For the kind of HT coverage an FD really needs to be fully functional in any situation would need the kind of coverage like LWIN, or MSWIN has. (Up to 97% HT on hip coverage) AWIN does give excellent Mobile Radio coverage for most areas, but indeed is lacking in large regions for HT coverage. There are areas that have the 97%ish coverage due to multiple sites in compact reagion... (Little Rock, and several other areas.) But to give Marion the 97% HT on hip would mean building at least on more site in the county, which would also add to the excellent mobile coverage from the one there, and 3/4 others surrounding the county. So yes, cost wise, currently that is not completely feasible unless they get the clout of the politicians singing the scare tactic song to do it, which gives them a tad too much power with little background in the field, and we see time and again where this goes.
As for the DMR trunking, apparently my data is again dated on it, though the only serious bidder for larger and wide area trunking using DMR is the big dog, and you could call them hogs a lot of the time due to the huge market shares they suck up with "barely ethical" sales/deals techniques is Motorola for most of the United States. This may start changing with a couple of the other Vendors stepping up their games. But the pie charts still have mother M with the by far biggest slicing. It is no secret that I am not a fan of Public Safety using DMR in its current format as it is NOT specifically designed for PS usage. It is designed for Business/SMR use, as is NXDN/iDAS. Just like LTR, and all its variations. But that is another rant for another forum,
Yes, I am knowledgeable, and am also just an human being, I am by no means an comms god. I do make mistakes, and am not always 100% correct. If I was a comms god, I would be driving around all 4 of my states in my 10 wheeler with an mobile antenna farm on a trailer, with enough gear to nuke a slice of French Toast in 10 seconds flat... And be giving myself and everyone in a 50 mile radius brain tumors rom the sheer almighty power of my RF footprint. NASA, NSA, CIA, etc etc etc.. Would contract under me for info.
:lol: