Speedgraphic

Greetings!

I will very likely purchase a satelite receiver for my vert in the next few days.

I have been racking my brain trying to imagine the best place to put the antenna. Recommendations from the manufacturers are to mount it on the exterior of the vehicle at the highest point...

For the life of me I cannot think of a single place on a vert where you could mount one of these antennas where it would not look like it just didn't belong there.

Does anyone have any experience with mounting the antenna inside the passenger compartment of a VERT? This would be my first choice as it conceals the fact that there is satelite radio onboard...

Any suggestions on where/how to mount outside the car?

All suggestions GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Speedy

Iroctopless

I've put the magnetic antenna here . . .

. . . the thin wire fits easily through where the weather stripping is behind the mirror. You can still open the door and the hood and the reception is just fine. Just be careful the the magnetic base and the paint is perfectly clean. Any dust or dirt caught in between can damage the paint. Also be extremely careful when putiing it on or removing it to prevent scratches.

Good luck.

91 Ragtop

I mounted mine on the inside of the dash... This is a picture of where mine is mounted in my Corvette, but I do have it in the exact same place on my Trans Am. I'll get some more updated pictures of my current setup and post them tonight or tomorrow..

gchu

I put mine on my dash on quite a few of my cars, works fine - especially when you wedge the wire into the dash seam to keep the antenna from flying around. I use a piece of thin cardboard to shove the wire into the seam so I don't worry about nicking the wire or the dash pieces. Reception works well.

91 Ragtop

Ok finally got around to taking the pictures of my current setup in the TA

The antenna on the VERY DUSTY dash. ( amazing what the flash brings out. )





And figured I'd included where I mounted the receiver itself. I hard-wired the power so it would come on and off with the ignition. I also added a FM Modulator, so that it would bypass the antenna when the Sirius receiver was turned on. I've been EXTREMELY happy with it.

Speedgraphic

Guys,

Thanks for your guidance on this. I will be installing this weekend and intend to put the antenna on the dash on the extreme passenger side like 91 Ragtop did.

Actually, I will be doing all three of my vehicles this weekend! I just got SOOO tired of all the commercials and dumb DJ's on terrestrial radio...

THANKS!

Speedy

Kurt04

iTrader: (2)

I as well put mine on the dash in a couple cars I had. Never any problems.

Iroctopless

It could be the fortune of living farther south. I would like to have mine on the dash, but I haven't always had luck getting a good consistant signal all the time. I had to move it outside or just tolerate the occasionally signal drop.

If inside works, that's great. That would also have been my first choice. But it's good to have options.

91 Ragtop

Going to Sirius was the best money I have ever spent!! I love listening to the type of music I want to commercial free when driving down the road. I got so tired of terrestrial radio here. Just like you said, bunch of and no music!!

I went and took a couple more pictures to give you an idea of how I routed the wiring.

Here is the antenna mounted to the dash. I used velcro to hold it and it seems to be doing a good job. I circled where I ran the wire in between the plastic trim and seal. Fit back there rather easily without taking anything apart. Can't see the wire at all when opening the door.



Here I dropped the panel the arrow is pointed at and left the slack just laying on it and then screwed it back in place. Like I had mentioned earlier, the other 2 wires are coming from behind the radio pod, where I had spliced a separate lighter socket into the radio power and then plugged the lighter power adapter right into that. The other wire is the FM modulator which is also back there.

dukie

Can you take it out easy. I mean if you park somewhere and the top is down. You wouldn't leave it in there so would you be able to unplug it if needed?

91 Ragtop

Yep very easy to unplug and remove, well at least on the Sirius shown above. The 3 wires you can see on the left just come right out. The unit itself just snaps out of the holder. Slides right in my pocket.

dukie

What about switching from car to car and maybe the house. Can this be done as well?
Also, is the sound going through the radio on a FM transmitter? Is the sound ok?

Iroctopless

Sirius (and likely others) offer additional installation kits (the wires, antenna, power cable, control mounting base, etc) and then all you need to do is swap the main controller (the unit with the display and controls) to where ever you want to use it.

