Spartanburg Fire going to 800mhz?

[rasj]

So I was looking at a Spartanburg FD website, and their budget for 2008 had some funds for getting ready to switch to the 800mhz system. Anyone know when this switch is going to take place?

 

[khubbard]

If it was North Spartanburgs website they been putting money away for years for the switch to 800 mhz. I dont think the fire depts will be switching over anytime soon. Alot of the smaller depts cant afford it and I dont think the county is willing to pay for it.

 

[brian]

Ah, to dream. Spartanburg FDs and Spartanburg PD on 800 would be a blessing for us monitors, assuming they weren't also encrypted, of course. And better for the agencies as far as interoperability and additional channels.

This is just one of many examples of why Spartanburg's 40+ individual fire departments is such an arcane and inefficient model. "A lot of small departments" become the lowest common denominator in so many discussions about improvements to service. Because Cross Anchor and Gowensville can't afford new equipment, the rest of the county's departments suffer along in an antiquated system. Consolidation is the key.

To keep this post relevant to radio monitoring (and slightly more positive), Spartanburg is ahead of the game with their consolidated dispatching center. County leaders did have the forsight many years ago to have one 911 center for all public safety agencies, and without question that improves service and response times, as well as saving money. Too bad the other public safety agencies can't see how consolidation could be beneficial.