PNS CTLR CONCERNED WITH ARTS IIE AND BEACON FAILURES AT AN 'ALARMING RATE.' CTLR PROVIDES 'FIX' RECOMMENDATIONS.

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A TOTAL ARTS IIE FAILURE OCCURRED ON BOTH THE PENSACOLA AND WHITING DUAL SENSORS. I WAS ACTIVELY CTLING 9 ACFT. FORTUNATELY; THEY WERE ALL VFR AT THE TIME AND THE WX WAS GOOD VMC. HAD CONDITIONS BEEN DIFFERENT; THIS COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC. OUR FACILITY HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING RADAR/ARTS/BEACON OUTAGES; AT WHAT I PERSONALLY CONSIDER AN ALARMING RATE. MY SUGGESTIONS FOR A FIX ACTION WOULD BE: 1) IF ARTS IIE AND OUR HARDWARE WOULD SUPPORT IT A 'FREEZE PATCH.' 2) A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT IS CAUSING THESE PROBS. 3) REPLACEMENT OF THE ANTIQUATED EQUIP WE WORK WITH. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH A PNS SPECIALIST REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE SPECIALIST ADVISED THAT PNS HAS RECENTLY BEEN CONVERTED INTO A DUAL SITE; DUAL SENSOR RADAR APCH CTL FACILITY. PNS HAS AN ASR-8 SYS; AND HAS INCORPORATED THE ASR-11 FROM THE NAVAL STATION; APPROX 15 MI AWAY. THE COMPLETE ARTS SYS IS A 'IIE.' THE FAA LOCAL ARTS TECHNICIAN IS PRIMARILY AN ARTS III SPECIALIST. WHENEVER SYS MODIFICATIONS OR SYS UPDATES ARE REQUIRED; THE ENTIRE ARTS IIE SYS MUST BE 'TAKEN DOWN' FOR THE UPGRADES. OCCASIONALLY; THE SPECIALIST ADVISED; 'GLITCHES' OCCUR; WHICH NEED TO BE CORRECTED. THESE CORRECTIONS ALSO REQUIRE DOWNTIME. THE SPECIALIST ADVISED THAT SOME CTLRS CONSIDER THESE UPGRADE AND REPAIR DOWNTIME ACTIONS AS UNACCEPTABLE. DURING THE LAST YR; THE SPECIALIST ADVISED; THE TRACON HAS BEEN THROUGH A SUBSTANTIAL REFURBISHMENT; CAUSING FURTHER DISRUPTIONS TO THE CTLR WORK ENVIRONMENT. (MULTIPLE CALLBACK ATTEMPTS TO BOTH RPTRS WITHOUT RESPONSE.)