Eclipse II Dashboard Radio

I recently wrote about the Eclipse radio that came in my Roadtrek and I thought that I would expand on this.

The one thing that I have not been happy with in the Roadtrek is the dashboard radio. It is not just a radio and when you hear what is in it, you will wonder why it is not simply wonderful. The Roadtrek does not come with a stock Chevy radio. Starting with the 2010 models, Roadtrek started installing the Eclipse II AVN 4430 radio in the Roadtrek Chevy models. I am not sure abut the Sprinter models, as I have heard that another radio may have been installed in those. With the 2010 models the Eclipse was what Roadtrek called a "forced option", meaning you could not order the Roadtrek without this radio and the price for this "option" that was not an option at all was over $800.00. That is a lot of money to pay for a dashboard radio. In 2011, this was no longer a "forced option". It was then standard equipment, with a Roadtrek price increase that included the $800 + cost of the radio.

The Eclipse II is not just a radio. It has built into it besides AM/FM reception, a GPS (Tom Tom), a CD player, SIRUS satellite radio, a DVD video player, an IPOD connection for both audio and video, a USB connection, and a rear view backup camera. Wow, you will exclaim! This unit was the top electronic pick at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2009! How can that be bad? Well...

For starters, Tom Tom is not the best of GPS companies. There is no way to purchase a subscription for "Lifetime" maps as there is with Garmin. You can purchase a one year subscription for new maps, though that will cost you what the Garmin lifetime map subscription costs at list price. I have owned a Tom Tom GPS in the past. I stopped using it when it routed me in one end of a parking lot and then back out the other end back onto the street that I was driving on to start with. That, and when it told me to turn right and make a U-turn to go to a location where it was legal and simple to make a left turn from that same corner. I replaced it with a Garmin. This Tom Tom unit is also no longer supported by Tom Tom for any firmware updates. There is supposed to be, according to the manual, FM traffic reception to show traffic along your route without paying for a subscription for traffic service. It does not work on the Tom Tom in the Eclipse and I have been told my Tom Tom that this feature is no longer supported - nor available. Since my Garmin receives these traffic alerts on the same radio band as built into the Tom Tom, this reply from Tom Tom does not make any sense. If the circuits are there in the GPS to receive the FM RDS signals, and the signals are being transmitted in the area, then the GPS - as detailed in its manual - should receive those signals. It does not. The Tom Tom in the Eclipse II will connect with a cell phone by Bluetooth and it does that well including allowing hands-free calling and transferring your contact list to the GPS from your phone, however, it is also supposed to connect with the cell phone by Bluetooth for data connections - getting traffic reports, updates, etc.. This requires a cellphone compatible with this model's firmware and the list of phones are all outdated, circa 2009 and are all on the AT&T network. Newer phones - as they are not on the list - and any phone not on the list will not connect. So much for the Tom Tom.

The display screen on the Eclipse displays all of the audio functions, is the GPS screen, and displays videos and DVDs. It is set toward the top middle of the dash. The display screen can be angled up or down until flat against the radio. It cannot be angled right or left so that the driver or the passenger can actually see the display. To look at the GPS display while driving requires taking your eyes off the road to glance down. In bright sunlight, if the display is flat, it can barely be seen at all. I have the screen angled up three stops so that it sits at about 70 degrees pointing up. This does help with sun glare.

The radio display is dimly lit on the controls and buttons and can be set to red or blue in color. It is barely visible. The controls are extremely confusing and hard to operate, even if you are certain you know what to press to get what you want the Eclipse to do. The controls require a short press to do one thing or a more than one second press to do something else. Lots of luck.

The rear-view camera is the best thing on the unit. The camera is located outside above the two rear doors in the middle. It can be manually directed up or down to get the best view that you want to see behind you. The camera and screen engage whenever you put the Roadtrek into reverse. The screen shows what is behind you and with the lack of a good view from the rear view mirror, you will rely on this camera display a lot when backing up. At night, the image is a little washed out, but still clear enough to see if there is something behind you.

AM/FM reception is fine, but finding a station just using the unit's own display is almost impossible. You need to push a button to turn off the GPS and this puts on the display for the radio/audio/video functions. You can set in favorite channels or try to find the right button while driving to change and scroll through local stations.

CD play is fine. You can select tracks, scroll through folders, and the selection playing will stop when the CD mode is changed to any other mode and resume when you come back to play the CD - even when shutting down the Roadtrek. If you eject the CD, you lose the track it was playing when you reinsert the CD. Controls, like everything else here, are terrible. If you are stopped and can find the buttons and select what you want to hear, you are OK, but don't try this while moving. And since the passenger can't easily see the screen, it is not easy to have your passenger do this for you.

You can watch DVD's on the display screen. Why would you want to? It will not play DVDs when the Roadtrek in in gear to drive, of course - this is not legal in most states, if not all. There is no rear display for the kids. Meryl asked me recently - would one sit there with the engine running or run the vehicle battery down sitting watching a DVD on this radio? There is a full size television and DVD player in the rear of the Roadtrek if you are stopped and want to watch a movie.

