Narrative:

During the XA00 pm inbound arrival push to slc from the north, the radar started jumping with the targets moving 5-7 mi in various directions. After a few mins of the targets jumping around I started losing targets. At the time I was sequencing turbojet and non turbojet aircraft at the same altitude over the same fix. None of the aircraft I was working at this time were over 10 mi apart. This made target jumps of 5-7 mi very critical. Then when the targets started to disappear from the radar scope, I was forced to use vertical separation. It was not possible to establish a linear feed to slc approach under this situation. My main concern is that since the radar was not officially OTS, no record is kept of the performance on this date. My supervisor witnessed the problem and talked to the maintenance people about it. The next day when I asked what the problem was the response was 'there was no problem reported.' I have since discovered that only total failures are logged. This is obviously to make the system appear to be working better than reality demonstrates.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC RADAR CTLR COMPLAINT ABOUT TARGET JUMPING ON HIS RADAR POS DURING A PEAK RUSH PERIOD. CTLR HAD TO REVERT TO COMBINATION OF VERT SEPARATION AND RADAR SEPARATION. THE SUPVR WITNESSED THE TARGET JUMPS AND TALKED WITH MAINT, BUT NO RESOLUTION ON THE PROB. IN FACT, WHEN RPTR CHKED LATER, THERE WASN'T ANY ENTRY ON THE LOG REFING THE RADAR PROB. RPTR SAYS ONLY TOTAL RADAR FAILURES GET LOGGED.

Narrative: DURING THE XA00 PM INBOUND ARR PUSH TO SLC FROM THE N, THE RADAR STARTED JUMPING WITH THE TARGETS MOVING 5-7 MI IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS. AFTER A FEW MINS OF THE TARGETS JUMPING AROUND I STARTED LOSING TARGETS. AT THE TIME I WAS SEQUENCING TURBOJET AND NON TURBOJET ACFT AT THE SAME ALT OVER THE SAME FIX. NONE OF THE ACFT I WAS WORKING AT THIS TIME WERE OVER 10 MI APART. THIS MADE TARGET JUMPS OF 5-7 MI VERY CRITICAL. THEN WHEN THE TARGETS STARTED TO DISAPPEAR FROM THE RADAR SCOPE, I WAS FORCED TO USE VERT SEPARATION. IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH A LINEAR FEED TO SLC APCH UNDER THIS SIT. MY MAIN CONCERN IS THAT SINCE THE RADAR WAS NOT OFFICIALLY OTS, NO RECORD IS KEPT OF THE PERFORMANCE ON THIS DATE. MY SUPVR WITNESSED THE PROB AND TALKED TO THE MAINT PEOPLE ABOUT IT. THE NEXT DAY WHEN I ASKED WHAT THE PROB WAS THE RESPONSE WAS 'THERE WAS NO PROB RPTED.' I HAVE SINCE DISCOVERED THAT ONLY TOTAL FAILURES ARE LOGGED. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY TO MAKE THE SYS APPEAR TO BE WORKING BETTER THAN REALITY DEMONSTRATES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.