FO RPTR COMPLAINS OF PROBLEMS IN LGT NEW COLOR RADAR ASSOCIATED WITH TCASII DISPLAY. CITES DIFFICULTY OF OP AND LISTS FLAWS IN OPERATING THEORIES.

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I AM A NEW LGT FO; BASED IN ATL WITH AN ACR. I WAS PREVIOUSLY A FO ON THE MLG FOR 1 1/2 YRS AND FELT VERY COMFORTABLE WITH THE OLD GREEN RADAR. I HAD A GOOD FEEL FOR TUNING IT AND MY ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE CELLS; RAIN; GND; AND ATTENUATION IN STORMS AND HVY RAIN. TODAY WE FLEW AROUND MOSTLY RAIN; BUT ALSO HAD IMBEDDED STORMS OVER OUR WHOLE RTE. DURING THE FLT; THE CAPT; IN ATTEMPTING TO INSTRUCT AND WARN ME ABOUT OUR NEW COLOR RADAR SCREENS (THAT NOW HAVE TCASII ALSO); EXPLAINED HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO INTERPRET THE RADAR. HE STATED THAT LOTS OF GUYS HAVE COMPLAINED TO THE COMPANY ABOUT THE PROBLEM GETTING A RELIABLE PICTURE AND THERE SEEMS TO BE NO EFFORT TO FIX THE SCREENS. MY CAPT OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT TRUST THE RADAR PICTURE; AND AFTER ATTEMPTING TO USE IT; I DON'T EITHER. I FEEL THAT THIS IS POTENTIALLY A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM-ON PAR WITH GETTING NUMB TO FALSE 'WHOOP WHOOP-PULL UPS.' WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TRUST AND BE CONFIDENT IN OUR RADAR IN IMC-IT'S ALL WE HAVE TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. SPECIFIC PROBLEMS I SAW ARE LISTED BELOW. 1) THERE IS NO STABILIZATION SWITCH ON SOME CTL PANELS. 2) THE OPERATION MANUAL SAYS DON'T FLY THROUGH RED PRESENTATIONS; BUT IT SHOWS RED FREQUENTLY WITHOUT EVEN MODERATE PRECIPITATION. 3) I SAW ONCE IN THE CLR WHERE TALLER; STRONGER STORMS CLOSER TO US HARDLY APPEARED WHILE MORE DISTANT CLOUDS APPEARED DANGEROUS (I REALIZE RADAR MEASURES WATER INTENSITY; NOT TURB). 4) THE MANUAL SAYS YOU CAN ADJUST THE GAIN TO DIFFERENTIATE WHEN ALL RETURNS ARE HVY BUT THERE IS NO MARK ON THE GAIN KNOB OR WARNING ON THE SCREEN TO INDICATE THAT THE GAIN IS NOT FULL UP. IT WOULD BE VERY EASY TO BECOME DISTRACTED AND FORGET TO TURN IT BACK UP-NOBODY ELSE ON THE CREW HAS A WAY TO SEE THAT IT'S NOT AT FULL GAIN. I REALIZE I'M NEW TO THIS SYS AND NONE OF US LIKE CHANGE; BUT IT IS; I FEEL; A SERIOUS POTENTIAL PROBLEM-MUCH MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE POTENTIAL FOR A MIDAIR COLLISION IS WHY WE DON'T HAVE THE OLD RADAR SCREEN. I THINK WE'RE CREATING A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM THAN WE ARE SOLVING BY ADDING TCASII. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT AS MORE TIME AND EXPERIENCE IS GAINED IN THIS ACFT; THE INITIAL PROBLEM HAS DIMINISHED SLIGHTLY. HE STILL MAINTAINS THAT IT IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE OLD GREEN DISPLAY SCREEN. HE ALSO MENTIONED THAT; SINCE HE INITIALLY RPTED THIS; HE HAS NOT FLOWN VERY MUCH IN IMC CONDITIONS. OTHER PILOTS SEEM TO FEEL THE SAME WAY HE DOES ABOUT EQUIP. RPTR ALSO STATED THAT HE THOUGHT THE ORIGINAL PIECE OF EQUIP WAS MODIFIED TO ACCOMMODATE TCASII. IT WAS NOT A COMPLETE CHANGE OVER EQUIP.