rapidcharger
Member
I live in a city with around 5 million people.
There are a lot of local repeaters but over the past several years activity on those repeaters has really dropped off a lot.
This past weekend was rainy and you'd think that in an area with 5 million people that is normally very sunny, that people would be indoors looking for things to do like talking on the radio and using local repeaters. But I scanned the local repeaters all weekend long and didn't hear much activity. Most of what I heard where kerchunks and some new hams were trying to make contacts. This one guy was flipping from repeater to repeater trying to make a contact but nobody would come back to him on any repeater. Nobody came back to those new callsigns either which is a shame.
It's not like there's a shortage of gear. You can buy a brand new dualband HT for $60.
And it's not like there's fewer hams. There's a lot of new hams.
I used to be able to turn on the radio and hear conversations at all times.
On a wide range of subjects. Not just about HF, computers, building antennas or geriatric health problems. And not just from people that were stuck in the car. People would actually set up radios in their homes and actually turn them on and talk through the microphones to other people, also in their homes. Wouldn't matter if it was 9pm or 3am. There was someone around monitoring that wanted to talk.
Being a large city with lots of commuters, drive times on the local repeaters used to be busy. But now even during the rush-hour, you might only get 10 minutes of brief conversation (if that) then that's about it for the rest of the day. Nothing but kerchunks until the evening rush hour when you might get another 10 minutes of conversation then when people get home, the conversation abruptly ends and that's the end of that.
I know there's still a lot of people out there because the local NETS are packed with check ins. But the second the net is over, it's back to silence. CRICKETS.
I know of some plans to install some new p25 and DMR repeaters but I can't help but wonder, if there isn't anyone even using the analog repeaters who's going to use the digital repeaters?
I literally hear more action on 146.520 (simplex calling channel) on any given day than I do on any of the local repeaters.
It's hard to stay interested at this point. Is it like this everywhere now? Or is it just here?
There are a lot of local repeaters but over the past several years activity on those repeaters has really dropped off a lot.
This past weekend was rainy and you'd think that in an area with 5 million people that is normally very sunny, that people would be indoors looking for things to do like talking on the radio and using local repeaters. But I scanned the local repeaters all weekend long and didn't hear much activity. Most of what I heard where kerchunks and some new hams were trying to make contacts. This one guy was flipping from repeater to repeater trying to make a contact but nobody would come back to him on any repeater. Nobody came back to those new callsigns either which is a shame.
It's not like there's a shortage of gear. You can buy a brand new dualband HT for $60.
And it's not like there's fewer hams. There's a lot of new hams.
I used to be able to turn on the radio and hear conversations at all times.
On a wide range of subjects. Not just about HF, computers, building antennas or geriatric health problems. And not just from people that were stuck in the car. People would actually set up radios in their homes and actually turn them on and talk through the microphones to other people, also in their homes. Wouldn't matter if it was 9pm or 3am. There was someone around monitoring that wanted to talk.
Being a large city with lots of commuters, drive times on the local repeaters used to be busy. But now even during the rush-hour, you might only get 10 minutes of brief conversation (if that) then that's about it for the rest of the day. Nothing but kerchunks until the evening rush hour when you might get another 10 minutes of conversation then when people get home, the conversation abruptly ends and that's the end of that.
I know there's still a lot of people out there because the local NETS are packed with check ins. But the second the net is over, it's back to silence. CRICKETS.
I know of some plans to install some new p25 and DMR repeaters but I can't help but wonder, if there isn't anyone even using the analog repeaters who's going to use the digital repeaters?
I literally hear more action on 146.520 (simplex calling channel) on any given day than I do on any of the local repeaters.
It's hard to stay interested at this point. Is it like this everywhere now? Or is it just here?