Hi I thought I’d share something that developed from a comment on a FB ham group that kind of grew as I typed it. It is a bit on the longer side but I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to the meeting on the 11th 
The answer to dormant repeaters and dead bands; a rant by Adam Overman W9ECO
Even if you live in an area with active repeaters we’ve all had the experience of turning the radio on, throwing out our calls and gotten no luck, tuned around and not heard anything given up and moved on to something else.
So what can be done about bands as quite as the grave save for atmospheric/electronic noise and repeaters that stay quite except for the automatic IDs?
Transmit, Transmit, Transmit! Be the lone voice calling into the void if that’s what it takes. Seriously, it’s the best thing you can do to help the situation. Getting socially active in your local clubs and group will help to, as some hams tend only talk to their friends especially on the more localized line of sight frequencies. Avoid getting into divisive topics like politics. There is no shortage of places where you can share your opinions or argue your points, but that kind of othering and tribalism can get in the way of learning and interacting with each other. If we are focused on the fact that so and so is a dumb conservitard or an ignorant libtard we might miss the chance to connect with the guy(or yl) who: knows how to help you restore that old boat anchor, explain that sticky bit of theory that’s keeping you from upgrading, help you figure out why you can’t get the SWR to a manageable level, is able and willing to help you hang an antenna you can’t manage alone, or any of thousands of similar opportunities.
Pick up the mic, shove the key down and talk. If you start answering yourself, someone will likely come back to tell you you’re nuts 
Which reminds me of another, near enough to certain, way to get a response on a repeater; have the audacity to call “CQ CQ CQ from W9ECO,” rather than just “W9ECO monitoring” someone will key up ta tell you that “ya ain’tn’suposed’tado’dat.” 
A lot of traffic is on commutes, so try something like “This is W9ECO I’m getting on the road for a 40 minute commute heading up to the Dallas Makerspace. Who’s around to keep me company for a bit?” or “This is W9ECO hanging out in the shack this morning anyone on their commute?”
Go hill topping at a park or drive up to the top of a local parking garage then try something like “This is W9ECO, I’m on top of the parking garage by the boat in Elgin, IL. I’m testing out my new homebrew cubical quad, seeing what repeaters I can hit from here, and I’m also looking for folks who’d like to try for a simplex QSO or maybe some SSTV.” Not only does it give people something to respond to, it also gives your signal a chance break the squelch on more people’s radios if they are scanning a bunch of frequencies.
Be Radioactive! Not only will it energize dormant repeaters and the bands, but being conspicuous about it, goin out to parks and parking lots gives you a great many opportunities to interact with the public and promote the Amateur Radio Service. When people come up to ask why you’re throwing up a big yellow pole at the park seize the moment to offer the a chance to get on the air as a third party, all the better if you happen to prepared and follow up with a handout that lists the local clubs contact information and links to sites like Hamstudy.org and WebSDR.org for anyone who take you up or otherwise seems interested. As a bonus you’ll prolly get more enjoyment out of the hobby, but even if its all old hat, been there done that, back in the 1970’s(or whenever) and just operating doesn’t provide that much of a dopamine drip any longer, invite your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, or your neighbors on a hike or a trip to the park, have them invite their friends along. Even if they aren’t really interested in radio, at first, chances are once you get to the park and are set up they will wander over from the monkey bars and swing sets at some point and take you up on the offer.
But hey, who am I and what do I know? After all I’m just a no-code general (testing for Extra next Thursday on Oct 11) who’s only been Licensed since I stumbled onto a reddit post in 2014 that mentioned they had dropped the code requirement some time back. That reignited the dream I had when I was a kid and I couldn’t get past the CW barrier. After a year of digging in and building antennas I decided to use the Ham test prep app’s practice test as a surrogate for smoking. a couple weeks later I no longer stunk up whatever room I was in and had upgraded to general. I went dormant for a bit, due to lack of funds for gear and time, but when I moved to Phoenix AZ I brought my gear and gave it a try again. On the first time I keyed up the N7YS West Valley Amateur Radio Club repeater I was greeted warmly and encouraged to check in on the twice daily nets they hold in the morning and evenings. On one of those nets I heard Jean W4CIH and Bob KG7QJ check in from the W7ASC shack in the Arizona Science center. Something about that made me think of a ham who I used to chat with on the KK9DX repeater. He volunteered at a similar place in Woodstock IL. So I said hello. Jean promptly invited me to come check out the shack. I was impressed with it so much I started volunteering a couple days a week. Bob, Jean, Jim N7BBS and Dennis N4NDS became my Elmers and co-volunteers for nearly a year as we demonstrated the equipment and taught school kids to bash out their names in code. I always felt just a little hypocritical not being able to decode by ear, but I’m still trying and Bob really helped encourage me to keep at it. Getting a chance to get on the air and actually use my privileges led to me buying and building a BITX40v3. Having a reverse polarity oops and letting the magic smoke out of it (while working for basically room and board) gave me the incentive to become a Monkey with a Meter and learn how to stuff the replacement smoke back in gave me a huge confidence boost. 40m wasn’t enough so I scraped up enough to get uBITX in order to get on the rest of the bands.
The excellent bitx community on FaceBook has been invaluable in helping me learn to hack and mod the kit to improve it. Which in its turn has helped ignite my passion for learning electronics again. As a consequence I met Jeff W7GRV online shortly before he started the “DIY / Cheap Electronics, Kits and Projects” FaceBook group in early June; when the group started to take off he accepted my offer to join the Admin team as a moderator. Helping to mod the group as it has grown from a handful of people to just shy of 13k members from all over the world with the whole range of skill, knowledge, and experience levels has kept me very involved and focused on deepening my own understanding and skills. It has also taught me how much work it takes to Moderate these groups and keep the Trolls and Spammers out. So let me just take a second to thank all of the people that give up their time to keep these groups going. All of that led me to join the Dallas Makerspace when I moved to Arlington TX. Where I am trying to eat an elephant picking up all the skills and tools they offer. Including getting my brain in gear and studying for my Extra exam.
So lets all do what we can to be radio Radioactive! Avoid pointless divisiveness about what gear we can afford or what modes we prefer and uphold our responsibilities as laid out in FCC part §97.1 Basis and purpose.
The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:
(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
© Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur’s unique ability to enhance international goodwill.
And do our best to follow the code:
The Radio Amateur is
CONSIDERATE…He/[She] never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.
LOYAL…He/[She] offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs, the IARU Radio Society in his/[her] country, through which Amateur Radio in his/[her] country is represented nationally and internationally.
PROGRESSIVE…He/[She] keeps his/[her] station up to date. It is well-built and efficient. His/[Her] operating practice is above reproach.
FRIENDLY…He/[She] operates slowly and patiently when requested; offers friendly advice and counsel to beginners; kind assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interests of others. These are the marks of the amateur spirit.
BALANCED…Radio is a hobby, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community.
PATRIOTIC…His/[Her] station and skills are always ready for service to country and community.
Be the operator you want to talk to.
73 de W9ECO