Dead repeaters

I live in a VHF black hole. There is almost no activity here on two metres. I can access two repeaters from home: GB3AS and GB3DG. Most of the time there is no activity on either them, and if you put a call through them it goes unanswered. It's a bit disappointing. One of the reasons I bought the TH-F7E was to get me to go out for a walk and get some exercise. The possibility of making some contacts while I was out was meant to be a bit of incentive. But there is no-one to talk to.

A few years ago the Isle of Man repeater GB3GD used to be a good signal from the hilltops round here, and through it you could have contacts with England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic and, of course, the Isle of Man. But nowadays you can barely hear it.