That's Alaska. Where in southeastern PA might one be able to get the VHF resources to clear FB8/MO8 exclusivity to build a practical system? Don't forget that infrastructure size increases proportionately. VHF combiners can occupy an entire room. Antenna separation becomes an issue. There are no standardized splits and your input could very well be the output of an unaffiliated system. Intermod might prevent using otherwise viable frequencies. Overall, if you're not out in the northern plains or tundra, VHF trunking is mostly an abomination. If we were to have VHF trunking, it should have taken place on the Part 22 or VPC greenspace. Or channel 7 once most stations vacated to their digital homes.
yes, and we have similar terrain challenges in North Georgia, pretty steep mountains.
then there is the problem of budgets. we have 159 counties, the majority of some in those mountain areas are DIRT POOR in a GOOD economy, nevermind that there may be ONE LEO backed up by GSP for an entire county and a population of less than 15K people...do they really NEED a complex 700/800 system of multiple sites? who's going to use it? how much will it cost to maintain such a system?
these are the factors often overlooked when procuring any large radio system, regardless of vendor.
I never said VHF was the end all solution, but in rural areas (north Georgia has similar terrain and population densities are some parts of PA), it fares much better than 700/800, with much less infrastructure. No one NEEDS 31 talk paths in those rural areas, 3-5 channels can even be OVERKILL. A single site Intellirepeater may be all some needs.
It all depends on who is doing the selling.
700/800 is practical for densely populated areas and urban centers. It's poorly suited for use in mountainous areas. Yes it can work- but how much is it going to cost to get it working and keep it going? No reason why one can't have a mixed spectrum system.
Cellular companies have been doing it for over a decade.
