LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION BETWEEN 2 ACR. OPERATIONAL ERROR AND PLT DEVIATION.

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ACR X MADE A 90 DEG LEFT TURN FOR COURSE CORRECTION W/O WARNING; CAUSING A CONFLICTION WITH ACR Y AT FL350 WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY CALLED AS TFC FOR X. ACR Y WAS DSNDED TO FL330 AND ACR X WAS TURNED LEFT AND TOLD TO CLB; BUT HIS CEILING WAS FL350. THESE ACTIONS WERE TAKEN JUST PRIOR TO C/A; WHICH WENT OFF WITH 5.3 MI. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: RPTR IS DEVELOPMENTAL; BUT WAS CHKED OUT ON THIS SECTOR. AFTER INCIDENT WAS DECERTIFIED AND 2 WKS LATER RECERTIFIED. ACR X WAS AHEAD OF Y ON J134 AND 2000' BELOW Y. WHEN X CONTINUED ON J134 CTLR THOUGHT X WAS CLRED THAT ARWY. WHEN X THEN REQUESTED CLB TO FL350 CTLR APPROVED BECAUSE X AND Y WERE DIVERGING. EXTREME TURN BY X TO RECAPTURE J6 WAS BIG SURPRISE TO CTLR. CORRECTIVE ACTION TIME WAS NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE STANDARD SEP. DISCUSSED FACT THAT ACFT OFTEN HAVE TROUBLE NAVIGATING THE 3 ARWYS IN THAT AREA (J149; J134 AND J6) DUE TO POOR NAVAID QUALITY. CTLRS HAVE SUBMITTED UCR'S. ACFT SOMETIMES NEED VECTORS TO NAV THESE ARWYS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 96795: I TOLD CENTER THAT WE HAD THE TFC IN SIGHT. AFTER THAT ANOTHER CTLR CAME ON AND ASKED WHY WE HAD TURNED TO THE S. WE EXPLAINED THE PROB WITH THE SCALLOPING HVQ VOR AND THAT WE WERE JUST TRYING TO GET BACK ON THE CENTERLINE OF J6. I AM FILING THIS RPT BECAUSE I FEEL FROM THE QUESTIONING BY CENTER THAT THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT VERT/HORIZ SEP WAS COMPROMISED. NOT HAVING THE BIG (RADAR) PICTURE MY BEST GUESS IS THAT WE HAD AN ACFT BEHIND US AT 5 MI AND BY TURNING FROM APPROX 270 DEGS TO 190 DEGS TO RECAPTURE J6 THE HORIZ SEP WAS REDUCED TO BELOW 5 MI AND THE OTHER ACFT WAS DSNDED TO AVOID CONFLICT. MY CONCLUSIONS FROM THIS INCIDENT ARE AS FOLLOWS: USE THE AVIATION TRUST FUND MONEY TO UPGRADE VOR'S LIKE HVQ (AND MANY OTHERS) SO THEY ARE GOOD AND STRONG AND DO NOT SCALLOP. WHEN NAVIGATING ON SUCH AFOREMENTIONED VOR'S ASK CENTER FOR VECTOR HDGS INSTEAD. THAT WOULD PUT SEP ON THEIR SHOULDERS AND AVOID PROBS LIKE THE ONE DESCRIBED ABOVE. IF YOU FIND IT NECESSARY TO MAKE LARGE HDG CHANGES TO GET ON COURSE; CALL CENTER FIRST; EVEN IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE WITHIN YOUR ALLOTTED AIRSPACE.