Please Insert Map Disc

Another cool feature of the new rig is the dash radio. It's an Eclipse double DIN (twice as big as a regular radio) Navigation unit that sounded great at the dealer. The only problem was that the dealer didn't have the Map disc which is what supplies the maps for the Navigation operation.

Okay, no big deal, I have Nav on my iPhone and frankly, it's usually better than what you get on these in-dash radio/combo units anyway. I was psyched about the radio though. It's really nice on long trips and we had come to miss it on the old rig when it stopped working (when all the other random electrical problems started surfacing).

I went out to the rig one day to do something and went to extend one of the slide outs. No dice. Wouldn't move. Since the ignition has to be in ACC mode to operate the slide, I turned on the engine figuring it just needed a little more juice.

Click, click, click (that's the sound of the engine *not* starting due to a dead battery).

Awesome.

Pulled the truck battery and brought it inside for an overnight charge. I put it back in the next day and she started up just fine.

But.

I looked at the radio and it had a big message saying "Map Disc Not Found".

Yeah, I know, I don't have one and I really don't need to do any navigating here in the driveway. Please ignore this state and let me play the radio.

I said this in my head but I'm not stupid. I know the radio can't actually hear my thoughts so I pressed the menu button to let it know that I wanted to get to the radio part.

He ignored me and kept asking for the Map Disc.

Hmm. Let's try the Source button.

Nope.

Let's try pressing (and holding) every other button on the radio. Let's try holding combinations of buttons. Let's try actually cursing out loud.

Nope. Give me the Map Disc or go play somewhere else.

Sh|t!

Okay, maybe I'm just going to have to break down and buy a map disc. It might not be all that bad to have built-in Nav too.

Oh look. Eclipse has map discs for a mere $300. Are you kidding me!!! I could buy a whole new radio for less than that. Arghhh!

I search high and low for people selling map discs and the cheapest I could find were either shady guys on eBay or scary downloads from Russian bitTorrent sites.

I can't decide what to do. On the one hand, I could get a new radio and get one that has Bluetooth that will pair with my iPhone so I can play music from it as well as take calls. I have that in the Fusion and it is fantastic.

Or, I could pay for a map disc and get Nav on this thing but still no Bluetooth.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to put black tape over the radio face so I don't have to hear (see) him keep asking for that damn disc.