licid222

Just got done putting in my new Sirius radio. I got the idea to put it in the ash tray from the second post in this thread: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=sirius
I didn't want to get a suction cup solution or a dash mount dea. I also knew that I didn't want the regular FM transmitter solution that is used by almost all plug and play units.

The solution was the Starbase Satellite Radio Receiver. Its a very low profile Sirius unit that looked about the size of the XM I saw in the above mentioned post. It comes with the display unit that has one wire coming out of it. I snaked that through the hole where the cigarette lighter used to be. It also comes with wires to hard wire it to the car. I used the wires for the cigarette lighter I removed and just tapped into them. It also comes with a clean FM antenna thing. Its a pretty cool solution to eliminate the wireless FM transmiter solution without having to but a PIE adapter or another audio in solution for your radio. It takes the antenna plug that goes in the back of the radio and then you plug its cable into the antenna plug. So while it is a FM transmitter deal it does it via a hard wire instead of wirelessly. Sound is as good as a regular radio station. Here's the model via a Circuit City page: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/SIRIU...oductDetail.do

I did the install myself so the whole solution cost about $170 + tax and about half a day total time. Wouldn't have been possible without some good DIY post on how to remove the head unit and middle console. The hardest part was getting that damn radio out, but after I finally found the mysterious screw holding it in it was pretty easy. Just getting everything hooked up and snaking the wires from the front back to the trunk. Here's some pics of the install and one of the car its all in.

dj.stains

that is clean man making me jealous very very very nice job

jstkilntim

Where did you put your antenna?

mikeyfuzz

In the rear glass

licid222

I put the antenna on the trunk lid. It was the easiest place to put it at the time. The manual suggested the roof, but I remembered the Shinka I saw in the showroom had it on the trunk lid so I figured that was ok. I really don't want it outside the car at all and will probably try to relocate it inside the car in the very back under the rear window so it should have a pretty straight line to the sky for the satellites. I'll see if I have any problems with it there but hopefully that will give me a solution and keep the outside of the car clean.

FYI to any newbs like me who do something like this on there own: I did thought for a while I screwed up my radio somehow when I took it out. At first when I was listening today I noticed I had the radio cranked about four higher than I used to on both regular FM stations, on CDs, or the Sirius stations. Playing around today I found out that my Bass, Equ, and Treb were reset to 0. After fixing those back everything sounds great.

jstkilntim

I haven't installed my XM yet, but I was thinking of putting my antenna either on the rear deck or on the dash just in front of the bose dash speaker. I'm not sure if the tint will affect reception or not in the rear. I have it on my dash in my work truck & hardly ever have reception issues.

lurch519

i have sirius in my car, and located the antenna underneath the rear deck as far back as it would go. i hate to say it, but the magnetic antennas suck as far as your paint goes. dirt and dust get trapped underneath and help to scratch up the paint.

foxman

I have mine mounted on the dash inside and have no problems with reception. BTW, nice clean install licid, looks sharp.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/pie-xm-satelite-radio-portable-mp3-player-install-48978/

Spazm

I have the XM radio, and I actually placed the antenna behind the rear headrest. The reception is fine, and the setup is so easy - there are those child harness safety clips back there, and the magnetic antenna stays fine on top of the plastic piece covering those up.