Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
You folks are all committing the cardinal sin of extrapolating your local 2m scene to the entire country. Be aware that it's not the same everywhere. For instance, my local 2m repeaters are quiet most of the time but even when they are active, I seldom hear anyone talking politics. It's mostly just friendly, if banal, rag chewing.
Well, you know, it's a funny thing.

I've seen a lot of the same kind of things being talked about happening here as well. Some of the old turkeys on the wide coverage .09 repeater, it's enough to drive anyone away.

But...

We'd seen a lot of drop-off on the club's .955 repeater. Until we found it a new home and moved it back to the South Hills a few weeks back. Users have been returning. And not just local ones; the other evening, I heard one gentleman in Beaver County (NW of the machine) having a long chat with two friends, both newer hams, one in Washington County (S) and one out in Westmoreland County (E & SE). A group from the club has started running a weekly Wednesday night digital net, primarily using FLDigi. A couple of former members who drifted away are active on the repeater again, and I know at least one has rejoined the club.

Will it last? Who knows? Point is though, it appears that good operators & good operating attract more good operators & good operating.

Now, we just need to perma-link 442.55 to 146.955, and then I can monitor the system from work!