Nigel Reed wrote in a message to All:

 NR> It'd be nice if you lot stopped arguing and maybe bothered
 NR> answering a  question that was posted. 


Good point

 NR> That will probably stop Fidonet going down hill

Doubful...Fidonet has been going downhill for a long time...one needs only
look at the ham echoes, even before the arguments...pretty much inactive,
while internet mailing lists and forums are all healthy.

Why not go to a local club and ask the members....they should be able to
give you a better picture on which band is active.  I know around here 2
meter repeaters are active in drive time....but not many other times.  I
bought a two band unit...it sat so quiet for so long that I stopped turning
it on.

As far as your Extra, I suspect that's a questin of what kind of operating
you would like or think you would like to do....

This is a very good time to lok for used HF rigs....Elecraft has introduced
a new unit that promises to rival the mega-thousand Dollar transceivers,
and a lot of folks are selling off their HF gear at sharp prices to get the
money for the Elecraft rig.

If you went HF, what type of operating do you think you'd like?  

 NR>   rather than 
 NR> anything else. I've only just
 NR> joined this echo, had one reply  to my question. I might as well
 NR> leave and let you boys & girls carry on  your in-fighting.

One of the problems with your question is that many folks may not know
about the repeaters in your area...so we can't advise on that...and the
question about the Extra...you didn;t say what you might do if you got it.

73,
thom - k3hrn
http://www.zerobeat.net/ 
--- GEcho 1.20/Pro