You said your callsign into the void and nothing came back. This happens to everyone, and most of the time it means exactly nothing - repeaters are quiet most of the day.
First, are you getting in?
Key up for a second and release. Did you hear the repeater's tail - a burst of carrier, a courtesy tone, a Morse ID? If yes, you're in and the room is simply empty. If no:
- Check the tone. Right number, and is tone mode actually turned on for that memory?
- Check the offset direction. Flip it and try again.
- Check you're not in a simplex or "off" duplex mode.
- Try from somewhere higher, or outside, or with the antenna vertical. A handheld indoors, sitting in your lap, is the worst case.
- Look at the repeater's page: when was it last confirmed? If nobody has heard it in months, it may be down. Log a "couldn't hear it" - that's useful information too.
If you're getting in and it's just quiet
- Time of day. Morning and evening commute are the busy hours on most repeaters. Mid-afternoon is dead.
- Net time. The nets list tells you exactly when people will be there. Go then.
- Say something more. "KI5QRT, listening" is polite but easy to ignore. "KI5QRT, new ham in Norman, anybody around for a radio check?" gives a lurker a reason to pick up.
- Try another machine. Some repeaters are social, some are only used for nets. The confirmations count on ChatterBack is a decent proxy for which is which.
What not to do
Don't kerchunk repeatedly. Don't call "CQ" over and over. Don't take it personally. The people who'll become your radio friends aren't ignoring you; they're at work.
The best fix for a quiet repeater is a scheduled net. That's the next step.