We all know the routine. You pitch camp after a long drive, open the canopy, and immediately pull out your phone to check how the auxiliary battery is tracking. It works, but it can be a bit of a hassle when your phone is buried in the glovebox, or you just want a quick answer without digging through menus.
REDARC has clearly been listening. The South Aus outfit just launched the RedVision Essentials Display, and it’s aimed squarely at keeping things simple. Rather than forcing you to look at a screen on your phone, this new bit of gear provides a permanent, hardwired readout right where you need it.
Ditching the phone app dependency
While we love tech that allows us to monitor our rigs from the camp chair, sometimes you just want to look at the wall of your canopy and get an instant update. That’s exactly what this new unit is designed for. It gives you a physical view of your battery state of charge, whether it’s currently receiving power, and where that charge is actually coming from.
The idea here is to treat your 12V system more like a traditional fuel gauge. Instead of forcing you to decipher raw numbers like watts, volts, or amps, the screen uses intuitive colour LED indicators. It glows green, orange, or red depending on how much juice is left in the tank. If things get critically low, a state of charge alert lets you know it’s time to fire up the vehicle or plug in the solar.
Power visibility without the guesswork
This approach makes plenty of sense for a wide range of setups. If you’re working out of a trade vehicle, managing a fleet, or just living out of a canopy or camper, checking an app every time you run a tool or an appliance gets old fast. The display keeps the vital info front and centre, but it doesn’t completely ditch the modern tech. It still plays nice with the RedVision App via Bluetooth when paired with a REDARC Smart Battery Monitor, so you get the best of both worlds.
Whether you’re checking if the solar panels are doing their job on a cloudy afternoon or making sure the alternator is pumping power into the back on the move, the display lays it out clearly. It’s about removing the guesswork from remote travel. You can glance at the panel and instantly know if you have enough power to keep the fridge running through a hot night.
Fast and simple installation
Cutting square holes into a pristine canopy fascia or a modern caravan dashboard is nobody’s idea of a good time. It usually involves a jigsaw, a steady hand, and a fair bit of patience. REDARC has circumvented that headache by designing this unit to mount from the front using a standard 51mm circular hole.
That means you can just grab a hole saw, drill the dash or panel, and flush mount the display without needing access to the rear of the structure. Once it’s tucked into place, the unit utilises Bluetooth and R-Bus connectivity to link up with compatible REDARC power systems. This makes it a pretty straightforward addition whether you’re building a fresh dual battery setup from scratch or retrofitting it to your existing gear.
Built for harsh Australian conditions
Like everything that comes out of the Lonsdale facility in South Australia, this display is built to handle the corrugated tracks and extreme temperatures that come with remote travel. REDARC puts their gear through rigorous testing, simulating years of heavy vibration and thermal stress to ensure it doesn’t rattle to pieces on the Oodnadatta Track.
There’s also a handy feature built in for anyone running a BCDC Alpha or Manager Alpha system. By tapping a button on the display, you can trigger a Start Battery Recovery process. If your main crank battery goes flat in the middle of nowhere, this allows the system to back charge it from your auxiliary setup in about 15 minutes. It means you can get yourself out of a jam without hunting around for jump leads or a portable jump starter pack.
How to get your hands on one
The display is hitting the market in a few different configurations depending on what gear you already have installed. If you already run a REDARC Smart Battery Monitor, you can grab the standalone display unit. If you’re starting fresh, they’re offering it as a package with the monitor, or bundled up with the heavy-hitting BCDC Alpha50 R charger.
It’s available now through the usual channels, giving 4X4ers a reliable, screen-free option for tracking their power on the tracks.
