Where do you put your Sirius Radio antenna?

[merigayle]

It is magnetic. My husband installed the reciever, but had to use industrial double stick tape. Anyone find a good solution?

[bfivelover]

I used velcro all weather tape and put it on the back window. It has held for two years now thru rain, snow, ice, extreme cold, extreme heat, and car washes.

[Guillermo]

With the rear hatch open I run the satelite radio antenna to the top left corner of the rear hatch glass and placed 2 strong magnets on the other side of the glass. This seemingly temporary solutions have worked perfectly as a permanent solution over the last 12 months even in winter.
No adhesive residue to worry about on paint or glass. And no worries about a different colour paint area visible when the antenna is removed in the future because the rest of the car paint discolors with years of UV rays from the sun.

The magnets allow me to move the satelite radio system from one to another in under 20 seconds which is very handy.

[boogetyboogety]

My little XM antenna is double-stick-taped just below the rear windshield washer nozzle, the water squirts out over it perfectly onto the back glass (although I never use it anyways, thanks, Rain-X). Pull up the rubber seal around the hatch top and feed the antenna through it prior to installation, press the seal back down to hold the wire in place, and make sure you leave an extra inch of wire loose so the hatch can close without tugging on it... dress the wire by hiding it inside the plastic panels and lead it to your radio... works great!

[Rick]

I did pretty much the same thing. I used 3M side molding adhesive tape, it's expensive, but lasts forever. I stuck the antenna on the rear hatch glass right parallel with the radio antenna, ran the wire under the hatch seal and then lifted up the weather seal and stuck the wire under the edge of the head liner and ran it around the side under all the trim. I had the Sirius brain where the CD changer was supposed to go, then ran the cable from it through the wire channel for the stock CD changer to the head unit.

There is supposedly something about the antenna with the magnet which uses the cars ground. I actually called and asked what the heck I was supposed to do with a magnetic antenna on an aluminum car (which they didn't understand at first until I got to talk to an engineer). They said I'd need to use a strip of mylar under the antenna going to a grounded surface. After hearing that I decided to just try it without and it worked fine for several years. Regarding Guillermos magnet solution they did make a through glass antenna for a while, but I was unable to locate one at the time. I'm not sure if it was two magnets or if it was just sticky on both sides and use some sort of inductive means to transfer the signal. From what I gather it was discontinued because the signal wasn't that great through it.

The Insight was a very easy install. I just put the Sirius in my Civic and since the hybrid doesn't have fold down rear seats getting the wire in to the car was a real pain. I put the antenna (magnet this time) behind the radio antenna, ran the wire around the rear glass and in to the trunk, through some trim and I had to remove the bottom half of the rear seat to get the cable in to the cab of the car.

[merigayle]

Thanks for the speedy replies! I will give these solutions to my husband for him to take care of! Interesting that you all have it on the back window. Mine was on the front, but the rear window sounds like a good idea. I also like the magnet idea. I will update.

Thanks for being super helpful-- as usual

[boogetyboogety]

Regarding Guillermo's ingeniuos solution, if you want to go that way, there are magnetic, two-part, aquarium-algae-scraping gadgets sold at pet stores for just a few bucks that have a magnet that would work nicely; the magnet is small but powerful and covered with felt on the glass side. Be sure to jettison the half with the razor blades in it

[Guillermo]

Originally Posted by boogetyboogety

Regarding Guillermo's ingeniuos solution, if you want to go that way, there are magnetic, two-part, aquarium-algae-scraping gadgets sold at pet stores for just a few bucks that have a magnet that would work nicely; the magnet is small but powerful and covered with felt on the glass side. Be sure to jettison the half with the razor blades in it

I should buy those soon, for my aquarium

[HafNHaf]

i stuck mine on the roof, a few inches back from the windshield. i used the tape that came with the radio. the wire runs forward to the front edge of the roof, under a plastic cover that also came with the kit. the wire then goes to the drivers side, along the top of the windshield. i used some black electrical tape to keep it in the groove at the top of the windshield. then the wire is tucked under the side trim and drops behind the left fender. then it goes across the drivers door seal and under the dash. no pinching. then to the radio hung under the stereo, using the sun visor mount, which is double-back-taped to the underside of the stereo console. power, antenna, and audio cables run to the sirius inside a black plastic tube to cut down on the visual clutter.

the mounting of the sirius may change soon. i am thinking of making a bracket to hold the sirius, an mp3 player, and a scangauge.

[jsnable]

I took a different tack with my XM antenna. I can't remember where I saw it (probably here) but someone had taken the antenna amplifier out of the base of the Insight's radio antenna and replaced it with the innards of a satellite antenna. The amplifier was then remotely mounted in the cabin. I did the same thing and the results have been great. Not trivial (but not hard), but it's nice not having anything visible.

Jay
2000 Insight