Narrative:

I was working antelope sector without assistance; which can be very challenging; this was one of those challenging days. This particular day; we were dealing with a short-staffing situation that didn't provide for much opportunity of a handoff to assist me. I was dealing with an LOA matter; of descending aircraft out of ZLA airspace reference aircraft Y orbiting at VFR/125 blocking descent from 140 to even an undesirable descent to 130. So; I had been stepping down an aircraft Z and aircraft a with comm issues that had me constantly switching from edw to a backup site (pearblossom) due to limited coverage and muffled read backs. Uncertain what the issues were; I also was trying to switch from foot pedal to handset to determine the nature of the problem which required me to make numerous duplicate calls to the same aircraft to accomplish anything. Apparently I gave a VFR aircraft; the one in question; aircraft X; an IFR clearance exiting a MOA too soon; perhaps there was only 2-1/2 miles instead of 3 at the time I issued the IFR clearance. Adding to the pressure of the situation was a front line manager (flm) sitting beside me; who didn't inform me of the incident until an hour later; when I received my 1st break for the day. At the end of the day; I discussed the matter with our air traffic management as I was walking out the door; having reviewed the incident with our radar review program. There are numerous suggestions that could be made; but mostly I would say in my limited hours per month; I needed more patience at times but I also feel I was struggling with priorities: good; better; best. It's on me; in other words. Beyond that; I needed assistance with landline coordination; making calls or receiving them. There seemed to be inabilities for such matters to be handled quickly; or easily; in numerous instances. Aircraft Z was given a crossing restriction from 130 while east of pmd [reference] VFR/115 traffic just clearing with ample time to cross janny at and maintain 080 but reported later unable to make it (pilot deviation?). As I called ZLA-04; with a point out they accepted; the flm attempted to call sct-vly but they were unresponsive. Once told of that situation; I called them back with a more forceful tone of voice which accomplished the goal: 'point out approved.' later in the day; in an unrelated matter; [reference another aircraft] I gave 'lost comm' for sct-pomona and accomplished a point out with sct-glendale that they seemed reluctant to accept; bothered as if I had called the wrong sector (expecting me to call sct-valley perhaps?) I checked our approach airspace map to validate I had called the appropriate sector with that point out. So; again; frequency coverage wasn't the best; which the flm confirmed had also been a problem the prior day; and landline coordination wasn't much better. We also discussed LOA matters of descending aircraft Z and aircraft a per LOA with ZLA; which honestly could not have been accomplished any better without numerous TCAS ras unless I had a handoff assisting with requests for 'control' of whatever type was required in that moment throughout the 4 plus 10 hours I worked that sector today.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A JCF controller reports of bad radios along with an orbiting UAV that was in the way of descending aircraft. The Controller reports of a loss of separation between IFR aircraft a VFR aircraft leaving a MOA. The Controller reported of other issues that may have led to his lack of awareness and not feeling competent about his work that day.

Narrative: I was working Antelope Sector without assistance; which can be very challenging; this was one of those challenging days. This particular day; we were dealing with a short-staffing situation that didn't provide for much opportunity of a handoff to assist me. I was dealing with an LOA matter; of descending aircraft out of ZLA airspace reference Aircraft Y orbiting at VFR/125 blocking descent from 140 to even an undesirable descent to 130. So; I had been stepping down an Aircraft Z and Aircraft A with comm issues that had me constantly switching from EDW to a backup site (Pearblossom) due to limited coverage and muffled read backs. Uncertain what the issues were; I also was trying to switch from foot pedal to handset to determine the nature of the problem which required me to make numerous duplicate calls to the same aircraft to accomplish anything. Apparently I gave a VFR aircraft; the one in question; Aircraft X; an IFR clearance exiting a MOA too soon; perhaps there was only 2-1/2 miles instead of 3 at the time I issued the IFR clearance. Adding to the pressure of the situation was a Front Line Manager (FLM) sitting beside me; who didn't inform me of the incident until an hour later; when I received my 1st break for the day. At the end of the day; I discussed the matter with our Air Traffic Management as I was walking out the door; having reviewed the incident with our radar review program. There are numerous suggestions that could be made; but mostly I would say in my limited hours per month; I needed more patience at times but I also feel I was struggling with priorities: good; better; best. It's on me; in other words. Beyond that; I needed assistance with landline coordination; making calls or receiving them. There seemed to be inabilities for such matters to be handled quickly; or easily; in numerous instances. Aircraft Z was given a crossing restriction from 130 while east of PMD [reference] VFR/115 traffic just clearing with ample time to cross JANNY at and maintain 080 but reported later unable to make it (pilot deviation?). As I called ZLA-04; with a point out they accepted; the FLM attempted to call SCT-VLY but they were unresponsive. Once told of that situation; I called them back with a more forceful tone of voice which accomplished the goal: 'Point out approved.' Later in the day; in an unrelated matter; [reference another aircraft] I gave 'lost comm' for SCT-Pomona and accomplished a point out with SCT-Glendale that they seemed reluctant to accept; bothered as if I had called the wrong sector (expecting me to call SCT-Valley perhaps?) I checked our approach airspace map to validate I had called the appropriate sector with that point out. So; again; frequency coverage wasn't the best; which the FLM confirmed had also been a problem the prior day; and landline coordination wasn't much better. We also discussed LOA matters of descending Aircraft Z and Aircraft A per LOA with ZLA; which honestly could not have been accomplished any better without numerous TCAS RAs unless I had a handoff assisting with requests for 'control' of whatever type was required in that moment throughout the 4 plus 10 hours I worked that sector today.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.