TRACON controller described a confused transition from normal operations to cenrap resulting in rada...

Narrative:

Working east radar with 4 to 5 aircraft on frequency and departures coming; supervisor called and said he was going to cenrap plus for maintenance. Radar screen went blank with loss of primary and secondary and did not return. I called upstairs to see if coordination with system engineer had taken place and also found out the radar control unit had been changed to cenrap instead of being left on live as needed for cenrap plus. I had them return to normal radar which came back after a total of 2 to 3 minutes. After coordination had been done with the system engineer and ensuring the control unit left on live; I did the entrees to go to cenrap plus which transitioned without incident. Before taking action to transition to cenrap; personnel need to be aware of the proper procedure. Transition should be done during time of low traffic when able and not when departures are coming out. Maintenance should be done at times of lower traffic (preferably mid shift) not in the middle of the day.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described a confused transition from normal operations to CENRAP resulting in RADAR data losses; noting the coordination between supervisors; controllers and maintenance personnel was lacking.

Narrative: Working East RADAR with 4 to 5 aircraft on frequency and departures coming; Supervisor called and said he was going to CENRAP PLUS for maintenance. RADAR screen went blank with loss of primary and secondary and did not return. I called upstairs to see if coordination with System Engineer had taken place and also found out the RADAR control unit had been changed to CENRAP instead of being left on LIVE as needed for CENRAP PLUS. I had them return to normal RADAR which came back after a total of 2 to 3 minutes. After coordination had been done with the System Engineer and ensuring the control unit left on LIVE; I did the entrees to go to CENRAP PLUS which transitioned without incident. Before taking action to transition to CENRAP; personnel need to be aware of the proper procedure. Transition should be done during time of low traffic when able and not when departures are coming out. Maintenance should be done at times of lower traffic (preferably mid shift) not in the middle of the day.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	987520
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Departure Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

TRACON controller described a confused transition from normal operations to cenrap resulting in radar data losses; noting the coordination between supervisors; controllers and maintenance personnel was lacking.