Narrative:

Mfr tower requested release for aircraft X via the rundown list. I released aircraft X watched the target tag up; then handed the tag off to center. I was waiting to hear the pilot's initial call when tower called on the shout line and advised that aircraft X could not get ahold of me on my frequency. I was on the main transmitter and receiver; so I switched to the standby transmitter and receiver and advised the tower to have aircraft X try again. I heard nothing on the frequency; so I called back to tower to have them turn aircraft X on course and switch them to center.shortly after that center called; advising that they had aircraft X and requested control. I gave center control. Then tower called advising they weren't able to get a hold of aircraft X. I advised them that the pilot had switched to center; and tower and I coordinated a few frequency checks; all of which failed. The tower could not hear me; and I could not hear them. I called tech ops into the TRACON. The tech ops person reset something; and we managed to get the standby transmitter and receiver back. Then; tech ops informed me that this was a known issue; and the contractor in charge of this knows that a switch between our facility and the equipment at the transmitter/receiver site sometimes fails; and we lose our communication ability in that area. I was shocked. We can lose our frequencies at any time; and not even know it? What if this had happened when vectoring multiple aircraft for an instrument approach? The minimum vectoring altitudes in that area are extremely variable; if we lose communication with an aircraft it would be extremely dangerous. We have an emergency override socket for our headsets; but I don't know if that is on the same circuit that fails or not.have the contractor fix the issue; and penalize them until it's fixed. Since this is a systemic and known issue; there is no excuse for this to still be so unreliable. This is a serious safety issue!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EUG TRACON Controller reported that after being unable to communicate with an aircraft; was advised that the transmitter/receiver site routinely fails and it is a known problem; but nothing has been done to fix it.

Narrative: MFR Tower requested release for Aircraft X via the rundown list. I released Aircraft X watched the target tag up; then handed the tag off to center. I was waiting to hear the pilot's initial call when Tower called on the shout line and advised that Aircraft X could not get ahold of me on my frequency. I was on the main transmitter and receiver; so I switched to the standby transmitter and receiver and advised the tower to have Aircraft X try again. I heard nothing on the frequency; so I called back to tower to have them turn Aircraft X on course and switch them to Center.Shortly after that Center called; advising that they had Aircraft X and requested control. I gave Center control. Then Tower called advising they weren't able to get a hold of Aircraft X. I advised them that the pilot had switched to Center; and tower and I coordinated a few frequency checks; all of which failed. The tower could not hear me; and I could not hear them. I called tech ops into the TRACON. The Tech Ops person reset something; and we managed to get the standby transmitter and receiver back. Then; Tech Ops informed me that this was a known issue; and the contractor in charge of this knows that a switch between our facility and the equipment at the transmitter/Receiver site sometimes fails; and we lose our communication ability in that area. I was shocked. We can lose our frequencies at any time; and not even know it? What if this had happened when vectoring multiple aircraft for an instrument approach? The Minimum Vectoring Altitudes in that area are extremely variable; if we lose communication with an aircraft it would be extremely dangerous. We have an emergency override socket for our headsets; but I don't know if that is on the same circuit that fails or not.Have the contractor fix the issue; and penalize them until it's fixed. Since this is a systemic and known issue; there is no excuse for this to still be so unreliable. This is a serious safety issue!

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.