Narrative:

I had told aircraft X to standby while I was splitting off R04 from R03. I was remaining at R03. Traffic was fairly light so it was a timely split-off. I had aircraft Y cleared from the vrb 7 DME arc approach from the north maintaining 3;000 ft until bueye. I gave aircraft X a squawk code. I think he said he wanted his IFR or wanted VFR practice approaches. Not sure if I was finished with the briefing or not by that point. Officially probably; being off the recorded land line; but the new R04 controller was asking a few questions. I then went to find aircraft X since I couldn't find him on the radar. His transponder was off; I am assuming because when I ask him to identify or reset the transponder; or whatever I said; his target popped up head-on at the same altitude with aircraft Y. There was no target there before that; I am positive of that. When I saw him pop up with the 035 in the altitude but at 030 for his mode C; I told him not to turn north; gave him traffic and suggested he turn west-bound or southwest-bound. It was a normal traffic alert type situation that we get at R03 many times during the day except one very important thing that is missing; there is still no primary radar able to be received in this large area 40NM radius below FL180. The three mile area near fpr and vrb; which is very important and helpful to run traffic there; is missing something of utmost importance. I have questioned this many times and the latest answer I have gotten from the maintenance people is that when air traffic asked for the radar to be put in at vero beach; an ASR-9; I think; they never asked for it to have the primary radar turned on; so af didn't do it because it wasn't asked for. The darc has been programmed to receive it so we can go to it if we know an aircraft has lost his transponder and we can work with that but that is not ideal or realistic. This sector is probably one of the busiest for VFR traffic and traffic alerts; I would think; in the entire country. Primary radar is woefully needed and in this case; had I been just a bit busier with the split-off there was a very real potential for a collision with these two aircraft but I was only able to see one and had no idea where that second one was. Also; parachute jumping is very popular at the sebastian airport (X26) and this would be very helpful for calling traffic on those aircraft without transponders or ones that are not turned on or working. I would think this problem has been looked into but this is a very real example and something to show to someone how a potential collision almost happened because of missing radar data that was intentionally programmed that way or is limited for some reason because of a trade-off of some sort. Also; fpr has a nuclear power plant nearby that is even indicated on our scopes since after 9/11 and we are told to look for suspicious aircraft in the area maneuvering around it. How can we do that properly if we don't have primaries? Also; we are a part of the air defense system and we can't see aircraft without transponders coming in from the ocean if an attack was ever initiated. Recommendation; very simple; get this all important primary radar back on our scopes at the R03; R04; R22; [and] R23 positions so we can do our jobs to the fullest extent possible without compromising safety.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZMA Controller described a conflict event between an IFR and VFR aircraft claiming the lack of primary RADAR at the conflict site was the primary causal factor.

Narrative: I had told Aircraft X to standby while I was splitting off R04 from R03. I was remaining at R03. Traffic was fairly light so it was a timely split-off. I had Aircraft Y cleared from the VRB 7 DME arc approach from the north maintaining 3;000 FT until BUEYE. I gave Aircraft X a squawk code. I think he said he wanted his IFR or wanted VFR practice approaches. Not sure if I was finished with the briefing or not by that point. Officially probably; being off the recorded land line; but the new R04 Controller was asking a few questions. I then went to find Aircraft X since I couldn't find him on the RADAR. His transponder was off; I am assuming because when I ask him to IDENT or reset the transponder; or whatever I said; his target popped up head-on at the same altitude with Aircraft Y. There was no target there before that; I am positive of that. When I saw him pop up with the 035 in the altitude but at 030 for his Mode C; I told him not to turn north; gave him traffic and suggested he turn west-bound or southwest-bound. It was a normal traffic alert type situation that we get at R03 many times during the day except one very important thing that is missing; there is still no primary RADAR able to be received in this large area 40NM radius below FL180. The three mile area near FPR and VRB; which is very important and helpful to run traffic there; is missing something of utmost importance. I have questioned this many times and the latest answer I have gotten from the maintenance people is that when Air Traffic asked for the RADAR to be put in at Vero Beach; an ASR-9; I think; they never asked for it to have the primary radar turned on; so AF didn't do it because it wasn't asked for. The DARC has been programmed to receive it so we can go to it if we know an aircraft has lost his transponder and we can work with that but that is not ideal or realistic. This sector is probably one of the busiest for VFR traffic and traffic alerts; I would think; in the entire country. Primary RADAR is woefully needed and in this case; had I been just a bit busier with the split-off there was a very real potential for a collision with these two aircraft but I was only able to see one and had no idea where that second one was. Also; parachute jumping is very popular at the Sebastian Airport (X26) and this would be very helpful for calling traffic on those aircraft without transponders or ones that are not turned on or working. I would think this problem has been looked into but this is a very real example and something to show to someone how a potential collision almost happened because of missing RADAR data that was intentionally programmed that way or is limited for some reason because of a trade-off of some sort. Also; FPR has a nuclear power plant nearby that is even indicated on our scopes since after 9/11 and we are told to look for suspicious aircraft in the area maneuvering around it. How can we do that properly if we don't have primaries? Also; we are a part of the air defense system and we can't see aircraft without transponders coming in from the ocean if an attack was ever initiated. Recommendation; very simple; get this all important primary RADAR back on our scopes at the R03; R04; R22; [and] R23 positions so we can do our jobs to the fullest extent possible without compromising safety.

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.