Maghunter

Thanks everyone for your input. This helps me know moving forward. There are quite a few repeaters AND active GMRS users in my area, so I'm excited to "get into" this new Hobbie. So an addon question. There is a repeater here that covers the entire area for miles, and is fairly active. It's an open repeater as well. Let's say I want to test it with my family every so often. Is it OK to use for practice when one is driving around (doing errands or whatever) and the other at home? Being fully aware that others are always likely listening.

New here and first post. Have lots of questions, as any noob does. First: What's the proper way to communicate with another family member that is included on the same license? Do both parties have to start with the same call sign? And how does that work when using a repeater? Thanks. Looking forward to learning lots here.