RPTED SIT IN WHICH AN ARTS DATA TAG FOR ONE ACFT COULD NOT BE DISPLAYED UNLESS THE RPTR FLIPPED THE CTR; DE-CTR SWITCH. TAG WOULD REMAIN ONLY A FEW SECONDS. RADAR TARGET WAS DISPLAYED. RPTR CRITICAL OF WORN OUT RADAR SCOPES EQUIP.

Narrative

I WAS WORKING E RADAR AS ZKC WAS ATTEMPTING TO RADAR HDOF ACFT TO ME; I HAD NO DATA TAG; JUST A RADAR TARGET. I FLIPPED THE CTR/DE-CTR TOGGLE SWITCH AND THE DATA TAG APPEARED; BUT ONLY FOR A FEW SECONDS; THEN DISAPPEARED. EVERY TIME I FLIPPED THE SWITCH THE DATA TAG WOULD APPEAR AND THEN DISAPPEAR UNTIL THE ACFT GOT APPROX 40 MI FROM THE RADAR ANTENNA. THIS OCCURRED FROM THE NE QUADRANT TO THE SE QUADRANT. I WORKED WITH THE RADAR TECHNICIAN TROUBLESHOOTING AND TRYING DIFFERENT THINGS (WHILE I WAS STILL WORKING RADAR). AS TFC INCREASED WE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT SCOPE. THE RADAR TECHNICIAN HAS NO IDEA WHAT IS CAUSING THIS. HE SAYS IT COULD BE A SOFTWARE PROB; BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW. THIS IS ALMOST THE COMMON RESPONSE ANYMORE WITH AN EQUIP PROB. IT IS EITHER 'I DON'T KNOW' OR 'THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT.' MY OPINION IS THE SCOPE IS OLD AND WORN OUT. SOMEONE HAS GOT TO JUMPSTART THE FAA BEFORE ALL OF OUR SCOPES JUST QUIT. IT IS LIKE A TUNER ON A TV SET WHEN IT STARTS GOING OUT A LITTLE AT A TIME.