savery

Technically by the CFR you don't even need to identify at the beginning.  You could technically broadcast "Hey sis, you out there?"  as long as you both identify yourself at the end of the conversation and every 15 minutes....  but the regs and etiquette are not the same  

I've spoken to the repeater owner and will follow their guidelines for use which is quite relaxed fortunately. 
 

Technically by the CFR you don't even need to identify at the beginning.  You could technically broadcast "Hey sis, you out there?"  as long as you both identify yourself at the end of the conversation and every 15 minutes....  but the regs and etiquette are not the same  

I've spoken to the repeater owner and will follow their guidelines for use which is quite relaxed fortunately. 
 

The repeater that I use runs on solar and battery for this reason  

Also, I'm new too, so welcome to all who are also newbies like me.  I found that everything was very quiet until I jumped on a local repeater - all it took was a radio check and met some (so far) great folks on air.
Don't give up if it seems quiet.  Simply announce occasionally that you are listening or ask for a radio check and you might very well find someone else lurking.

Just remember to contact the repeater owner to ask permission out of politeness.
 
I try to do so even if it is marked as public. I like to let the owner know who is using it, that it is in use and thank them for the time they took to set it up and maintain them.

Thanks for the tips.  We're going with ABCD123 {name} as that seems to make the most sense and allows us to listen for our names.  Now to figure out the rest of the logistics and fun...  There's a great repeater I can hit from the house on the handheld that I can't get most of the areas we go in the car.. so now I have to look at options to make it work in the car haha..  At least I have the callsign bit figured out!