GCO Operations

[Martymccasland]

I landed at a small airport yesterday with skies near minimums, eliminating the chance to cancel IFR in the air. The little airport had a GCO. Admittedly, I've only come in contact with one before, but remembered the FAR-AIM instructions: click and hold, then release, once a second -- 4 times for C/D, 6 for FSS -- within 8 total seconds.

Maybe I was too slow / too fast, but I couldn't get a connection -- and just used the bluetooth cell line to call the 800 C/D line to cancel.

While on the ground, I pull back out the FAR-AIM and confirm the instructions. Also, looked in the AF/D to see if there was special instructions for this airport... Nothing there.

So when we get ready to go, I try carefully to do the 4 clicks without any luck - -and just use the cell phone again.

Q: Any tricks using GCOs? Do you hear it dial and make the comm link?

 

[flyingron]

They're notably flakey. I just use my cellphone (BT headsets are great). I was also happy when they replaced the stupid click up the phone line outlet at CJR with a direct radio link to PCT.

The only tricks is to make sure:

1. You are once a second, a second is a long time when you're beating your head against this thing.
2. That you key your mike long enough to actually transmit a signal that it can detect.

 

[denverpilot]

Click very slowly.

And check NOTAMs. Many are out of service and have been for a while.

There's a box that's watching a carrier squelch open and close on an AM radio. Any new local RF noise on the frequency or someone bumping the squelch control will render the whole thing inop.

Additionally then after it decides you've clicked enough times, it still has to make a phone call in many cases. Usually it's calling something that answers instantly at the FAA facility and beeps in a controllers headset that a call is incoming. Phone line dead on either end, controller misses the beep, controller busy, beep routed to wrong workstation or muted, all can render the thing inop too.

Hell the power supply and battery backup can fail too. There usually isn't any monitoring or checks done until someone turns in a PIREP to AFSS, there's more than one PIREP, and AFSS calls the airport manager who whips out a handheld and tries it.

Many that work well are using one of something like these:

http://www.scomcontrollers.com/ds7kbx.html

Maintenance folks can screw up the programming too. Older ones like Bob's use DTMF to program them.

Also check the AF/D carefully. Some have oddball numbers of clicks. Or other weird things like the need for long key downs to register each click.

The "always on" variety are better from an engineering standpoint but they require full time use of a dedicated telephony circuit. Most small airports can't afford it/justify it.

Hell, one hopes they didn't wire the credit card machine to the same phone line on the clickable ones. LOL.

 

[coma24]

We have a GCO at our local field, it's a total PITA. It only works about 50% of the time I've tried using it over the past 8 years. It's half duplex, unlike a regular phone, something the controller isn't expecting on the other end, so blocks are common. Lastly, it has a super aggressive timeout, so while you're waiting on a release or a clearance, the thing will hang up if you don't transmit every 7-10 seconds. Makes the waiting game kinda painful.

I've resorted to just using the cellphone (no BT headset here, unfortunately) to call for clearance with engine off, then another call for the IFR release once holding short, unless I've coordinated a VFR departure during the initial call.

The initial clicks can be more than once a second with the unit we use.

Also, you'll know if it's working right away because you should hear the dial tone and the numbers being dialed. If the TRACON doesn't pick up, you'll know it isn't the GCO's fault.

 

[frfly172]

I've started using the cell phone.never have a problem.

 

[poadeleted20]

My success rate with GCO's is about 30%. I'm happy to try it, but if it doesn't work the first time, out comes the cell phone, and I tell whoever I reach that the GCO is not working.