Sirius antenna mounting question?
 

I installed a Sirius receiver with my Sony HU and put the antenna inside the car on the right front dash with just some double sided tape. The reception is absolute crap. Even the smallest trees next to the road will interrupt the signal. I see some of you have a metal plate under the antenna on the dash. Is this required and where would I get one or should I just make something? Would putting the antenna on the outside of the car help? The roof's not made of steel either. I have Huper Optik film on my windshield but I thought that was designed not to interfere with signals. A little help getting this thing to work would be great because I really HATE the commercials and the local radio stations here. My new stereo system sounds great but I can't stand to listen to it.

I have mine mounted in the same location you describe. The receiver is magnetic and sticks to the metal sheet that is stuck to the dash. This came in my kit.

No reception trouble at all.

I use to sell these satellite radio systems at best buy, the antenna themselves are meant to be installed on the roof of the car, I would tell you to take it off your dash, and try putting it on the roof and going from there, if it sounds great or better than what you have now, then do the rewire from the roof to the unit itself, and keep it that way.

Putting it on the dash is the easy and quick way of doing it, not always the best way though. For some ppl it works, for some it doesnt.

I went ahead and made a 3" x 3" metal plate (none were included in my kit) and stuck that on the dash. The antenna reception is MUCH better but still not great. I guess the satellites are really low on the horizon in my area and again there are lots of trees too. I might still go ahead and mount it on the roof but the magnetic base wont work on the aluminum so double sided tape might not be the most reliable in the blazing Florida sun. I'm also a little concerned over causing a leak in my weatherstripping for the cable exit. I hope nobody tries to yank it off either. Thanks for the help guys.

Go for the double-sided tape. I live in Miami and have had the antenna mounted on the roof of my WRX for almost 4 yrs now with zero issues. Reception is WAAAAAY better than in my wife's '08 Accord (factory sharkfin antenna). Also, I just tucked the tiny cable underneath the weatherstripping...no issues there either.

Yes sat antennas use the metal surface as sort of a reflector for better reception. As you noticed there was better reception when you used a metal plate.

the roof is magnetic. I just relocated my xm antenna temporarily to the roof, and it sticks just fine.

I have a "Dash Mounted" Sat antenna for about 3 years and the reception is as good as the roof mounted unit on my BMW. Depending on the location of these Low Orbiting Sats, the reception is never perfect.

Why can you not use the XM antenna that is stock in the car? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just seems that i have xm now why can i not use what is already installed rather than addeing another antenna. For that matter why can we not use the installed factory mic for bluetooth? Just things I have thought about and never really seen answered. Thanks and sorry again if this is a stupid question.

If you are installing an XM unit and the connectors from the existing unit is the same, then you should be able to use it. If the unit is a Sirius unit then you need a Sirius antenna that is tuned just for their spectrum.

Usually the factory one is very odd and not made to be used with the aftermarket ones. In the 6 years I have done cars I have yet to see a xm or sirius conector that will work with a new aftermarket unit.

Could i just spice into factory wires? I would rather use the factory antenna than run a new one. On a kenwood 9960.

I am in the exact same boat myself. I am 95% done with my Bose headunit replacement to the Pioneer X920BT and am having problems using the stock XM antenna. It doesn't fit into the back of the X920BT. When I took my trunk apart, I found all of the stock Bose hardware as well as the XM display. There is a pink antenna wire both at the XM receiver in the trunk AND up front behind the stock Bose headunit. It was not plugged into the back of the Bose headunit though, so I'm not sure why it was run there.

The Pioneer X920BT requires an IP-BUS connection to hook up satellite radio, so I've been looking for a short wire that will convert the pink XM antenna wire to IP-BUS and I'd image I'll be in business. If not, I'll need to buy a new satellite receiver, which I'm ok with, but it brings the discussion back to leveraging the stock satellite antenna on top of my roof that's already there. Receiption for XM was great thru the stock headunit so I know the antenna is not a problem; I'm going to avoid replacing the roof antenna at all cost!

Mw65- If I find something, I'll PM you and let you know.