Narrative:

Aircraft X was inbound. I approved aircraft X to enter my airspace at 5;000 feet because I was receiving non arts track and coast track in the scratchpad. I advised the supervisor; because although this type of occurrence is not all that uncommon at this facility; a properly functioning radar should be able to follow an aircraft 30 miles away from the antenna at 5;000 feet with no obstructions in between (aircraft was line-of-sight with the antenna). Nothing was done.at 5 miles inside my airspace aircraft X was switched to my frequency. I went from ASR-8 (primary radar display) to mosaic mode and notified the supervisor that the ASR-8 radar sensor was not acceptable. I took the handoff on aircraft X. Aircraft X checked in; requesting vectors for a practice ILS approach. I lost radar contact on aircraft X and advised the pilot. I cleared aircraft X to the initial approach fix for the ILS and instructed him to maintain 5;000 feet. Aircraft X was unable direct initial approach fix; so I re-cleared aircraft X direct to the airport.initially I was not concerned about providing non-radar separation to the off-route aircraft because I had no other IFR traffic. Essentially I was sterilizing his altitude from the last known position. Then I took a handoff on aircraft Y. I descended aircraft Y to 6;000 feet. I swapped between mosaic mode and ASR 8 to see if one would track aircraft X better (even though mosaic mode would include the ASR 8 sensor). The supervisor left and put a controller in charge (controller in charge) in. The controller in charge was trying to find which sensor would follow the aircraft. At one point it seemed that the ASR-8 would be reliable enough to use; and I radar identified aircraft X. At that point I had radar separation between aircraft X and aircraft Y. I descended aircraft X from 5;000 feet to 3;000 feet and descended aircraft Y from 6;000 feet to 2;500 feet. I turned aircraft Y towards final and converging with aircraft X.then I lost radar contact on aircraft X again. I notified the supervisor and operation manager (OM) of the radar loss and told aircraft X to maintain 4;000 feet. I intended to re-establish some form of non-radar separation by means of vertical separation. Aircraft Y was still descending and I did not have confirmation of aircraft X last reported altitude. I notified the supervisor and OM that since the two aircraft were converging and swapping altitudes that non-radar separation did not likely exists; and that I was unprepared and have not received sufficient training on providing non-radar approach control service to aircraft which were both off-route and in the case of aircraft X could not navigate direct a fix in order to be established on-route prior to the navaid to which both were approaching. I requested an mor to be filed for the loss of the ASR-8 and the probable loss of radar/non-radar separation between the aircraft. The OM refused and choose not to even look into the situation.in the process of swapping between the radar sensors aircraft Y may have been below the minimum vectoring altitude (MVA) for mosaic mode at some point but was always at or above the MVA for the ASR 8 sensor. I notified the OM of this as well.I recommend that the OM take equipment failures seriously; especially in cases of radar loss. I also recommend the OM take losses of separation seriously. It would also be beneficial to have a radar system that is reliable (I will admit that this type of occurrence happens much more often than I have time to report). However; as the ASR 8 sensor has continued to prove unreliable; mosaic mode does not always remedy the problem. As long as radar equipment issues persist; I would like to receive training on non-radar procedures for aircraft on the route structure; as well as off-route (including non-RNAV/GPS equipped aircraft).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Controller lost radar contact with an aircraft. The Controller was not sure if they maintained required separation standards between this aircraft and another aircraft which was in radar coverage.

Narrative: Aircraft X was inbound. I approved Aircraft X to enter my airspace at 5;000 feet because I was receiving Non Arts track and Coast Track in the scratchpad. I advised the supervisor; because although this type of occurrence is not all that uncommon at this facility; a properly functioning radar should be able to follow an aircraft 30 miles away from the antenna at 5;000 feet with no obstructions in between (aircraft was line-of-sight with the antenna). Nothing was done.At 5 miles inside my airspace Aircraft X was switched to my frequency. I went from ASR-8 (primary radar display) to MOSAIC mode and notified the supervisor that the ASR-8 radar sensor was not acceptable. I took the handoff on Aircraft X. Aircraft X checked in; requesting vectors for a practice ILS approach. I lost radar contact on Aircraft X and advised the pilot. I cleared Aircraft X to the initial approach fix for the ILS and instructed him to maintain 5;000 feet. Aircraft X was unable direct initial approach fix; so I re-cleared Aircraft X direct to the airport.Initially I was not concerned about providing non-radar separation to the off-route aircraft because I had no other IFR traffic. Essentially I was sterilizing his altitude from the last known position. Then I took a handoff on Aircraft Y. I descended Aircraft Y to 6;000 feet. I swapped between MOSAIC mode and ASR 8 to see if one would track Aircraft X better (even though MOSAIC mode would include the ASR 8 sensor). The supervisor left and put a Controller in Charge (CIC) in. The CIC was trying to find which sensor would follow the aircraft. At one point it seemed that the ASR-8 would be reliable enough to use; and I radar identified Aircraft X. At that point I had radar separation between Aircraft X and Aircraft Y. I descended Aircraft X from 5;000 feet to 3;000 feet and descended Aircraft Y from 6;000 feet to 2;500 feet. I turned Aircraft Y towards final and converging with Aircraft X.Then I lost radar contact on Aircraft X again. I notified the supervisor and Operation Manager (OM) of the radar loss and told Aircraft X to maintain 4;000 feet. I intended to re-establish some form of non-radar separation by means of vertical separation. Aircraft Y was still descending and I did not have confirmation of Aircraft X last reported altitude. I notified the supervisor and OM that since the two aircraft were converging and swapping altitudes that non-radar separation did not likely exists; and that I was unprepared and have not received sufficient training on providing non-radar approach control service to aircraft which were both off-route and in the case of Aircraft X could not navigate direct a fix in order to be established on-route prior to the navaid to which both were approaching. I requested an MOR to be filed for the loss of the ASR-8 and the probable loss of radar/non-radar separation between the aircraft. The OM refused and choose not to even look into the situation.In the process of swapping between the radar sensors Aircraft Y may have been below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude (MVA) for MOSAIC mode at some point but was always at or above the MVA for the ASR 8 sensor. I notified the OM of this as well.I recommend that the OM take equipment failures seriously; especially in cases of radar loss. I also recommend the OM take losses of separation seriously. It would also be beneficial to have a radar system that is reliable (I will admit that this type of occurrence happens much more often than I have time to report). However; as the ASR 8 sensor has continued to prove unreliable; MOSAIC mode does not always remedy the problem. As long as radar equipment issues persist; I would like to receive training on non-radar procedures for aircraft on the route structure; as well as off-route (including non-RNAV/GPS equipped aircraft).

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.