Tonopah Test Range (TTR) covers an expansive area of almost 300 square miles. Reliable communications are necessary to ensure the safety of employees, contractors, and visitors as well as the coordination of test and maintenance activities. TTR relies heavily on radio communications, wireless data networks, as well as an extensive fixed infrastructure of buried wire line and fiber optic cables.
Radio Communications: TTR utilizes in excess of 100 portable radios to coordinate security, safety, maintenance, and test operations. Currently, TTR primarily utilizes a trunked UHF radio system provided by the Nellis Test and Training Range which provides both local radio service to TTR and wide-area coverage all the way to Las Vegas, almost 200 miles away.
TTR maintains air-to-ground radio capabilities in order to directly communicate with both military and civilian aircraft involved in test operations.
Wire Line and Fiber Optic Cables: TTR maintains an extensive infrastructure of buried wire line and fiber optic cables to provide reliable communications throughout the range. Wire lines are utilized to provide facilities with access to both telephone and radio communications networks. Fiber optic cables allow facilities to have access to broad-band communications such as video and high-speed data networks used both for test operations and routine business requirements.