ARTCC RADAR CTLR GETTING BUSY AND HAD A HDOF CTLR PLUGGING IN AND SEPARATING THE RADAR DATA BLOCKS. A POTENTIAL CONFLICT LTSS SIT WAS OBSERVED AS THE DATA BLOCKS WERE SEPARATED. THE CTLR ATTEMPTED TO DSND A B737 AND ALSO TURN THE ACFT. WHEN THE DSCNT INSTRUCTIONS WERE NOT ACTED UPON THE CTLR TURNED THE TFC; AN ACR DC9; AND AT THAT TIME BOTH ACFT REACTED TO TCASII RA'S. CTLR STATED THE CONFLICT ALERT ACTIVATED TOO LATE; SO IT WAS NO HELP.

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WAS GETTING A TRACKER WHO HAD BEEN PLUGGED IN FOR LESS THAN 3 MINS. HAD DIFFICULTY ESTABLISHING SPLIT MODE IN VSCS. I TOLD TRACKER TO SEPARATE OVERLAPPING DATA BLOCKS; WHICH HE DID. AT THAT TIME HE SAW THE TFC FOR ONE OF THE PREVIOUSLY OVERLAPPED DATA BLOCKS. AS HE WAS POINTING THE SIT OUT TO ME; I SAW IT TOO. I INITIATED AN EXPEDITIOUS DSCNT TO ONE OF THE ACFT (X); WHICH WAS LNDG A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY. NO RESPONSE FROM ACFT (X). I ISSUED A TURN OF AT LEAST 90 DEGS TO A HDG OF 090 DEGS. THERE WAS A PAUSE AND THEN THAT ACFT (X) SAID THEY WERE CLBING IN RESPONSE TO A TCASII RA. I TURNED THE OTHER ACFT (Y) AT LEAST 90 DEGS TO A 270 DEG HDG AND HE RESPONDED THAT HE WAS DSNDING FOR AN RA. THE ACFT WOULD'VE PASSED LATERALLY WITH 3.5 MI EVEN IF NO ACTION WAS TAKEN. I BELIEVE I HAD TIME TO ESTABLISH STANDARD SEPARATION; BUT THAT TCASII CAUSED HESITATION AND CONFUSION FOR THE PLTS. THE RADAR ASSOCIATE CTLR WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR; IN MY OPINION. WITH MORE HELP FROM THAT PERSON THE SIT WOULD NEVER HAVE COME UP. CONFLICT ALERT ACTIVATED AS I ISSUED THE DSCNT CLRNC; SO IT WAS NO HELP; EITHER.