Narrative:

For the past 2 days the bur area secondary radar at socal TRACON has been very poor. There are numerous targets that display 'nat' from adjacent facilities and numerous targets that go into 'coast' while we are working them. Most of the problems seem to occur to the west of vny airport from 11500 ft and below. These occurrences have been mentioned to the area supervisor on duty and the weak secondary targets have been logged on the area log. The maintenance (FAA) is aware of these problems and they tell us that they are working on it but so far we have not seen any improvement to how it was designed to work. We know the problem is with the bur area radar because adjacent facilities using different radars say that all targets appear to be normal, regarding transponder return with mode C valid readout. I firmly believe that it is not a safe operation to use vertical separation from mode C readouts while using this secondary radar in this condition. I will have to use lateral separation which will probably cause some delays, but at least I know it will be safe. I hope this system can be put together correctly and work the way it was designed to for the user's sake and mine too. I know that this problem has been occurring only for a couple of days recently but this has been a recurring problem for a yr or so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: APCH CTLR AT BUR CLAIMS THAT SECONDARY RADAR PRESENTATION HAS BEEN VERY POOR FOR 2 DAYS. RPTR STATES THAT NUMEROUS TARGETS DISPLAY 'NAT' FROM ADJACENT FACILITIES AND TARGETS TO INTO 'COAST' STATUS. MAINT IS AWARE OF PROB AND ARE ATTEMPTING TO FIX IT. HOWEVER, RPTR HAS NOT SEEN ANY IMPROVEMENT. THESE PROBS HAVE BEEN LOGGED BY SUPVR EACH TIME THEY OCCUR.

Narrative: FOR THE PAST 2 DAYS THE BUR AREA SECONDARY RADAR AT SOCAL TRACON HAS BEEN VERY POOR. THERE ARE NUMEROUS TARGETS THAT DISPLAY 'NAT' FROM ADJACENT FACILITIES AND NUMEROUS TARGETS THAT GO INTO 'COAST' WHILE WE ARE WORKING THEM. MOST OF THE PROBS SEEM TO OCCUR TO THE W OF VNY ARPT FROM 11500 FT AND BELOW. THESE OCCURRENCES HAVE BEEN MENTIONED TO THE AREA SUPVR ON DUTY AND THE WEAK SECONDARY TARGETS HAVE BEEN LOGGED ON THE AREA LOG. THE MAINT (FAA) IS AWARE OF THESE PROBS AND THEY TELL US THAT THEY ARE WORKING ON IT BUT SO FAR WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANY IMPROVEMENT TO HOW IT WAS DESIGNED TO WORK. WE KNOW THE PROB IS WITH THE BUR AREA RADAR BECAUSE ADJACENT FACILITIES USING DIFFERENT RADARS SAY THAT ALL TARGETS APPEAR TO BE NORMAL, REGARDING XPONDER RETURN WITH MODE C VALID READOUT. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT IT IS NOT A SAFE OP TO USE VERT SEPARATION FROM MODE C READOUTS WHILE USING THIS SECONDARY RADAR IN THIS CONDITION. I WILL HAVE TO USE LATERAL SEPARATION WHICH WILL PROBABLY CAUSE SOME DELAYS, BUT AT LEAST I KNOW IT WILL BE SAFE. I HOPE THIS SYS CAN BE PUT TOGETHER CORRECTLY AND WORK THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TO FOR THE USER'S SAKE AND MINE TOO. I KNOW THAT THIS PROB HAS BEEN OCCURRING ONLY FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS RECENTLY BUT THIS HAS BEEN A RECURRING PROB FOR A YR OR SO.

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.