The TDACS Operator

The TDACS Operator
Märzen Group
JUN 2013
Volume 1, Issue 1
The TDACS Operator — A Newsletter for TDACS Users and Operators
Special points of
interest:
 Current fielded
version of
TDACS.exe:
v 4.5.2 .4
 Current fielded
version of
TacMap2D.exe
v4.5.2.4
 Current fielded
version of
TacMap3D.exe
v4.5.2.5
Inside this issue:
Welcome, The
TDACS Operator
1
New Offices at
Railroad Square
1
TDACS v4.5 on 64
bit Windows 7
2
TacMap 3D v4.5
now available
2
Information Assurance (IA) Services
3
TDACS SE v4.6
3
Feature List Frozen
TDACS Shipping
Storage Containers
3
Welcome to the first issue of
“The TDACS Operator”
- A
newsletter established to provide the TDACS user community
with news and information on
the TDACS product line. The
objective of this newsletter is to
keep the TDACS community
informed on the status of the
latest versions, patches, updates, upgrade-kits and services
available.
Additionally, the newsletter will
be used to provide Tips, Techniques, and “best practice” information developed by Marzen
Group SME’s and the TDACS
user community.
This information will allow
TDACS users to maximize the
effectiveness of the TDACS capabilities in their environment.
The TDACS Operator will be
published bi-monthly (every two
months) or more frequently as
subject material requires.
The newsletter will also be used
to publish the time and locations
of upcoming TDACS training
sessions that are held at the
Märzen facilities in Nashua NH.
Contact information will be provided to help meet your organization’s training needs.
In the near future, an archive of
the news letters will be made
available from the TDACS section of the Marzen.com web
site. Questions on the topics
presented in the newsletter will
be accepted from registered
users
via
email
[email protected] or from the
registered user’s help desk mailbox.
All TDACS products are available from the Marzen Group GSA
contract: GS-35F-0053L. This contract includes negotiated terms
for labor rates and products that may be used by most agencies of
the Federal Government.
Märzen Group HQ Moves to New Location
On April 2, 2013 Marzen Group
relocated its HQ facilities to the
center of the historic district in
Nashua NH.
Märzen Group’s former office
facilities (since 1999) were located at the Millyard Technology
Park in the same city.
Our new corporate address
(pictured at right) is officially:
24 Railroad Square
Nashua, NH 03060-2278
The new facilities were
updated with improved
infrastructure of alarm,
fire, and video equipment.
New test labs, electronic
assembly stations, and
training rooms were also
completed.
ers and data. The effort was not for
The move involved relothe faint of heart, but the new facilicating offices, staff, servties are more than worth the effort. If
ers, communications, and
you are in the area, give us a call and
of course, security containcheck out our new facility.
Page 2
The TDACS Operator
TDACS v4.5 runs on both Windows XP and Windows 7
Both the TDACS IFF and SFF
workstations can run TDACS
v4.5 on either MS Windows
XP or Windows 7 (x64)
NOTE:
To All Users/Operators
If you are running any
version of TDACS Std. Ed
4.X you are entitled to
have the latest fielded
version of TDACS (4.5)
for free.
A software Version
Description Document
(VDD) for TDACS SE v4.5
is now available.
Contact Dan Abrams via
email [email protected]
for details
The previously fielded version of
TDACS (v4.4.1) was designed to
run on Microsoft Windows XP
and Office 2007. The current
fielded release (v4.5.2) also runs
on XP and Office 2007.
kit for currently fielded TDACS
Workstations (serial numbers
ending in 36 and higher) is available. This TDACS Win7 upgrade
kit upgrade consists of:
A new feature of TDACS v4.5.2 is
that it is also certified to run on
the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System (64 Bit).
For
TDACS workstations still running
on the Windows XP Operating
system, a TDACS upgrade kit to
Microsoft Windows 7 is available
in some cases. Microsoft technical and related security support for the Windows XP Operating System will terminate in
the near future. All users are
strongly encouraged to consider
this migration to the Windows 7
Operating System. An upgrade
Microsoft Office 2010 (H&B
suite), Visio Pro 2010, SQL
Server 2008 R2x64
 RAM upgrade (upgrade
amount based on your Motherboard) and,
 Optional enhancements for
the upgrade kit include:
 conversion to Solid State
Hard Drives, and
 A higher performance
video adapter
 All TDACS support applications and utilities are converted to 64 bit alternatives
 Microsoft Windows 7x64,
Many users with older systems
may not require all of the Win7
Upgrade Kit features and options.
However, all users who migrate
to Windows 7 (64 bit) can expect
increased performance and stability due to improvements inherent in the 64 bit versions of
Windows 7 OS and SQL Server.
Others users will want to consider a complete replacement for
their workstations.
To help you sort out your options, Contact Dan Abrams,
[email protected], to see if your
Windows XP TDACS workstation
can support this Win7 upgrade.
Marzen will be happy to answer
your questions and provide you
TDACS TacMap 3D Software Plug-in now available on v4.5
Marzen Group recently completed the development of TacMap3D, a software plug-in for
TDACS that provides the user
with extensive 3D viewing, Situation Awareness, and track management capabilities.
TacMap3d can accept Link 16
data directly from TDACS from
any of the connection types that
TDACS supports and plots the
information using MIL-STD 2525
or NTDS symbols in real time.
