jetman Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Dealer installed the Sirius module prior to my picking up my IS 250. I was kind of surprised to see the antenna on the inside of the front windshield, to the right of the mirror, mounted using plastic velcro strips. I'm used to seeing satellite antennas on the outside roof. Did the dealer mount the antenna in the recommended manner? The salesman was unfamiliar with Sirius, probably since it just became available on Lexus vehicles. Reception seems fine with the inside mount, and the antenna is somewhat hidden by the dimpled inside glass by the mirror (BTW, what is that dimpled area used for?) My biggest question is if there is any way to increase the number of letters on the nav display for the song title and artist? Right now, it looks like there is a 10 character limit (counting letters/numbers and spaces) on each. Almost all song titles are more than 10 letters, as are many artists names. There is plenty of room on the nav screen for additional letters, but can they be added? My nav system owners manual doesn't even mention Sirius, only XM. How many letters show up with an XM setup? BTW, the audio quality of Sirius music channels is really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman Posted May 17, 2007 Author Share Posted May 17, 2007 The nav system owners manual says XM has a 16 alphanumeric character display for artist and title. I wonder why only 10 for Sirius. The Sirius unit is so new that there is no manual to reference for information. Maybe Lexus will offer a supplemental manual to cover Sirius, hopefully downloadable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry993 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 If you already have a shark fin antenna on the roof, there is a pinout in the trunk for hookup of the sat receiver. Without running wires to another antenna. Your dealer should know about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnummarv Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 If you already have a shark fin antenna on the roof, there is a pinout in the trunk for hookup of the sat receiver. Without running wires to another antenna. Your dealer should know about it. Does anyone have a picture or know EXACTLY where the pinout is in the trunk for satellite hookup????? Also, what type of connection is it and what wires do you need.....thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman Posted May 18, 2007 Author Share Posted May 18, 2007 If you already have a shark fin antenna on the roof, there is a pinout in the trunk for hookup of the sat receiver. Without running wires to another antenna. Your dealer should know about it. Does the shark fin antenna hookup work for Sirius, or is it strictly for XM? I believe I was one of the first Sirius installs for my Lexus dealership, but I would like to think that they properly followed the installation instructions. The antenna they mounted on the inside windshield must have come with the kit - I assume that it was meant to be used for the installation. If anyone has a link to the installation instructions, please post it. I'd like to know for sure that my dealer did a proper job in putting in the Sirius unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnummarv Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 If you already have a shark fin antenna on the roof, there is a pinout in the trunk for hookup of the sat receiver. Without running wires to another antenna. Your dealer should know about it. Does the shark fin antenna hookup work for Sirius, or is it strictly for XM? I believe I was one of the first Sirius installs for my Lexus dealership, but I would like to think that they properly followed the installation instructions. The antenna they mounted on the inside windshield must have come with the kit - I assume that it was meant to be used for the installation. If anyone has a link to the installation instructions, please post it. I'd like to know for sure that my dealer did a proper job in putting in the Sirius unit. From what I know, that should be the correct install. But the question is, whether or not it will actually work if attached to the shark fin. If someone has successfully done this, I would love to know how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman Posted May 20, 2007 Author Share Posted May 20, 2007 Does anyone know if there is some sort of hidden menu within the Sirius-nav unit interface which would allow more features? After playing around with the Sirius receiver, the display on the nav screen looks rather incomplete, for lack of a better word. I mean, when I had an add-on Sirius tuner in my RX, I could press a button and it would show me the names of the other channels and the songs/programs that were currently playing, it had a "favorite song" memory, and it even told me when my favorite sports teams were playing. Now that I have this huge navigation screen, the installed Sirius can only display my pre-programmed channels and tell me (in 10 characters only) the song title and artist. I would think that there is the the capability to do so much more. Maybe there are some buttons that can be pressed on the screen to allow access to a service or options menu. Of course, the complete lack of any documentation from Lexus regarding the Sirius unit is frustrating, to say the least. If anyone hears anything please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry993 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 I looked in the trunk hoping to find and be able to post a pic of the Sirius receiver and the pinout to my existing shark fin antenna. All I found was on the passenger side, what looked like a power amp with cooling fins. It's in there somwehere, just buried under carpet. If I wanted an OEM type install, I would tell my dealer that Lexus of Stevens Creek service was able to do it. They used a Lexus OEM sat unit, not the aftermarket kind you buy at an electronics retailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 I looked in the trunk hoping to find and be able to post a pic of the Sirius receiver and the pinout to my existing shark fin antenna. All I found was on the passenger side, what looked like a power amp with cooling fins. It's in there somwehere, just buried under carpet. If I wanted an OEM type install, I would tell my dealer that Lexus of Stevens Creek service was able to do it. They used a Lexus OEM sat unit, not the aftermarket kind you buy at an electronics retailer. So they were able to use the sharkfin antenna instead of the inside windshield mount. I wish my dealer (Northtown Lexus) would have done that, but they followed the recommended installation instead. Can't fault them for that, but I would've preferred one less thing stuck to my windshield. Fortunately my reception is pretty good, only short dropouts in the same places where my add-on unit had them. Does your display only show 10 alphanumeric characters for artist and title? