Getting Started
The staff at ZJX would like to first off welcome you and thank you for selecting us as your home. The two most vital ingredients for the success of any ARTCC is the participation of it's members and the proper training of the membership. The first is up to you alone, the training takes a commitment from you and the staff of talented Instructor's and Mentor's available at ZJX. This document will give you a better understanding of how the training process works and what you will need to do to ensure that you have fun controlling the virtual skies.
When you first become a member here, whether you are an experienced controller transferring in, or totally new, there are some simple steps to help you get started. Read and study the SOP for the ARTCC and become famaliar with the information contained in the various training documents available for the different positions that you will be working. Start with the Delivery module and work your way up. By being prepared with knowledge contained within these documents, you will greatly assist the Mentor's and Instructor's in administering your training and make it a much more productive session for you.
Once you have read over the training documents and are comfortable with the information contained within them, email a Mentor to begin your training. Be sure to include several days and times you may be available so that you two can coordinate a time that works for both of you. Your first contact should always be with a Mentor. Mentor's are here to help you become comfortable with the position your training for and answer any and all questions you may have. They will schedule training sessions with you either using "live" traffic or a sweatbox session. We rely heavily on the Team Speak software for training here and have our own dedicated server for this purpose. Download and install this software prior to beginning your training please.
From time to time the training department will hold group training sessions or seminars on various ATC positions or aviation related topics. These topics range from basic controller classes on Clearance Delivery, Ground, Tower, Approach or Center operations to seminars focusing on VFR, Military operations, Airspace and a whole host of other topics. A list of these group sessions and seminars as well as prescheduled training and Over the Shoulder evaluations is maintained on the Training page. To see the schedule just click Training Schedule from this page or the Training page and see if there is anything coming up that interests you.
Once a Mentor determines that you are ready, they will recommend you to an instructor to further advance your training. Instructor's are able to assign written exam's, and conduct any OTS needed to certify you for a controller's position. You can read over our ARTCC policy which contains all the needed information on advancing here.
If you have any problems getting scheduled to recieve training, please contact the Training Administrator or any Senior Staff. We all will be more than happy to assist you. We wish you great success here, and hope that you will come to call ZJX home. Happy Controlling.
Training Staff
Training Administrator |
Assistant Training Administrator |
Jared Bradley
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Dave Stankiewicz |
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Staff Mentors |
Staff Instructors |
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Greg Desjardins
Craig Dooley
Daniel Hawton
Miquel Hernandez
David Maggipinto
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Jared Bradley
Erik Baaske
Dave Stankiewicz
Greg Sumner
Edward Boyd
Chris LaSalle
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Downloads
Numerous items are required before you are capable of connecting to the VATSIM network to control. Before beginning you will need to download several things.
Radar Client
A radar client is the program you must download and install in order to control. This is the actual program you will log in to each time you connect. There are several radar clients available to controllers. Ultimately which program you download is based on your personal preference.
Radar Client Files
These files must be downloaded into your main VRC or ASRC folder and selected either when logging on or in the general settings menu in order to properly configure the client for use. These files are available in the Downloads section of the website. Always download the most recent file.
- ZJX Sector File
- ZJX Position File
- ZJX Alias File
- Sweatbox Server File
Teamspeak
Teamspeak is a voice over IP program which ZJX uses for training and many other functions. Every controller will need to download the Teamspeak program in order to complete initial training. You will need the most recent TeamSpeak 3 client.
Visit the Teamspeak website to download this program.
Once you download Teamspeak you will need to set it up to connect to the proper server. Visit our TeamSpeak section of the Forum for the latest connection information.
You may view a tutorial for the program here.
Recommended Reading
The ease and speed of your individual training process is directly proportional to the time and effort you put into it. You can greatly expedite your process by being prepared. The Training Staff has put considerable time and effort into creating the documents below so that your training process may go much smoother. Please take the time to read the documents appropriate to your stage of training before meeting with a Mentor or Instructor. The Documents below are also directly accesible from the "ARTCC Policies,""SOPs & LOAs," or "Training" links as well.
Before getting started we recommend reading the Training Outline and Prerequisites so you understand what to expect from your training process. You may wish to bookmark this document to use as a reference guide throughout your training process.
New Controllers
Approach Students
Enroute Students
Above all else, FAA Order 7110.65 (which is also available to download) is the ultimate authority and reference source for controllers. You can never be wrong if you follow it.
When you're done reading and ready to get started, simply email a Mentor, Instructor or use the "Request Training" form in the menu on the left.
Miscellaneous Tips
Listen In
Listening in to other controllers is a great way to get a feel for how things work. We recommend if you have some down time that you sign in using your observer callsign and just listen in for a while.
If no one's online try tuning into Live ATC and listen to the real professionals at work. Here are some links courtesy of www.LiveATC.net for some of the airports in ZJX.
Class Bravo Airports
Class Charlie Airports
Class Delta Airports
All of the above links are provided by Live ATC and require Flash Player. For alternatives to Flash links and a complete list of feeds visit Live ATC's feeds page.