There is SIRIUS satellite radio reception. This requires an annual subscription to purchase to use this. Unlike some vehicles that come with SIRIUS, we got no free three month trial when we got the Roadtrek. It happened that I stumbled across a free week - and found this on the last night of the free week, so I got to try it. Nice, but certainly not something that I want to pay for. It happened that there was another free trial period of SIRIUS while we were on a recent trip. I was changing audio sources and pausing on SIRIUS while pushing the button, sound suddenly came through, and not the usual silence with a notice on the screen to call a telephone number and pay for a subscription. Hmm. OK - we decided to hear what we are missing. I went through the channels and found a channel with old Country music - "Willie's Roadhouse". The sound was no clearer than AM or FM radio but we left it on while we were driving. We were in Pennsylvania between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. As we drove, the signal would drop and then a message would come up on the screen that said "Acquiring". The lock on the satellite was not very good. The Eclipse does have a special satellite radio antenna and I know that it is connected to the radio, as the SIRIUS box is visible under the dashboard (unlike the radio itself). Well, we got tired of hearing the music start and stop and start and stop. I tried a different channel and the same thing happened. If you were not moving it seemed fine. If you were driving, well, the signal would come and go - often more distracting than anything else. I tried again driving home on the PA Turnpike and the NJ Turnpike. Surely, there had to be a strong signal there - no, there wasn't. Again, we saw "Acquiring" more than we heard music. If this trial was to entice me to buy a subscription it did not work - it let me know that SIRIUS is not worth anything that one would be asked to pay for it. We had nice solid FM reception and there are two good country stations where we were and along the way home.

The USB connection is in the glove compartment with the Ipod dock connection. This works with a USB memory stick drive. Any audio file installed on that drive will play on the radio. Like a CD you can scroll through the folders and make your selection of where to start listening. When you plug the USB drive in, the system looks to recognize the drive. When it is ready, it displays USB as a selection and you can start to listen. If you shut off the Roadtrek engine - or unplug the USB drive, it has to re-recognize the drive and will not hold any place that you had been listening to. For music this is fine. For audiobooks it is inadequate unless you like to start listening to the book from the beginning each time.

The Ipod connection requires an Ipod and I am told will work with all versions of Ipod players or Iphone up to the most recent. I am told that it will play audio and video from any app on the Iphone or Ipod Touch. This could be a fine feature if you own an Ipod or an Iphone. I do not. As you read in my article on April 4, 2012, you can use a DockBoss to connect any audio source with a standard headphone jack (3.5mm) to the Ipod dock connector.

As I explained in that first article, the AUX setting will not work on the Eclipse II unless you can find one of the discontinued cables and then connect that to where the SIRIUS connection is in the back of the unit behind the dashboard. If you want SIRIUS, you cannot have AUX.

As you can tell - both of us - do not like the Eclipse II. There are other in-dash units from other companies that do all of this and much better. I can understand in 2009 why Roadtrek would pick what was the "best in-dash unit of 2009", but this unit was a flash in the pan. You cannot buy this unit in any car stereo shop. It is exclusively now Original Manufacturer's Equipment (OEM) from Roadtrek and Toyota. Yes, if you get the fancy in-dash radio from Toyota - at least at some point if not presently still, you get the Eclipse. The Eclipse is currently made by a company in Japan called Fujitsu Ten. It is sold only by a distribution company, Mito, Inc., which is where Roadtrek is getting it. There is no customer support at all from Fujitsu Ten. There is some customer support from Mito, Inc. though I had little success by phone, and better success by customer support email and the gentleman who responded to me was very knowledgeable, though the short comings of the Eclipse II could, of course, not be resolved. I was told this:

"As for the product life, the AVN4430 is a current model and scheduled to continue through the end of calendar year 2012 by Eclipse. Fujitsu Ten, the manufacture of Eclipse brand products, will continue to maintain a supply of parts and exchange units for warranty repairs through the end of calendar year 2016. Out of warranty repair will be available at least through 2019."
Not good. Of course, out of warranty repair means paying someone to pull the dashboard off, pull out the radio, you ship it back to whoever, and when repaired you pay someone to pull the dashboard off again, install the radio, and fill the big hole that has been there since the radio came out to go off for repairs. I suppose this would be true with any company's radio, but the options are a little broader with a radio that someone has actually heard of.

For those buying a new Roadtrek after 2012, hopefully, Roadtrek will have change the radio they install. It is those of us who bought from 2009 to 2012/13. That are stuck with the Eclipse.

Now, some quirks about the Eclipse or how it has been installed. It never really seems to be off. There is a long press of the power button to shut this radio's power down, but leave the Roadtrek, come back and open the door, and the Eclipse screen comes on and displays the GPS. There have been times when we have shut down for the night and we are inside the Roadtrek, watching TV or we open the side door for one of us to go out, and we hear the Eclipse screen suddenly come to life and move to its angled position. A minute or so later - it goes flat again. And this happens sometimes and not others. Gremlins? For those of you old enough, you will understand what I mean by that. Another problem with no real power off control is that when you turn off the ignition while the radio is playing, it continues to play and will continue to play until you open the driver's door. This is truly a pain. If there is any drain on the Roadtrek's engine battery it is this radio.

As I finish writing this, I am starting to wonder if I am doing a disservice to those considering a new Roadtrek. This radio is not a reason to not buy a Roadtrek, but it sure would have been nice if it had a different radio. I have yet to see a forum comment from anyone with this radio that is pleased. I have heard of some who have had it replaced with other units with similar features - any, what are called, Double DIN radios should fit.