Hi Carolinacruiser,
From what you described the VHF and 800 systems appear to be patched together, at least for right now. They can do that, but there are limitations to doing that.
Okay, the questions -
Recently they started to replace these mobiles and handhelds with motorola 800mhz units because we are in a wide area and the VHF's were not able to transmit reliably across a longer range, and it seems the county must have a new 800mhz program in place?
That's very likely, although without you mentioning what county this is, no one can answer what kind of system they bought or signed onto. It also seems like the VHF radios were simplex or had some kind of issues talking over distances. My hometown used to be on VHF, but because they were simplex (no repeaters, the radios talked from one radio directly to another), we were clobbered by interference and could not reliably communicate from one end of town to the other. So, when the first-in engine company was delivering the sizeup, sometimes the others coming in could not hear them. That could be one reason why the people in charge made a decision to change. And, it might not be. Politics is funny that way.
There are still a bunch of people using vhf radios because the department says the 800mhz radios are so expensive so they are replacing VHF's ona rolling basis. Somehow the two frequencies can talk to each other? I assume the county has an interface setup for this?
Sounds like the incremental approach. Yes, VHF radios can be less expensive than 800 ones. Or they could have tons of bells and whistles on them to make them more expensive. But in general, with permission, a firefighter can go out and get himself or herself a VHF radio for safety at a lot lower cost and get them from a variety of new and used-but-still-good sources. That speaks nothing of the "Why?" this kind of change might be happening and some radios will no longer be compliant with "narrowbanding" rules that go into effect later this year.
Can someone explain how this works and more importantly, If I wanted to buy my own used 800mhz radio, what would I be looking for? I'm very confused with all the radios on the market. Does it have to be a motorola? If so which models can I get?
We don't know if your system is "trunked" or "conventional" and we don't know if your system is "proprietary" (SmartNet) or "standards-based" (P25). Those are things you might need to ask around locally - or if you say where you are, might be on file here. Those things could let people give you more specific answers. In general, on a trunked radio system you need a system key to program the radio. Programming a trunked radio is a lot more complicated than a conventional one and there's a lot of data to know. So, step #1 is probably finding the answer to the question: "Would the group that owns this new system allow people to buy their own radios and have them programmed up for the system?" You might need the key and if it's trunked, you would need the system manager to give you a unique ID number and program the talkgroups you're allowed to be on.
Does it have to be Motorola? Maybe. If it's standards-based, then you might be able to put other radios on the system, but you'd STILL need to work with your system manager and the owner of the system (a county, special district, state, whomever). If they say "No!" then that's that. Some features might be married to a manufacturer. So, you might be okay with something else, or you might have to have that particular manufactuer's radio - and a certain type, at that. It's hard to say without knowing more.
So, I hate not being able to provide a direct answer, but this could be really simple, or it could be really complicated depending on how that 800 system is put together. Your next stop should be going through your chain of command to the people who are in charge of the system and asking them if they would allow you to have your own radio on their system. If they do, then they should be able to guide you as to what you would need.
I hope that helps. Good luck and be safe!
