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Xm Radio


jbarhorst2

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Who has installed an XM SkiFi radio in their SC? Where did you put the antenna? On the outside like the manual says, or hidden somewhere? If you hid it how is your reception? I would like to put mine either on the underside of the trunk lid or just lay it on the rear deck inside the rear window. Has anyone had any luck with these areas? Thanks for the help.

Tom

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I'm in the process of installing a Delphi SkyFi unit in my '02 SC430. Mounting the antenna under any metallic object won't work. The signal won't penetrate through metal and the antenna is directional - aims up, not down.

After some experimenting on a road trip today, I found the following:

1. It works great when mounted on the small roof section above the rear view mirrors. I antenna wire is so small that the top will close with no problem. I routed the wire behind the weather seal and down under the dash.

- Reception was perfect, but the small magnetic mount antenna causes a fair amount of wind noise above 70mph. It looks pretty good, but the whistling makes this mounting location a non-starter.

2. Moved the antenna to the dashboard. I wedged it between the windshield and dash, directly under the nav system in-windshield antenna. It worked pretty well in that location, but I found that reception will vary based on the direction the antenna faces. The best results were found when it was positioned with the wire (rear) side pointing toward the either side instead of to the front or back of the car. In that position, I had no drop outs whatsoever. Obviously results will vary based on the terrain. I live in the Atlanta, GA area which is a fairly hilly area. If you're in a flat area, this position will work just fine and isn't visible from the outside.

I'm still looking for some good options for mounting the unit inside, but so far nothing look good. It's a damn shame that Lexus/Mark Levinson hasn't produced a clean interface method into the head unit. FM modulators can't match the dynamic range and signal response of a hardwired audio interface. The tape adaptors are a little better, but have create a real eye sore...

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Here in flat South Florida, the XM antenna works just fine on the SC430 dashboard. I have mine -- attached to a first-generation Pioneer XM aftermarket receiver -- Velcroed on the dash very close to the windshield and the reception has been perfect for a year now.

My question is, where are you folks mounting either the SkyFi or the smaller Roady control unit? I want to upgrade, probably to a Roady, but cannot find a logical spot for it.

One idea that occurred to me today in desperation -- the steering wheel mount. It would offer excellent sight lines through the steering wheel, but I'm not sure there is enough clearance when the steering wheel retracts when the ignition is turned off.

Any ideas?

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I installed my SKYFi unit yesterday. I placed the antenna on the rear dash next to one of the speakers. It works great. I have not yet mounted the head unit. I have removed the cupholder that folds out of the center stack and plan to make a bracket that fits that space to hold the head. I just have to keep it out far enough so that the glove box door clears.

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I mounted the ant. under the rear glass on the rear deck. Reception is great. The rec./amp. portion of the unit is under the back seat. The remote control unit is mounted on the left side of the steering wheel just above the trunk release. In this position, I can view it through the steering wheel. I just did not want it mounted on the dash any where. This setup works great.

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  • 1 month later...

For the record, I solved the problem. Keeping in mind that this is an SC430, with even less room in the dash or stack than probably any other model, I ended up buying the XM Commander, which is a very low profile receiver.

The display/controller unit fits very nicely in the hole designed for the ashtray/storage cubby just to the right of the cigarette lighter. (The door must remain up, but that doesn't bother me at all.) The small receiver "box" is hidden behind the dash at the passenger seat well. The tiny antenna (the smallest satradio antenna on the market) sits atop the dash near the windshield.

Everything is hardwired in and the sound comes through the included FM modulator.

I highly recommend this solution for SC430s. That's the XM Commander ($159 complete) at Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. You can see it here:

http://www.xmradio.com/index.jsp

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