Does any manufacturer still make a glass-mounted XM antenna for cars? I really really don't like the idea of running wires outside the vehicle or damaging the finish of the roof or trunk. I will be trying my first installation by placing the antenna on the rear shelf, but would like to keep my options open... if all else fails, I may perform a permanent installation by drilling through the roof!
2002 Ford Focus Sony CDX-GT410u Sony XT-100HD HD Tuner Stock speakers, no amp, no subs
What kind of vehicle do you have?
Definately DO NOT drill through the roof.
Let me know what kind of vehicle you have and I will give my best recommendation.
For a standard car the best option is to place the antenna on the roof (rear center). You can then push the wire under the weather stripping around the rear window all the way down to the trunk....
...let me know the vehicle and I will advise further as it may be different.
cincimann, I'm installing this in a 2001 Honda Civic Sedan. Sure I can mount the antenna on the back of the roof by the rear window and run wires along the weather stripping, but I'm not interested in having any exposed wires or tempting any vandals. I'm overly particular with how my vehicles look and the exposed wires aren't acceptable to me. I like the idea of a glass-mounted sat antenna, but it appears those are manufactured anymore (unless someone knows of one).
Thanks for the reply!
There will not be any exposed wires.
Done properly the only exposed wire will 3'' from the antenna main body to the weather stripping of the rear window. Even this exposure can be taken care of two ways: place the provided rubber cover with preapplied adhesive over the wire OR shif the antenna back three inches so that the wire can run immediately under the weather stripping.
Also the wire will not run ALONG the weather stripping, it will run under the weather stripping. If you take a thin flat head screw driver and gently lift the weather stripping you can use another flat head screw driver to push the wire down behind. There is already the perfect amount of space to accomodate this wire available and it will go back in place exactly as it was before.
I understand personal preference and figure that you already know of this option and decided against it.
I do not know of any glass mount antenna's but would think that hiding the wires from one of these antennas would prove even more difficult.
Best of luck.
DonCommunity Manager
Apparently Crutchfield use to sell the glass-mounted Sat Antenna's:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DCf8PtF46ky/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=232650&tab=detailed_info&i=209XM11
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-9v8ZM91yqmZ/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?print=Y&I=+019XM8100F&banner=1
I wonder whatever happened to these or maybe they never worked(?).
I figured I could run the wire above the headliner to the c-pillar trim piece inside the vehicle and have a clean install.
Does anyone at Crutchfield happen to know why these are no longer available?
Wheelz, this may be too late, but your best bet would be to mount a permanent OEM style XM antenna to the roof of your vehicle, preferably for you, an OEM Honda antenna, which you can buy from your dealer in an array of colors to match your Honda's paint.
however, you would be required to drill a hole in your roof to mount the antenna, and the process is arduous and tedious, requiring a lot of hands-on work, but you will eventually be left with something just like this:
brianrwebb@ca.rr.com
Brian,
Thanks for the great idea. I didn't realize Honda was offering a roof-mounted XM antenna (since all I've seen are the message board complaints about the Honda OEM windshield mounted antennas).
I've seen similar on new Acura's... definitely something to look into, although my rear deck mounted antenna hasn't dropped the signal yet but I suspect I'm using ground based repeaters on my daily commute.
Anyway to know which antenna my Pioneer DEH-P6900UB is using?
Thanks again for the sweet looking setup! I'll need to find a supplier and get a price.
well, i'd need to modify the OEM XM Honda antenna for you, if in fact you were going to attempt such an install, because it comes raw with a proprietary lead only used by Honda/Acura. i would need to modify and adapt this lead, as well as add an antenna extension, to go from the raw pigtail lead, which is only 2FT +/- long, to reach your aftermarket Pioneer Tuner; length determined by its location.
i am not familar with the Pioneer headunit you are using, and would need to read the user manual to be certain, but all of the aftermarket XM/Sirius headunits i have seen do not have an Antenna Aiming screen, the way a PNP receiver does:
so it could be entirely possible that your Pioneer XM tuner IS receiving both SAT and TER reception.
and if you are receiving great reception with your setup now, there's no reason to change it. here on the West coast i mount all of my XM SAT antenna installs within the vehicle, such as this BMW 325ci XM antenna install, which i mounted within the rear seat headrest:
but all Sirius installs i have done have been roof mounted, due to the poor reception i have received with their antenna inside the vehicle.