thanks for the affirmation, but understand that my intent on chimming in on this was not to ruffle the feathers of the "locals". seems that is an ever present topic on some of the other forums.
i believe that having the tools to help if needed, is simply a good thing. when i was a "local" and called for help, i did not care who came...as long as they had a badge, and the willingness to jump in. there is plenty of work out there for all of us to begin a measuring contest.
as far as the radio system goes, well all you can do is live with it. state wide system is here to stay, and so is ma(y)-com(unicate). the rcc's have county wide monitoring, and all agencies within an area can broadcast on the cw to notify of a major problem. and there are inter-agency channels that can be patched if needed.