Sierra Sands USD

Sierra Sands Unified School District is located in the Indian Wells Valley of California. Situated adjacent to China Lake Naval Weapons Center, the District consists of six elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools and one adult school. These are situated in the City’s of Ridgecrest and Inyokern.

The District had had experience with unlicensed microwave systems operating in a point-to-point as well as a point-to-multipoint environment. Over a year ago, the technology department recognized that the current equipment could not meet the needs of the students, teachers and District. The decision was made to move into licensed radios with higher bandwidth capabilities. Furthermore, because of the remoteness of the District, it was decided to utilize protected 50 and 100 Mbps systems. All of the schools would be connected back to the District Office, which would provide a high-speed, Internet access via the local community college.

Commencing in May of 2006 and continuing for the next twelve weeks, Sun Wireless designed, licensed, installed and tested twelve hops of 11 GHz and 23 GHz protected systems. All of this was undertaken during the hottest time of the year; daytime temperatures frequently exceeded 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Donnie Morrison, Director of Technology, has expressed his total satisfaction with the system and the job done by Sun.