Sct TRACON controller reported false targets on the stars display that were put there by maintenance...

Narrative:

Radar maintenance technician at lbg radar site (garden grove) interjecting 'test targets' with a beacon cone of 6667 and an altitude of 53;600. These targets are equidistant from the radar site and are distracting to controllers. The FAA takes a stance on reducing distractions in the workplace but the stars automation system continuously provides distracting information to controllers. Tech ops should take measures to prevent false data from displaying on the controller displays. Automation could be programmed to ignore certain beacon codes such as this particular 6667 code. Please conduct an independent operational analysis on the stars automation platform at sct.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SCT TRACON Controller reported false targets on the STARS display that were put there by Maintenance. He recommended an independent operational evaluation on the STARS system at SCT.

Narrative: Radar maintenance technician at LBG radar site (Garden Grove) interjecting 'test targets' with a beacon cone of 6667 and an altitude of 53;600. These targets are equidistant from the radar site and are distracting to controllers. The FAA takes a stance on reducing distractions in the workplace but the STARS automation system continuously provides distracting information to controllers. Tech ops should take measures to prevent false data from displaying on the controller displays. Automation could be programmed to ignore certain beacon codes such as this particular 6667 code. Please conduct an independent operational analysis on the STARS automation platform at SCT.

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	1456258
Time
Date	201706
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	SCT.TRACON
State Reference	CA
Environment
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 24
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Sct TRACON controller reported false targets on the stars display that were put there by maintenance. He recommended an independent operational evaluation on the stars system at sct.