Narrative:

Our ASR-9 radar is out of service with some sort of temporary fix in place. The radar data tags continue to drop off completely then reappear. They also float off in directions that are not consistent with real time. The aircraft in the pattern are mostly not there; but sometimes pop back on the scope. I had [an air carrier] on final; and did not call traffic for the parallel runway because there was not a target to show he was there. I did not see him out the window either because he blended in with the clouds. When I finally did see him; I called the traffic; but it was a late call. [The air carrier] understandably complained that that was a lot closer than he would have liked. I complained to my supervisor about the radar again. They have a memo to everyone saying to use our best judgement; but in my opinion; that would be to go to non-radar procedures. How can we continue to call ourselves a class charlie airspace; when we are using unreliable equipment to do our job? I can't single-handedly go to non-radar procedures just when I'm working! We need specific guidance; not use our best judgement. We need to let the flying public know that they are not getting actual class charlie service all the time. It's intermittent at best. We need to go to non-radar procedures; or they need to find a much better temporary fix. We have been dealing with this for almost 2 weeks now; and it's unsafe.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SNA Tower Controller reported being unable to provide required Class C airspace services due to a radar outage.

Narrative: Our ASR-9 radar is out of service with some sort of temporary fix in place. The radar data tags continue to drop off completely then reappear. They also float off in directions that are not consistent with real time. The aircraft in the pattern are mostly NOT there; but sometimes pop back on the scope. I had [an air carrier] on final; and did not call traffic for the parallel runway because there was not a target to show he was there. I did not see him out the window either because he blended in with the clouds. When I finally did see him; I called the traffic; but it was a late call. [The air carrier] understandably complained that that was a lot closer than he would have liked. I complained to my supervisor about the radar again. They have a memo to everyone saying to use our best judgement; but in my opinion; that would be to go to non-radar procedures. How can we continue to call ourselves a Class Charlie airspace; when we are using unreliable equipment to do our job? I can't single-handedly go to non-radar procedures just when I'm working! We need specific guidance; NOT use our best judgement. We need to let the flying public know that they are NOT getting actual Class Charlie service all the time. It's intermittent at best. We need to go to non-radar procedures; or they need to find a much better temporary fix. We have been dealing with this for almost 2 weeks now; and it's unsafe.

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.