The FM transmitter sound is OK at best. It is still prone to occasional static, interference from regular stations (you can change the frequency), and interference from additional cars that are beside you with the same set-up. I had one guy on the same frequency as me beside me at a red light. His country music was competing with my Jethro Tull!!!!
Nothing beats a direct digital connection.

gchu

I had a S50 that with have a car dock (similar to a laptop port replicator, just much smaller - less than the size of a pack of cigarettes) and a home dock so it moved very easily. I'm sure there are other models as the S50 is now "obsolete".

Speedgraphic

Well,

I have now put in THREE XM Radios to cover all my vehicles. I have the same head unit in each car. In my convertible and my '01 S-10 Xtreme I opted for the hidden installation. In the Vert I placed the reciever under the passenger side seat. If I were to do this again I would opt to put everything under one of the rear seats... The beauty of this is that it is not visible and therefore not as tempting for theft. I like this setup as everything is controlled from the head unit which is in easy reach while driving...

I'm mentioning other OT vehicles as it answers some questions...

In my '92 S10 I opted to go a completely different route. I bought a unit similar to the one shown above by "'91 Ragtop." The device is some smaller than that one but close to the same size. It plugs in with three connectors. I bought that unit b/c I wanted to have XM in my truck and on my house stereo so with that unit I bought the home use kit.

If I had it to do all over again I would still opt for the hidden XM Reciever in the vert but would probably just purchase one of the easily movable units to go between the two trucks and the house.

Antenna placement?
'92 S10 On the roof. I just ran the wire up behind the door weather stripping and placed the antenna about 8 inches from the edge of the passenger side. It's small. Works GREAT!

'01 S-10 Xtreme - I routed the wire through the opening for the third brake light on the roof. It is about dead center of the roof and about 5 inches from the back edge. Works GREAT!

'90 Camaro Vert:
As we discussed above I attempted to place it on the dash. It OK there, but I do get a lot of dropouts. I will be moving it somewhere on the back deck sometime this week or next. It did not work out as well as I had hoped.

A VERY BIG T H A N KS to all who contributed to my learning experience here.

Like what some of you have stated above - getting satelite radio was one of the best things I have ever done. It is SOOO much better being able to drive down the road with the tunes on that I like, little or no commercials, and no STUPID D.J.'s (John Boy and Billy I'm talking about you!)...

Speedy

Speedgraphic

I finally concluded that the Antenna on the dash just wasnot working well enough. Today I took a rare day off from work and one of the things I accomplished was moving the antenna onto the rear deck - specifically the center of the tonneau cover about four inches from the back edge.

I have the reciever under the front passenger seat. The excess wire is coiled up there and ty wrapped to it's mount. The antenna wire runs from under the seat and into the cover over the seat belt mount. From there it runs under the sill plate to just under the sail panel (about 2"). It runs up inside the sail panel and under the front edge of the spoiler and into the weatherstripping channel. It runs down the channel and makes a turn (still in the channel) under the trunk lid. It is secured about 1/4 of the way across here by body molding tape (I probably could have come up with something better but it's what I had...). From ther it makes a jump at an angle to the bottom edge of the tonneau cover. The staggering in placement in the tape allows the tonneau to rise for putting the top down and the wire stows back in it's place nicely when the tonneau is closed. The wire runs between the front edge of the trunklid and the back edge of the tonneau cover.

After putting the car back together I test drove it with the top down and with the top up and found that in all the places I was experiencing dropouts before I now have continuous music.

I'm loving my XM Radio!

Speedy

91 Ragtop

Sorry to hear the dash option didn't work for you, but glad you did find a happy fix. Satellite radio is the greatest, whether it be Sirius or XM. Nothing beats a commercial free ride with music you like. You'll have to put pictures of your install up.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Another reason to have a MP3 players eck, with a external hard drive, with a DC to AC converter.

NO signal drops, ANYWHERE. You listen to WHAT you want, WHEN you want.

Iroctopless

Unless your wife or girlfriend is with you (OR BOTH!!!!).

Speedgraphic

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Oh hell! Don't get me started! My Current GF is a "Girly Girl." She doesn't like to ride with the top down cuz it blows her hair. She will probably be replaced by next spring!

Speedy