Question About Sirius and Antenna Pointing (1 Viewer)

[James Edward]

Does the satellite for Sirius stay stationary relative to positions here on good ol' Earth?

I ask because currently my antenna is indoors, and from about 11am-4pm I can barely get 1 bar with a lot of fussing. Yet early morning, and evening, it shows 2, sometimes 3 bars.

Is there possibly a better aftermarket antenna than what came with my home kit?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Dean_S]

Is having one bar causing you a problem with reception??? My home unit shows zero bars with the antenna buried in my equipment rack but I still get music on every channel and no difference in sound quality or dropouts compared to moving the antenna to get more bars.

 

[James Edward]

Yes- 1 bar or the X is what I get. 1 bar causes frequent dropouts, and X is obviously the kiss of death.
Late afternoon, into the evening, 2 bars is the norm, with 3 popping up occasionally.
I couldn't even think about burying mine in my equipment rack- I have to move it slightly every 15-30 minutes to maintain a signal.
As soon as it's not 20 degrees, I'll try it outside.

 

[Tim Fennell]

What about locations for the car antenna?

I installed a Sirius Sportster in my wife's car and found that the antenna locating was kind of iffy. I was using the signal strength menu to try to locate it. It got to the point I felt like I was missing something obvious.

Is the magnet side is the top or bottom? I found that putting the magnet side down in the back window worked well but still had moments of "acquiring signal" despite a 7-10 signal strength. I was putting the magnet side up inside the trunk and that was not working. The cable looks far too tender to put outside the car. I thought the antenna went inside the car. There is absolutely nothing in the installation manual that talks about antenna orientation (top vs. bottom) and the best places to put it. There are very few places where the magnet will attach to the car on the inside.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Tim Fennell]

Okay, I've been searching around and of course the antenna goes outside the car. The sportster installation manual ( SP-C2 )was not explicit about this but another version I found on the web was (SP-C1).

All they needed to say was put the antenna on the roof or trunk with the highest point being the best location for reception and run the wire into the car via one of the windows.

I guess I'll be relocating the antenna this evening. I suspect we Northerners have much more sensitivity to antenna location due to the satellites being lower in the sky.

Tim

 

[MarkMel]

I believe that Sirius has more than one satellite and it is not in a fixed position in the sky. It/they move(s)throughout the day. For the northeast, we are told to point our antenna to the west (home antenna). Some get good reception with the car antenna inside but the recommendation is on the body of the car at the highest point, outside.

 

[Chris_T]

I have the Sportster Replay, along with the boombox. At home I have to stick the antenna outside the window in order to get reception. Otherwise, all I get is "acquiring signal". Does anyone know whether the boombox antenna is "weather resistent" or do I need to purchase a permanent exterior one?

With regards to the car, I have the antenna on the roof. It is positioned above the rear passenger seat. I fed the line into and out of the trunk, placing the magnet on the backside of the roof. So far, reception has been excellent.

Who would have thought, but I'm actually excited to listen to radio again.

Chris

 

[Jeff Gatie]

One note about antenna placement for Jeep Wrangler owners. If you have a soft top only or (like me) a soft top and a hardtop, permanent mounting of the antenna to the roof is impossible. Actually, the only mounting spot seems to be on the hood, because you have no trunk to speak of. I was mulling this over for a few weeks, not wanting the antenna to be permanently stuck on my hood, but not wanting a half-assed install either. Thank god I ran across a post on a Jeep forum that said to just mount it to the sound bar underneath the soft/hard top. Seems the signal will travel through anything but concrete or metal. I hand placed the unit on the sound bar prior to install and got a full terrestrial and 3/4 satellite signal, with the hard top installed. So now instead of a big black blob in the middle of my hood, I have a small bump on my rollcage/soundbar. Looks neat and professional.

 

[Tim Fennell]

Doing a bit of searching today, I found a company that sells window mounts for antennas. They also sell a 15" gooseneck mount for the sportster as well as a powerplug mount, a cupholder mount and a vent mount for the unit if you can't use the suction cup mount that comes with the unit. I may look into the gooseneck since the suction cup is stuck into the console bin right now.

I found them on EBay and they can be found pretty easily by searching for sirius car mount.

My first task is to get the antenna outside. Next I'll get a switched power source so you don't have to turn the unit off manually (BMWs don't switch power on the cigarette lighters).

Tim