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry993 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Does your display only show 10 alphanumeric characters for artist and title? Afraid so. :chairshot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Monk Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 So, What's the word? Does the Sirius work great? Display on the nav screen? Able to use the shark fin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman Posted June 14, 2007 Author Share Posted June 14, 2007 So, What's the word? Does the Sirius work great? Display on the nav screen? Able to use the shark fin? Pulled up the instructions for dealer installation of both Sirius and XM and didn't find any instructions on how to connect the shark fin to the satellite receiver. The dealer followed the instructions and installed the antenna on the inside window next to the rear-view mirror. Reception is good, although there are a few more drop-outs than I had with the aftermarket receiver in my RX (antenna mounted outside on the roof). Music on Sirius sounds great. Not quite CD quality, but better than FM. The talk stations are very compressed and sound a good step below FM, but better than AM. This is the fault of Sirius' transmission and is not a reflection on the quality of the receiver. The nav screen display is my biggest disappointment. Having the aftermarket unit in my RX, I was used to a lot more information on the display. Artist & title information would scroll if it wouldn't fit on the display. I had lots of information when I searched for stations and/or programming. It even had a favorite song memory. With the Lexus unit - nothing. A 10 character display for both artist and title (nowhere near enough) - that's it. I had to print out a channel listing from Sirius to decide what stations to put into memory. I tried to access nav diagnostic menus to see if there was something to improve the Sirius display, but to no avail. Definitely something that needs improvement in future models. After reading the instruction manual for the Sirius receiver installation, I'm glad I didn't try to do it myself. Looks a lot more complicated than I would've imagined. Fortunately I had the dealer add the Sirius before I purchased the car. The installation was included with the price of the vehicle. So, all in all I'm mostly satisfied with the Sirius radio. Just wish the display was better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheatleigh2000 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 So, What's the word? Does the Sirius work great? Display on the nav screen? Able to use the shark fin? Pulled up the instructions for dealer installation of both Sirius and XM and didn't find any instructions on how to connect the shark fin to the satellite receiver. The dealer followed the instructions and installed the antenna on the inside window next to the rear-view mirror. Reception is good, although there are a few more drop-outs than I had with the aftermarket receiver in my RX (antenna mounted outside on the roof). Music on Sirius sounds great. Not quite CD quality, but better than FM. The talk stations are very compressed and sound a good step below FM, but better than AM. This is the fault of Sirius' transmission and is not a reflection on the quality of the receiver. The nav screen display is my biggest disappointment. Having the aftermarket unit in my RX, I was used to a lot more information on the display. Artist & title information would scroll if it wouldn't fit on the display. I had lots of information when I searched for stations and/or programming. It even had a favorite song memory. With the Lexus unit - nothing. A 10 character display for both artist and title (nowhere near enough) - that's it. I had to print out a channel listing from Sirius to decide what stations to put into memory. I tried to access nav diagnostic menus to see if there was something to improve the Sirius display, but to no avail. Definitely something that needs improvement in future models. After reading the instruction manual for the Sirius receiver installation, I'm glad I didn't try to do it myself. Looks a lot more complicated than I would've imagined. Fortunately I had the dealer add the Sirius before I purchased the car. The installation was included with the price of the vehicle. So, all in all I'm mostly satisfied with the Sirius radio. Just wish the display was better... To increase the display you need to switch a toggle on the interface unity from 10 to 16 characters, really easy to do if you can find the interface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtywater Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Sorry if this has already been answered, but what is the current install for Sirius in the IS250? Is the antenna still by the mirror? Is there still a 10 character display issue? Thank You. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonw Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yes the antenna is on the windshield by the mirror. However the Sirius satellite radio for IS, ES, GS, and RX have been discontinued, so supply may be limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtywater Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Is there an adapter if I use the VAIS model for Sirius to get the antenna through the sharkfin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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