I identified the Chester Co FD talkgroup. I heard two fire officials, who I assume were chiefs, discussing fire business on the channel a couple of weeks ago. Just because they have one talkgroup does not necessarily mean that they will switch all operations to Palmetto P25. In most cases, departments are given one or a handful of 800MHz radios for interoperability purposes, and I suspect those I heard were either testing the radios or just using it as a discreet channel. I have no reason to think that they will switch from VHF anytime soon.
I did hear some Union County Fire activity a couple of weeks ago that indicated they were testing 800MHz radios for wider use. They were using a Motorola Service talkgroup during a working fire and coordinating resources and tanker operations in the Lockhart area. Their conversation and subsequent range testing in areas of the county indicated they are considering a switch. They also indicated they were considering the Fleettalk/Rock Communications UHF NXDN system that Fairfield County is reportedly using now.
It's not uncommon for agencies to pay for their talkgroups to be carried on multiple tower sites to provide sufficient coverage in their service area. Perhaps Chester SD needs better coverage to the North and has arranged for radios to affiliate to the Lancaster County tower to provide that. As an example, Spartanburg County talkgroups are also carried on the Thicketty, Laurens, and Hogback sites.
800MHz commercial radios are generally also capable of 700MHz operation, and the Chester County radios have likely been programmed with the Lancaster site's control channels to also roaming.