Boundary data of many types,
such Defended Areas, safe pas-
sage corridors, etc., can be read
into the 3D Map from KML data
files specially formatted for this
purpose.
TacMap 3D also accepts and
plots 6DOF DIS (Distributed Interactive Simulation) data using
3D models that can be displayed
as an overlay to the Link 16 data.
The TacMap 3D capability is too
extensive to cover in any detail
in this announcement. A Software Description Document
(SDD) is being prepared as this
newsletter went to press. When
TacMap 3D VDD is available,
TDACS users can review that
document and get further information from Marzen to see if
the TacMap 3D capability is right
for your mission.
TDACS Adjudication Software Plug-ins are now available on v4.5
TDACS MIL-STD
1553 Bus Coupler for MIDS
Terminals
For users who operate in the
Exercise/Test environment, the
TDACS Adjudication Plug –ins are
available for purchase.
Truth producer) that assist the
Adjudicator in producing detailed and comprehensive After
Action Reports.
This Upgrade allows operators to
compare Link 16 event traffic
with DIS/Truth for event adjudication purposes. Automatic
reports in MS PowerPoint format are also generated
(dependent upon the type of
This new TDACS Adjudication
capability is too extensive in
detail and scope to cover in this
announcement . For more information or to arrange a capability
demonstration please contact
Dan Abrams, [email protected]
Page 3
Volume 1, Issue 1
TDACS Information Assurance (IA) Support Services
Marzen Group develops, tests,
and maintains monthly IA patches and scripts for the TDACS
workstations.
These services are provided for
TDACS workstations for both the
Microsoft Windows XP and the
Windows 7 Operating System
Platforms.
Services that can be provided
include the development, test
and implementation of monthly
patches for TDACS workstations.
The objective here is to verify
that required security updates
not only meet the STIG requirements but at the same time ensure that TDACS performance
capabilities are preserved to
meet mission requirements.
Often, no action is required to
preserve TDACS functionality
when updates are applied to
TDACS workstations. Occasionally however, work-around must
be developed and documented
to keep TDACS both secure and
mission capable.
Normally these type of IA support services from Marzen Group
are contracted at the time of
purchase of the TDACS Workstation. However, contracting
with Marzen to provide this support can be initiated at any time
in the life cycle of a TDACS workstation.
Contact:
Bob
Blaisdell,
[email protected], for more
details regarding the use of
Marzen Group to provide IA
support services.
If you are going
TDACS v4.6 Standard Edition (SE) Feature List Frozen
The next minor release of TDACS
SE will be version 4.6.0. Currently it is on schedule to be released
in early August of 2013.
Given that the current version of
TDACS SE has been in the field
since October of 2012 this new
release is highly anticipated by
TDACS users everywhere.
The final feature list for v4.6 will
be announced at the completion
of testing in late July, when the
product is released to Manufacturing. The list of improvements
and bug fixes is rather large due
to the fact that v4.5 has been
fielded for an extended period
and that it has been strenuously
vetted at numerous large scale
exercises and operational
events.
This exposure of v4.5 has allowed operators to get a very
good feel of what the TDACS
v4.5 software can do and what
they would like to see changed.
Version 4.6 will address many of
those field identified requests
but will also see numerous internal changes to improve perfor-
to deploy a
mance and stability.
All current owners of TDACS SE
v4.X will be notified when v4.6 is
released so they can make preparations for immediate use of
this free upgrade.
TDACS users are reminded that
the workstations are made up of
carefully selected Commercial
off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment.
On the whole the TDACS workstation hardware has held up
quite well given the deployment
scenarios they have experienced.
Experience shows that the COTS
hardware is particularly vulnerable to damage when being transported. To remedy that problem
all TDACS workstation form factors are available with customized shipping and storage containers. These containers not
only protect the hardware from
physical damage, but are air
non-lab
environment,
buy a shipping
container, to
get there safely
and help keep it
operational.
Marzen Recommends TDACS Shipping Containers
TDACS Workstations are deployed around the globe for
both US and NATO customers.
Often they are required to operate in very harsh environments
and must be moved often.
TDACS unit in a
sealed when closed
and limit exposure
to condensation
and high humidity.
As testament to the
utility of these containers; systems deployed for more than 6
years in the desert were operational when decommissioned.
Märzen Group
System Engineering Consulting
Services
24 Railroad Square
Nashua New Hampshire
03064-2278
Phone: 603-889-9522
Fax:603-889-9567
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.marzen.com
Märzen Group LLC is a small business that was founded in 1999 in
Nashua, New Hampshire. Märzen staff provide consulting services and
products to government and commercial customers around the world.
Our consulting services cover a wide range of competencies in System
Engineering and Integration Services, Product Development, Testing, and
Deployment, that are put to use every day for our customers
Märzen professional staff support commercial, non-profit, and government organizations in areas as diverse as the development of real-time,
object oriented software for Tactical Military Communications, or the
analysis of Network Security for Command and Control Systems, to the
requirements analysis for new Windows platform applications for hospitals and small companies.
CAGE Code: 1N5V9
It’s not about TDACS - but this is great way to spend an afternoon in Boston.
- Views from the “Monsta…”