Hi all,
I have an '05 Shinka with the factory Sirius Sat radio installed. The antenna is on the back trunk and the cable runs down underside of the trunk lid, down the left hinges, and disappears. My problem is that it's a very hard and thin cable that over the times I've opened and closed that trunk it's now frayed and I don't have SAT reception anymore.

What do I do!? It's frayed about 12" from the actual antenna, right at the place where the cable goes from the under side of the trunk lid, to the closing hinges... Can I fix this without having to re-run a long cable that I have no clue where it goes?

GRRRRR....

 

The cable is undoubtedly a coax cable. Coax in general vary by diameter and characteristic impedance.

If it's a 50 or 75 ohm cable, which is pretty standard, you may be able to splice in a section of cable. You'll need the appropriate RF connectors to do this.

If it's an unpublished cable spec, you can probably buy an antenna that has the correct cable (impedance) attached (fairly inexpensively), however connectors might be a problem (look through the site in the link below or do a google search).

The shorter you keep the spliced section, the better.

Cable manufacturers include Belkin and Gore, and many others.

Here is an example (not necessarily the one you should follow).

http://www.digitalantenna.com/prods/...extension.html

 

If you do end up having to replace the cable completely, it's no big deal - you'll have to remove the left rear tail light assembly and pull back the trunk liner on the back left side. The main Sirius unit is mounted right behind the liner, and the antenna just plugs in to the box. The antenna was the easiest part of the install when I put in the factory system. There are instructions on the forum here somewhere from the factory.

 

@amstarvid - THANKS! I never realized how simple it was... I've got a dealer appt. tomorrow to have it "replaced"... I'm wondering if I should just scrap it and put in a different antenna mount?

digitalSniperX1 - Great information... this is a very very thin cable... do they make 'em any less... ridig? (I know, I'm am electronic doof)

 

is it still under warranty? if so, I'd just have them do it. otherwise, you could just buy the antenna and run the cable yourself - that'd be a lot cheaper - putting it in isn't that hard, but it does take a bit of time, so if you can do it yourself, you'll save $$$ in labor.

 

She's going in for warranty work on that tomorrow. I just hate dropping my Shinka off with a dealer because damn near every time there's some new scratch on 'er.

Anyway - thanks!