RPTED SIT OF FALSE TARGETS MOVING AROUND THE DEP; ARR AND FINAL APCH AIRSPACE.

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THE PURPOSE OF THIS RPT IS TO INFORM NASA OF AN ONGOING PROB AT RDU TWR. ON A DAILY BASIS; CTLRS HERE ARE FORCED TO WORK AROUND NUMEROUS FALSE TARGETS. I BELIEVE NASA RPTS HAVE BEEN FILED IN THE PAST ON THIS PROB AND I AM NOT INTERESTED IN BEING REDUNDANT. HOWEVER; THE PROBS THAT OCCUR HERE ON A DAILY BASIS; WHILE THEY MAY BE SIMILAR; ARE NOT IDENTICAL. THESE FALSE TARGETS MOVE AROUND FROM DEP AIRSPACE TO FINAL AIRSPACE TO ARR AIRSPACE AND CAN AND DO CAUSE TROUBLE IN ALL SECTORS. I FEAR THAT CTLRS; MYSELF INCLUDED; HAVE SEEN SO MANY FALSE TARGETS THAT WE NOW HAVE MOVED TFC CALLS ON WHAT ARE ASSUMED TO BE PHANTOMS TO THE BOTTOM OF OUR PRIORITY LIST. ON SEVERAL SEPARATE OCCASIONS; I HAVE CALLED TFC ON WHAT I BELIEVED TO BE A FALSE TARGET ONLY TO HAVE THE OTHER ACFT COME BACK WITH 'TFC IN SIGHT.' I DO NOT BELIEVE OUR PROB HERE IS RELATED TO THE NATIONAL PROBS WITH ASR-9 RADAR. PRIOR TO SEP/96; WE HAD VERY FEW FALSE FALSE TARGETS. WHEN WE SAW A TARGET; WE ASSUMED IT WAS TFC AND MADE THE APPROPRIATE CALLS. THEN WE WERE HIT WITH A HURRICANE IN THE FIRST WK OF THAT MONTH. SINCE THEN WE HAVE ENDURED AN EPIDEMIC. THE ENTRY 'NUMEROUS FALSE TARGETS' HAS BEEN CARRIED IN OUR LOG FOR OVER 1 YR. CTLRS WENT THROUGH A PERIOD OF LOGGING DME AND AZIMUTH ON SUCH TARGETS IN AN ATTEMPT TO HELP AIRWAYS FACILITIES IDENT PROB AREAS. WE WERE TOLD THAT ENOUGH DATA HAD BEEN COLLECTED AND THE RPTING WAS DISCONTINUED. THAT SAME ENTRY WAS STILL IN THE LOG ON JAN/XA/98. THERE IS NO RELIEF IN SIGHT. EACH DAY; TFC CALLS ON THESE TARGETS SLIPS A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THE LIST. I AM AFRAID THAT VERY SOON THEY WILL BEGIN TO BE IGNORED EVEN BY OUR MOST CONSCIENTIOUS CTLRS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE PROB HAS NOT BEEN FIXED. A UCR WAS PREVIOUSLY FILED AND IS STILL OPEN. RPTR DOES NOT KNOW IF THE PROB HAS BEEN ELEVATED TO THE REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASSISTANCE OR IF THE PROB WAS ADDRESSED ON THE ADMINISTRATOR'S HOTLINE. RPTR FEELS THE TECHNICIANS HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO RESOLVE THE PROB. RPTR INDICATED THAT PRIOR TO HURRICANE; THEY DID NOT HAVE MANY FALSE TARGETS AND NOW THEY HAVE 20-30 PER DAY WHICH MOVE AT A SLOW SPD AND ARE DISPLAYED FOR A PERIOD OF 3-5 SWEEPS OF THE ANTENNA.