ZDC controller describes losing surveillance data on a scope and not getting any information back fo...

Narrative:

I was r-side training at sector 32. We were in the middle of a push when the scope read 'not receiving surveillance data'. I immediately called the supervisor over to find out what that meant. He didn't know and called maintenance. Then the scope froze. We couldn't update or move data blocks. The scope and uret then completely went black; like 2 tv's had just shut off. No airplanes; no flight plans; nothing. We leaned over to sector 52 (who was also quite busy at the time) and asked him to quick-look sector 32. He quick-looked our sector and we got radar back but still couldn't manipulate the data blocks. I switched to the backup channel (not knowing if I should or not) and radar was restored but the d-side was completely dead. No entries from the d-side could be made. It was a good 8-10 minutes before uret was restored though. We brought an l-side into the situation to help read flight plans off the scope and update data blocks. I really don't know what happened to be able to supply a recommendation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDC Controller describes losing surveillance data on a scope and not getting any information back for about 8 to 10 minutes. Controller had to use another controller's scope for this time.

Narrative: I was R-side training at Sector 32. We were in the middle of a push when the scope read 'Not Receiving Surveillance Data'. I immediately called the supervisor over to find out what that meant. He didn't know and called maintenance. Then the scope froze. We couldn't update or move data blocks. The scope and URET then completely went black; like 2 TV's had just shut off. No airplanes; no flight plans; nothing. We leaned over to sector 52 (who was also quite busy at the time) and asked him to quick-look sector 32. He quick-looked our sector and we got radar back but still couldn't manipulate the data blocks. I switched to the backup channel (not knowing if I should or not) and radar was restored but the D-side was completely dead. No entries from the D-side could be made. It was a good 8-10 minutes before URET was restored though. We brought an L-side into the situation to help read flight plans off the scope and update data blocks. I really don't know what happened to be able to supply a recommendation.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1213574
Time
Date	201410
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZDC.ARTCC
State Reference	VA
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Instructor Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 14.5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

ZDC controller describes losing surveillance data on a scope and not getting any information back for about 8 to 10 minutes. Controller had to use another controller's scope for this time.