hey guys, i've been thinking about gettin the XM satellite radio. I already have a pioneer deh-p350 headunit which has the xm controls built in. i've thought about mounting the antenna right above where my hatch opens on the roof and running the wire from there. the part that i dont know is where i am going to mount the tuner at. theres no room under my seats b/c of the electric seats. i have a 1200w amp on the rear shelf. what are some ideas that wouldnt require much modification to my car. thanks for all the help im really stumped on this.

Kyle

 

I would mount the tuner in the rear storage box it should be easy to run the bus cable and antenna to there

 

has anyone tried putting the XM antenna INSIDE the car? like on the rear hatch or something? I hate the idea of my $50+ antenna just sitting out for any theif to just steal... it's different on a truck or SUV, but on our cars, it's basically just an invitation for theft.

-Steve

 

It'd fit in the storage box pretty well. They're designed to be trunk-mounted, so the wires would reach. The Pioneer I installed on my brother's Stratus had a tuner box about 5x7x1. I put it inside the trunk. In a pinch I suppose you could mount it on the underside on the passenger-side dashboard; that's where I mounted the modulator for my SkyFi, and my shiftlite controller

As far as the antenna being vulnerable to theft, I don't think it's that easy to steal, what with the 20-foot lead wire attatched. I suppose you could cut the wires off, but that would defeat the purpose.

 

Yes, works fine...........

 

that antenna is pretty expensive... and the wire is cheap... I don't see why it's not a big "steal-me" magnet... especially because an antenna means you have a tuner... also means you might have a nice deck, as well as some amplifiers to go with all that stuff...

 

The antenna will get cheaper. And the wire (coaxial cable) they use is not expensive, but not cheep ether. And it's not that easy to replace, if you do it right. Not to mention that you would need the connector as well, more money and harder to replace. You shouldn't just glob some solder on one end and crimp the connector on the other. That would be a great way to get 3-9db loss from the cable (done it, seen it).

I would think the biggest problem with theft would come from people seeing the antenna and making the connection to "hey, if they paid for XM they probably have a nice stereo to".

 

I have seen they have portable XM radios that tune into fm stations i was thinking of getting that for my car so i dont need an antenna jsut the unit and service i think the unint was like 100 bucks on ebay.

 

that still uses an antenna on your car if I remember correctly

 

You just put it on the inside of the hatch or somewhere else? How about under where the black stripes are, will that work? When I was looking into XM I was told by the XM salesperson that the antenna would not work on the inside, period.

 

They tell you that so you don't do it then b*tch if it don't work. I've done it in two cars and a truck. The thing to remember is that you don't want any metal above it and it may not work as well as outside the car. In one of the cars and the truck I put them under the dash right up by the defrost vent. In the other car it was in the back right under the window, but you didn't notice it. I would think that in a thridgen the best "inside place" would be under the rear window like in the drivers side compartment.
Just remember that the antenna MUST point up, and the reception may not be as good as if it was on the outside. But in those three cases the people were willing to take the chance to not have it on the outside. Give it a try, if the reception's that bad you may need to put it on the out side.

 

I think that the antenna would look like crap on our cars... especially with t-tops... I guess you could put it on the very top of the hatch... but even then... so you can't put the antenna upside-down on the hatch on the inside? that blows....