Repeater Etiquette - Calling family / same callsign

[savery]

I understand the basic etiquette for announcing ID, and the rules for use etc.. but I can't find anything on etiquette for using a public repeater and calling family with the same callsign.

 

If we had different callsigns, we would do xxx123, xxx456 (caller being 456).  Would we do "xxx123 joe, xxx123 jane"?  Or is it acceptable to do something like "xxx123 joe, this is jane"?

 

[kidphc]

Personally, I just assigned unit #'s for the radios. Although my family just adopted which radio they were on as their personal unit number.

 

For instance, wife gets referred to as unit 2, oldest child unit 3. So a call out over the radio (simplex or repeater) is "XXXXX(CALLSIGN) UNIT2  this is XXXXX Unit 3.

 

Works for me and my wife, since she doesn't want names out over the airwaves for the kids.

[WRAK968]

Personally, I just assigned unit #'s for the radios. Although my family just adopted which radio they were on as their personal unit number.

 

For instance, wife gets referred to as unit 2, oldest child unit 3. So a call out over the radio (simplex or repeater) is "XXXXX(CALLSIGN) UNIT2  this is XXXXX Unit 3.

 

Works for me and my wife, since she doesn't want names out over the airwaves for the kids.

We do the same, except because we have family in two different zones, we use 1xx and 2xx. On my repeater, when someone asks to use the system, I typically assign them a set of numbers as well, which allows everyone to have different numbers. Basically, it ends up (Callsign) 101 to 103 (for family) or (callsign) 101 to 241 (someone in zone 2 outside family) So far the system works. Remember the callsign is just to identify your license to transmit on that particular frequency. Unit designation codes just identify who you are looking for

[marcspaz]

We do things a bit different at my house. My wife and kids ID with our license number, no special designation.  We call each other by name.  My kids often refer to me as "Dad" while we are talking.  Just plain English, normal convos.  There is no requirement to ID as anything special "per station", as all stations and users in my family are covered under that ID.  So, we don't.

 

Now, me personally, I am the exception.  Likely from decades of passing formal traffic and Ham contesting with clubs.  If I am talking to my family members on the radio (repeater or not) and someone calls our call sign, my family will NOT respond. Rather, they wait for me to respond.  Because I am the trustee/license holder, I will reply "Calling station, this is ABCD123 actual." followed by "Go Ahead" or "You're acknowledged.", and wait for following comms.  If I am the only member on the air, I only ID with the call sign.

 

Also, when there are multiple people from the family talking, they clear a frequency with the call sign, and I will clear with the "Actual" designation. 

[savery]

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!

[kidphc]

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!

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.

[berkinet]

We do things a bit different at my house. My wife and kids ID with our license number, no special designation.  We call each other by name.  My kids often refer to me as "Dad" while we are talking.  Just plain English, normal convos.  There is no requirement to ID as anything special "per station", as all stations and users in my family are covered under that ID.  So, we don't....

 

I'll second that. The FCC sets specific station identification requirements for GMRS. However, identifying a station and calling a station are not the same thing. At the minimum, a family member can key the mic, simply state their call sign and then call another family member by name, nick-name, or whatever (WABC1234, hey sis, you out there?). The other family member can then key their mic, state their call sign and start talking (WABC12343, yup, wassup?).  Then, at least once every 15 minutes, each person must simply state their call sign. Note that all you need to say is literally just the call sign. You don't need to say "This is WABC1234."

 

Should you happen to be monitoring a ham station, note that while the rules are pretty much the same for ham radio (with a 10 minute interval between IDs) the common practice is to call people by their call sign rather than name. But, as is the case in GMRS, this is not required.

[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.