Going on a RoadTrip

Having spent most of yesterday putting music on my new iPod, today was my first chance to try out the RoadTrip device in the car which, if you remember, was my main reason for getting the iPod in the first place.

Opening the package I was struck by how much bigger it looked than the ones Phil & Ian had demonstrated to me at the lighthouse. Whereas theirs had clipped onto the docking port, with this one the iPod sat inside a kind of cradle, which then had a cigar-shaped jointed tube with which to connect it to the cigarette lighter for power. To be honest my first thought was "that's never going to stay upright" and as it turned out I wasn't far wrong.

The connector fitted into the lighter socket just fine, but the combined weight of the iPod and its cradle made it lean forward, or left, or right, any of which occasionally resulted in the connector popping out of the socket. The package had included an extension tube, so I tried this but as you might have expected if you know anything about turning moments and angular momentum, it just made things worse.

I finally found a position, with the shorter tube, where I could wedge the iPod against the passenger seat and it seemed fairly stable. Tuning the radio and the RoadTrip to a common frequency with no existing broadcast, I was treated to a track from Genesis' "Calling All Stations" through the car speakers. Top! Experiment complete, I removed all the kit and eagerly awaited the evening trip to Yorkshire. I shouldn't have been so keen.

Put simply, pretty much any bump in the road or sharply taken corner would see the RoadTrip pop out of the socket. Once the power was discontinued, the FM broadcaster switched off and the music died. I found the whole experience very frustrating, not to mention dangerous, as I was forced to wiggle the connector back into its socket while driving along. This must have happened at least a dozen times on the 20-mile journey.

On my return home I did some (more careful) Internet research and discovered I'd bought the wrong device. What I really needed, and expected, was the iTrip Auto. That's the one that clips directly onto the iPod and comes with a flexible power cable to connect up to the car. Using this, I'd be able to rest the iPod on the small shelf under the radio and all would be well. Tomorrow's job: contact the supplier and find out how to arrange an exchange or refund. >sigh<