Narrative:

A new STAR was implemented today. Before my shift started; I found out later; there had been issues with aircraft on the arrival data blocks not being correct. I was not briefed any of this and took north sector. Until I vectored an aircraft and they asked if I wanted them to descend via the STAR; I had no idea this was happening. The issue was when I put a runway assignment in the data block; the designator to show the aircraft was on the arrival was removed. This is different than another STAR that we use consistently and the issue had been noticed before I came to work; but not passed onto me. I was working routine arrivals; departures; as well as flight data because it was not staffed. This in itself is a problem at P80 because it draws controller's attention away from the traffic to work FD functions. An A330 checked in descending to 12;000. Another aircraft about 10 miles in trail of the A330 checked in on the new arrival. I had two departures that were northwest bound with the intent of climbing above the A330 as the A330 descended on the arrival. The second of these departures was a dash 8-400. I had my maps for the arrival and the approach plate pulled up on my screen above my scope. I thought all aircraft on this routing were now on the new STAR; even though data blocks did not indicate this. I watched the A330 and waited for descent; which never happened. The A330 was not on the arrival and was level at 12;000. I turned the dash 8-400 westbound; expedited climb; and made a traffic call. I descended the A330 and made a traffic call. Neither aircraft had each other in sight; and a loss of separation resulted. First fix should be correct in the data blocks. I know that this was the first day and issues will happen. This known situation could have been avoided with a briefing when I got to work. Simply being told that not all aircraft will be on the new arrival and those that are will not be designated as they are on the other arrivals.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: P80 Controller experienced a loss of separation event when arrival routings were less than clear due to the recent change to arrival routings.

Narrative: A new STAR was implemented today. Before my shift started; I found out later; there had been issues with aircraft on the arrival data blocks not being correct. I was not briefed any of this and took north sector. Until I vectored an aircraft and they asked if I wanted them to descend via the STAR; I had no idea this was happening. The issue was when I put a runway assignment in the data block; the designator to show the aircraft was on the arrival was removed. This is different than another STAR that we use consistently and the issue had been noticed before I came to work; but not passed onto me. I was working routine arrivals; departures; as well as Flight Data because it was not staffed. This in itself is a problem at P80 because it draws controller's attention away from the traffic to work FD functions. An A330 checked in descending to 12;000. Another aircraft about 10 miles in trail of the A330 checked in on the new arrival. I had two departures that were NW bound with the intent of climbing above the A330 as the A330 descended on the arrival. The second of these departures was a Dash 8-400. I had my maps for the arrival and the approach plate pulled up on my screen above my scope. I thought all aircraft on this routing were now on the new STAR; even though data blocks did not indicate this. I watched the A330 and waited for descent; which never happened. The A330 was not on the arrival and was level at 12;000. I turned the Dash 8-400 westbound; expedited climb; and made a traffic call. I descended the A330 and made a traffic call. Neither aircraft had each other in sight; and a loss of separation resulted. First fix should be correct in the data blocks. I know that this was the first day and issues will happen. This known situation could have been avoided with a briefing when I got to work. Simply being told that not all aircraft will be on the new arrival and those that are will not be designated as they are on the other arrivals.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.