Class C Frequency Confusion

Jason spent 24 years as an air traffic controller at Los Angeles Center, and recently moved east to work in DC in the Airspace office as an air traffic subject matter expert. He is a Sport Pilot, owns a Rans S12XL E-LSA, and got his >87 knot endorsement so he can rent a C162. He's here to answer your questions about ATC procedures and rules, in a strictly unofficial capacity.

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JJ Campbell
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 4:10 pm

Class C Frequency Confusion

Post by JJ Campbell »

I'm planning on paying Roanoke-Blacksburg (KROA) a visit in the near future and I can't make sense of the approach/departure frequencies:

ROANOKE APPROACH: 118.15 ;RWY 16/34 360-150, RWY 06 23 126.9 ;RWY 16/34 151-359, RWY 06 075 339.8 ;RWY 06, 16/34
ROANOKE DEPARTURE:118.15 ;RWY 16/34 360-150, RWY 06 23 126.9 ;RWY 16/34 151-359, RWY 06 075 339.8 ;RWY 06, 16/34
CLASS C: 118.15 ;RWY 16/34 360-150, RWY 06 23 126.9 ;RWY 16/34 151-359, RWY 06 075 339.8 ;RWY 06, 16/34

I could understand if there was a range of heading and associated frequencies but the inclusion of the runways confuses me. Also "RWY 06 23" should that be RWY 06/24?

I suppose I can ignore everything I highlighted in yellow since 339.8 looks military to me.

Can someone give me the Cliff Notes version or the approach and departure frequencies please?
Sport Pilot ASEL
Tecnam P92 Eaglet
amster105
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 4:34 pm

Re: Class C Frequency Confusion

Post by amster105 »

Looking at the green book version of it looks clearer than what AirNav has. It almost looks like it's just lost in translation.

https://skyvector.com/files/tpp/2010/af ... EP2020.pdf
APP/DEP CON
118.15 Rwy 16/34 (360º–150º) Rwy 06 (235º–074º)
126.9 Rwy 16/34 (151º–359º) Rwy 06 (075º–234º)
TOWER 118.3
GND CON 121.9
CLNC DEL 119.7
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ASEL ASES TW B/C/D
JJ Campbell
Posts: 167
Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 4:10 pm

Re: Class C Frequency Confusion

Post by JJ Campbell »

amster105 wrote:Looking at the green book version of it looks clearer than what AirNav has. It almost looks like it's just lost in translation.

https://skyvector.com/files/tpp/2010/af ... EP2020.pdf
APP/DEP CON
118.15 Rwy 16/34 (360º–150º) Rwy 06 (235º–074º)
126.9 Rwy 16/34 (151º–359º) Rwy 06 (075º–234º)
TOWER 118.3
GND CON 121.9
CLNC DEL 119.7
That is a little clearer but why is RWY 24 ignored? And, why designate a runway for which frequency to use? I thought ATC would tell me what runway to use. If they had stuck to 360-150 frequency A and 151-359 frequency B that would be fine since the whole 360 degrees are covered. The part that throws me for a loop is yet another complete 360 degrees offset from the first for runway 6.

If I don't come up with a better solution, I'm going to ignore the runway 6 headings and use the 16/34 frequencies. ATC can tell me to change frequency if they don't like the one I'm on.
Sport Pilot ASEL
Tecnam P92 Eaglet
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