At 2/22/2007 11:36, you wrote: >The number of active ham repeaters in my area is way, way down in >comparison to levels of 10 years ago. It isn't uncommon to monitor a >repeater frequency and hear no traffic for weeks. Some clubs & >individuals have just walked away from coordinated pairs. > >However, there are a few repeaters that have remained active, although >certainly not to the extent they were in the past. Interestingly, even >though traffic is way down, there's still a waiting list in my area for >coordinated pairs on all bands. > >Questions: > >1) Has there been a decline in traffic and the number of active >repeaters in your area?
Yes & no. In terms of "total TX time", I'd say no decline & maybe even an increase. However, the number of "simultaneous QSOs" in a given region is way down. The reason is with less traffic on the bands, more systems are linking together. This is good for providing improved coverage, but it also results in many systems retransmitting the same traffic. Sometimes I can hear the same QSO on over half a dozen frequencies, & often these multiple systems aren't that far apart in location. Occasionally I'll even hear the same traffic coming out 2 different repeaters at the same site! So I guess one could say we're making good use of our spectrum, just not very efficiently. Given the reduced amount of actual communicating going on, maybe it doesn't matter? Bob NO6B >2) If so, what do you feel the primary cause is? > >3) What can be done to generate renewed interest? > > > > > > > > >Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums & communities. Links > > > >
