loanable to whoever is having monitoring problems. That way we are back to 24/7 monitoring very quickly right??
GNT
You can still use an unmonitored facility for the same things you can use a monitored one for, you just have to monitor it yourself. However, if i was using an airport with a VOR approach for an alternate and the VOR was unmonitored, i would get on the radio and see if i could get someone to check its status before proceeding there if possible.
Unmonitored does not make it any more likely to fail than monitored. Just means you will not find out about it failing as quickly as if it were monitored.
Unmonitored does not make it any more likely to fail than monitored. Just means you will not find out about it failing as quickly as if it were monitored.
