Dab controller voiced concern regarding the on going lost target issue on the tower radar when traff...

Narrative:

Aircraft X was making right closed traffic to runway 7R. He disappeared from the scope somewhere near the crosswind to downwind turn then re-appeared on base. Aircraft Y did the same thing. This has been a problem for a long time. I have been at dab for a long time and it has been a carryover in the log since before then. I've also been told our ASR-9 hasn't been optimized in 18+ years. We had a safety meeting not long ago and we came up with a plan of action to get this issue resolved and as far as I know; no steps have been taken to fix this particular safety problem. We've been having problems with fusion since we got it and we have a band-aid on it for now but the radar coverage for the 7R/25L traffic pattern is still unacceptable. Fix our equipment whether the problem lies with our ASR-9 or stars in general. This kind of presentation is unacceptable and dangerous.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DAB Controller voiced concern regarding the on going lost target issue on the Tower RADAR when traffic is near crosswind to downwind; the reporter unsure if the problem resides in the ASR-9 and/or STARS equipment.

Narrative: Aircraft X was making right closed traffic to Runway 7R. He disappeared from the scope somewhere near the crosswind to downwind turn then re-appeared on base. Aircraft Y did the same thing. This has been a problem for a long time. I have been at DAB for a long time and it has been a carryover in the log since before then. I've also been told our ASR-9 hasn't been optimized in 18+ years. We had a safety meeting not long ago and we came up with a plan of action to get this issue resolved and as far as I know; no steps have been taken to fix this particular safety problem. We've been having problems with FUSION since we got it and we have a Band-Aid on it for now but the RADAR coverage for the 7R/25L traffic pattern is still unacceptable. Fix our equipment whether the problem lies with our ASR-9 or STARS in general. This kind of presentation is UNACCEPTABLE AND DANGEROUS.

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	1083956
Time
Date	201304
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	DAB.Tower
State Reference	FL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Other VFR Traffic Pattern
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Decathlon 8KCAB
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Other VFR Traffic Pattern
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Dab controller voiced concern regarding the on going lost target issue on the tower radar when traffic is near crosswind to downwind; the reporter unsure if the problem resides in the ASR-9 and/or stars equipment.