I saw this pop up on my Google Alerts and as I have used RadioReference as a resource many times in the past so I figured I would provide some input.
In reference to the number of licenses that Elliston holds: We have 3 repeaters in the area. 2 on Pedlar and 1 on Poor Mountain. Our 2 primary frequencies are on Pedlar and Poor is a backup to cover the Alleghany Springs Road area and back towards Floyd. That area is a RF dead zone for us. Radios, Cell Phones, you name it barely work if at all. Having that 3rd location helps but it is not perfect.
We had to switch the PL tone due to some interference problems on our Pedlar site. There were 3 other agencies within 300 miles banging against our repeater and very frequently the PL would open and cause us problems. There were 2 solutions presented. Change the PL, or change the frequencies. Changing the PL to digital was the best option. We also have made and will be making the move to narrow band and digital PL on the other frequencies as time/money presents itself. That means no more 2AM squelch breaking to hear someone calling for a ride in West Virginia
It was mentioned that MontVa and Elliston never seems satisfied with our licenses. Part of that comes from the way our Fire and Rescue is set up in the county. Each department is its own entity. Dispatch is provided and shared with the Sheriffs office.
Years ago, all of the regional (including Floyd and Giles Counties) departments used 45.32 That was for dispatch, checking in route, and scene communications. When there was a major event, or multiple events the radio was useless due to conflicting traffic.
I think Elliston was one of the first in the county to move to a separate frequency. We chose highband as it gave us the best coverage due to our terrain, repeater sites, and cost involved. We have some deep valleys in our 92 sq mile jurisdiction.
Some of the other departments have different topography/concerns and chose what they thought was best for their area. As technology has evolved, there has been some changes in configurations. Also there were frequencies shared or borrowed for a few years between departments and as money became available separate licenses and frequencies were obtained.
Our most recent change to the license should be the new station location. We have a new 70 foot tower behind the building. This tower has 5 VHF, 2 UHF, 1 Low Band, and will have a 800Mhz stick on it. Why? We operate with 9 surrounding agencies on a regular basis. Each of them use their own radio system/band configuration.
If you are in the area, stop by some time and see the new radio setup. We have a Telex Vega IP based control set up that is really nice and gives us capabilities light years ahead of what we started out with.
