No Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 24
Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Troubleshooting
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Company Policy; Equipment / Tooling; Procedure
Radar maintenance technician at LBG radar site (Garden Grove) interjecting 'test targets' with a beacon cone of 6667 and an altitude of 53;600. These targets are equidistant from the radar site and are distracting to controllers. The FAA takes a stance on reducing distractions in the workplace but the STARS automation system continuously provides distracting information to controllers. Tech ops should take measures to prevent false data from displaying on the controller displays. Automation could be programmed to ignore certain beacon codes such as this particular 6667 code. Please conduct an independent operational analysis on the STARS automation platform at SCT.
SCT TRACON Controller reported false targets on the STARS display that were put there by Maintenance. He recommended an independent operational evaluation on the STARS system at SCT.