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I90 controller described a stars display failure when providing OJT and utilizing an adjacent display; the reporter noting the failure was apparently caused by using the tpa j-rings or bats beyond the radar 60 mile coverage; adding the anomaly was duplicated and demonstrated to maintenance several times.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 886988 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201005 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | I90.TRACON |
| State Reference | TX |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | No Aircraft |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types |
Narrative:
This report is in reference to stars crashing; there was no loss of separation or even close. I have had this happen to me several times before; and I have found that under certain parameters; I can duplicate the stars failure; and make it happen every time. When the tpa (j-rings or bats) are being used on aircraft outside my radar coverage of 60 miles at the edge of the radar scope; I see the j-ring on the aircraft; then it disappears; then it will come back; and then the stars will fail and the entire scope shuts down. Then you must go to esl to be able to work traffic. This first happened when I was training and using the scope beside the trainee and I was putting 3 mile j-rings on all his aircraft they were entering our airspace; the scope crashed and the maintenance technician had to reset stars and then it was fine. It then happened a 2nd and 3rd time on another day. The maintenance technicians then asked me if I would be able to duplicate this event on a different scope; and so I move to another one and crashed it. I was able to duplicate it 3 more times on different scopes. This is a safety issue especially if a trainee or newly checked out person is using the tpa's and happens to get it outside their radar coverage on the edge of their scope.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: I90 controller described a STARS display failure when providing OJT and utilizing an adjacent display; the reporter noting the failure was apparently caused by using the TPA J-Rings or Bats beyond the RADAR 60 mile coverage; adding the anomaly was duplicated and demonstrated to maintenance several times.
Narrative: This report is in reference to STARS crashing; there was no loss of separation or even close. I have had this happen to me several times before; and I have found that under certain parameters; I can duplicate the STARS failure; and make it happen every time. When the TPA (J-rings or Bats) are being used on aircraft outside my RADAR coverage of 60 miles at the edge of the RADAR scope; I see the J-ring on the aircraft; then it disappears; then it will come back; and then the STARS will fail and the entire scope shuts down. Then you must go to ESL to be able to work traffic. This first happened when I was training and using the scope beside the trainee and I was putting 3 mile j-rings on all his aircraft they were entering our airspace; the scope crashed and the Maintenance Technician had to reset STARS and then it was fine. It then happened a 2nd and 3rd time on another day. The Maintenance Technicians then asked me if I would be able to duplicate this event on a different scope; and so I move to another one and crashed it. I was able to duplicate it 3 more times on different scopes. This is a safety issue especially if a trainee or newly checked out person is using the TPA's and happens to get it outside their RADAR coverage on the edge of their scope.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.