mele63 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I want to put my satellite antenna (sirius) on the roof toward the back. Can anyone guide me through this? Some specific questions: 1) I've seen where people "peel back" the weatherstripping around the windshield/rear window and shove the wire in there. Is there enough room to alllow the rubber to return to its normal position, or will it be distorted? Will it then allow moisture in the gap, thereby defeating its original purpose? 2) Anyone already figured how to run the wire down into the trunk, under the rear seat, and under the carpet into the console? I know this isn't rocket science, but I'm willing to learn/benefit from others' experiences. 3) Is there a better mounting position than the one I'm considering? 4) On my last car, the installer placed the antenna on the deck lid. I didn't even know it was magnetic until it moved slightly. I didn't really have a problem with it until I took it off to trade in the car; at which time I noticed some significant scuffing on the paint. I DON'T want my new car's paint all scuffed up like that. Is some sort of adhesive a better option? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I have mounted my sat. ant. on the rear shelf and it works great. I did not want to mount it outside for various reasons but mainly because it has not other ant. mounted on the body so why start? If your want any info on how I did it I would be happy to post pics and more details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I just walked out and snaped these pics, hope it helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mele63 Posted June 16, 2005 Author Share Posted June 16, 2005 foghat, thank you for your help. I think I'd rather have the antenna onboard like yours, but I had some concerns about reception. You say yours works great at that location. I'm planning to mount the radio in the cubby so I want to run the wire under the back seat and carpet right into the back end of the console. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringFellow Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I want to put my satellite antenna (sirius) on the roof toward the back. Can anyone guide me through this? Some specific questions: 1) I've seen where people "peel back" the weatherstripping around the windshield/rear window and shove the wire in there. Is there enough room to alllow the rubber to return to its normal position, or will it be distorted? Will it then allow moisture in the gap, thereby defeating its original purpose? If you pull up on the weather stripping and run the wire "over" the metal edge (shaping the wire in the shape of a very tight "U") and pushing the weather stripping back is place works fine. No moisture problems here on an OB. 2) Anyone already figured how to run the wire down into the trunk, under the rear seat, and under the carpet into the console? I know this isn't rocket science, but I'm willing to learn/benefit from others' experiences. I have a wagon and I ran the wire between the side window and the trim in the trunk area, along the bottom door molding and down/under the drivers seat. Can't even tell it was there unless you looked under the seat. Slightly different from a sedan model though. 3) Is there a better mounting position than the one I'm considering? I have it on the roof (with the OB roof racks too!) and I have no problems with reception. Sitting the antenna on the rear shelf of a sedan would work, but I am sure there would be "some" performance lose do its location. I have had the antenna on the roof (2)/trunk (1) of 3 cars and it works great there. I personally wouldn't like to see the antenna sitting on the rear roof. Just my opinion though. 4) On my last car, the installer placed the antenna on the deck lid. I didn't even know it was magnetic until it moved slightly. I didn't really have a problem with it until I took it off to trade in the car; at which time I noticed some significant scuffing on the paint. I DON'T want my new car's paint all scuffed up like that. Is some sort of adhesive a better option? Most antennas are now magnetic with the "tail" stuck to the roof/trunk with adhesive. Unless you plan on taking the antenna off in a short period of time, I wouldn't worry about it. Most likely you could buff the scuff marks out. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 "you could buff the scuffs out." YIKES!!!! or just not put scuffs there in the first place It depends what you mean by reception problems? Does the reception cut out when you go under a bridge (no matter the speed), does it cut out in heavy tree cover, does it cut out sometimes for no reason what so ever? YES, but I have mounted my Sirious Orbitor on half a dozen cars and twice as many individual antenna locations and I have not noticed any difference in reception problems based on the location of the antenna (inside or outside). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smsawyer Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I mounted mine on trunk and haven’t had any reception issues I took off the inside trunk lid liner then routed it through the passenger trunk arm with some slack (There are some plastic snaps that keep it in place.) I took off the inside liner, took out the back seat bench and routed it to the passenger back door. I went under the plastic threshold, where you would step into the car. From there I went under the passenger seat and into the arm rest. I use the AC adaptor inside the arm rest for the power supply. I used this approach because I wanted to be able to easily take it out. I’m on a lease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallispec Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 i have my mounted on my trunk lid as well -- basically did the exact same thing that picking up a near perfect reusmsawyer described. works great, except the paint is getting scratched from the antenna sliding around from people moving it. on a side note, i think you can put the antenna just about anywhere and it will work. i was washing my car this afternoon and unstuck my antenna from the car and dropped down into the trunk and forgot about it. -- later i was driving around and was stilll able to pick up a strong enough signal to hear music with only slight signal loss. (from the antenna INSIDE the trunk) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringFellow Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 "you could buff the scuffs out." YIKES!!!! or just not put scuffs there in the first place It depends what you mean by reception problems? Does the reception cut out when you go under a bridge (no matter the speed), does it cut out in heavy tree cover, does it cut out sometimes for no reason what so ever? YES, but I have mounted my Sirious Orbitor on half a dozen cars and twice as many individual antenna locations and I have not noticed any difference in reception problems based on the location of the antenna (inside or outside). Just don't move the antenna and you won't have problems. I had a roof mounted magnetic antenna and when I removed it (traded in vehicle), there we no scratches. I think the trunk mounted antenna has the potential to have more problems (easier to touch/move, etc.). Personally the antennas that are sitting on the dash/trunk shelf look like crap. First choice, roof. Second choice, trunk lid, third choice, interior trunk shelf. As for reception, regardless of where you have it installed, you are bound to have problems in heavy tree cover areas, under bridges, etc. The only real time my recpetion goes out is if the road has a very heavy canopy of trees on both sides and/or overhead. The other time it might go out is if I sit under a bridge due to stopped traffic (normal driving under bridges does not affect reception). Other than those scenarios, I never lose reception. Bascially, install it where you like and most likely you will be happy with your reception! -S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eamiller Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 An idea I posted a while ago is to get some bulk 3M paint protection film (RockBlocker sells it in bulk) and put it down between the antenna and the sheetmetal. You should still have plenty of magnetic grip and you won't scratch the paint. However, I have my SkyFi 1 antenna mounted discretely on the dashboard with the wire completely hidden between the windshield and dash, and I think it looks fine. If you've got one of the new "micro" antennas, then it will look even better. I've not had any appreciable reception problems over having it mounted on the roof (like in my previous car). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skubdu Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 I just walked out and snaped these pics, hope it helps? whoa, I thought I just saw a pic of my sirius antenna install. I have the same setup and it works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I cant understand why anyone would mount anything on the outside of a car that comes with the FM Antenna in the windshield? I have had the magnetic antenna for over a year and I move it from car-to-car a lot, after about six months the magnetic strip started to seperate and flap in the wind. I ordered a new one and I will never again mount the antenna on a car that is not a rental. I am sorry that you wagon guys cant mount the antenna in the rear shelf but I think that eamiller has the right attitude about it hes happy, and its his car, and thats really all that matters right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghat Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 whoa, I thought I just saw a pic of my sirius antenna install. I have the same setup and it works great. Great minds think alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberman Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I have a '00 Outback, so a little different interior. I put the antenna on the top of the rear hatch with the small rubber tail pointed toward the front of the car. The rubber tail portion goes to the edge of the hatch and the wire runs around it to the rubber weather stripping. The antenna wire winds up in the middle of the hatch between the two hinged mounting brackets. From there I pulled the weather stripping loose over to the passenger side of the vehicle and pushed the wire in between the pieces of sheet metal until it got to the side of the car where I removed the interior trim pieces. The wire runs behind the interior trim panel along the strut tower to the back of the rear passenger side seat. I flipped the rear seat up (remember the '00 seat) and pulled back the rubber sound dampening material to pull the antenna wire through. I removed the front passenger seat and used a coat hanger to fish the wire beneath the carpet to the opening beneath the seat and awaiting Sirius receiver unit. There's a small opening in the carpet there to allow for heated air passage, so the wires come out beside of that. Running the wire from the rear of the car to the front takes a little bit of time, but it's pretty easy. I like having the wire completely covered beneath the weather stripping in the rear, and no worries about leaks from trying to run it around the front windshield. I wasn't sure how the antenna would look (black matte finish) on the top edge of the windshield, so with a rear mounting, nobody really sees it contrasting with the white paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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