NASHVILLE. ASA Electronics showed off its new JCV2015BT Bluetooth-equipped stereo – to be marketed under ASA’s Jensen electronic brand – here at the 2015 Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) annual meeting; a radio it believes can also eventually serve in a safety capacity as well.
Justin Garver, ASA’s national accounts manager, said the JCV2015BT features an entirely new level of on-board computer integration.
In addition to rear sleeper controls and automatic front-panel dimming to match dashboard illumination settings, it maximizes driver safety by automatically muting all other audio when incoming messages are relayed. Once messages are fully received, normal stereo operation resumes, he explained.
“We think this creates a safety-centric design,” Garver explained. “The radio’s ‘safety trigger’ can also be eventually used in other ways. For example, the radio can be automatically muted if the driver doesn’t fasten their safety belt – and you know no driver will move his or her truck without their tunes.”
He added that through full Bluetooth integration, the JCV2015BT gives drivers full command of their stereo and mobile device without having to remove their hands from the steering wheel.
The JCV2015BT is also SiriusXM satellite radio-ready and includes front panel access to a USB port, along with iPod and iPhone integration and charging ports, a rear RCA auxiliary input jack, and a seven-channel NOAA weather-band tuner.
“Typically a radio is an afterthought in a commercial truck, but it doesn’t have to be,” Garver said. “We feel it can eventually also serve as ‘hub’ for many safety-connected features.”
