Fitted the radio - now what

LOL and if you'd bought it from a real person you would have received personal advice. I did and I did.

But you'll find the Instruction manual very useful - I suggest you familiarise yourself with the use of repeater channels. Otherwise 40 is the highway channel and 18 is I think for caravanners though I've yet to hear one on 18 and I've done quite a few kms since fitting my set.

Channel 5 is emergency channel - call 5 mins before the hour I believe.
Channel 11 is the calling channel.
Channel 12 occupied by affiliated 4WD clubs
Channel 40 is Truckies channel (not for chillun).

That's about all I know and I could stand corrected on some of that even. There's a good list of repeater stations on this site and if you search the forum you will find some valuable info from previous postings.
Cheers

Legal Channels:

5 - Emergency Channel (simplex and duplex)
35 - Reserved for emergency use, not to be used in simplex (repeater input)
11 - Calling Channel - use to make contact then change to another channel
22/23 - Telemetry and telecommand only (Voice communications is not permitted)
1/31 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 1 repeater
2/32 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 2 repeater
3/33 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 3 repeater
4/34 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 4 repeater
6/36 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 6 repeater
7/37 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 7 repeater
8/38 - Not to be used in simplex when in range of a Channel 8 repeater


Recommended Channels:

10 - Used by many 4WD Clubs (also known as the outback channel)
12 - The new channel recommended for use by 4WD Clubs
18 - Recommended for Caravanners.
Official channel for the CamperTrailers group
20 - Used by the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA)
40 - Road Channel - mainly used by trucks, but many 4WDers monitor or
use this channel when travelling on the highway.


For simplex communications try to use one of these channels:
9-10, 12-21, 24-30, 39-40

It's best to avoid channels 31-38 completely unless you are sure there
aren't any corresponding repeaters in range.