Sirrius Satellite Antenna Install

[BIGRED1]

I have an '00 Monaco Dip 38D and I want to install my Sirrius satellite radio antenna in it. I was wondering if it would work well just sitting on the dash like my GPS antenna or does it need to go on the roof? If it needs to go outside, what's the best way to get the wire from there to under the dash to the head unit?

TIA!

[BIGRED1]

I have an '00 Monaco Dip 38D and I want to install my Sirrius satellite radio antenna in it. I was wondering if it would work well just sitting on the dash like my GPS antenna or does it need to go on the roof? If it needs to go outside, what's the best way to get the wire from there to under the dash to the head unit?

TIA!

[Tincup]

BIGRED1, I use the XM satellite system and have the antenna on the dash. Occasionally, reception drops out, usually when I'm driving in a northern direction, that puts the coach between the antenna and south. Other than that it works fine on the dash.

Tincup

[Canuck]

I too use XM but, I mounted my antenna to the underside of the front fiberglass. I gained access by removing the TV. The reception is excellent - no dropouts. Why did I do this? I didn't want to drill holes in the roof. Before I made this decision I spoke to the Tech Staff at AudioVox, the manufacturer of my XM receiver, and they told me that I could mount it on the underside of the fiberglass so long as there was no metal above the antenna. I was somewhat sceptical but, it worked and works well.
I was able to fish the antenna wire down the windshield side post so that it is invisble.
Canuck

[Robert & Kiki]

I stuck my antenna to the ceiling inside one of my upper cabinets, no problems as long as no metal over it.

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

There's a difference between XM and Sirius. XM's sats are stationary (geo sync) and Sirius's are not. Sirius uses 3 sats that have an elliptacle orbit over North America. I have an outdoor antenna facing east in Arizona. At times I get a brief drop of signal, as one sat passes out of range and an other comes into range. I mounted an outdoor antenna, facing straight up to the top of the overhead cabinet next to the TV recently and get a pretty good signal but because we are parked near tall trees we get a few drops in signal over the course of the day. With XM once you obtain a good signal you can pretty much be assured it will remain so.
I went with Sirius because of NPR and a few sports programming that revolved around auto racing, (one of my hobbies). Some folks tell me that if you like baseball, go with XM, football Sirius and, heaven forbid, like Howard Stern, Sirius is the place to be. I'm one of the few that apparently find him offensive.

[Frankie]

I had mine tucked in the roof above the cabinets,but signal was sporatic depending on traveling nort or south,east or west.I finally installed it on my awning bracket.There is a nice flat metal bracket up there and it holds well.I routed wire down thru side window and stuck it in the channel then under dash. I drilled hole in dash above radio(ouch)and now it looks like a factory install.

[Robert & Kiki]

If you mount inside against ceiling it is very important to be clear of all overhead metal to insure no signal degradation. I had to move around a bit to get between the metal roof supports for the fiberglass roof...

[BIGRED1]

I have a suction cup mount and I decided to hide the wire in the gap between the dash and the windshield and then I went up the 'A' piller between the door and the windshield. I ran the cable, which is pretty thin, outside between the weather stripping and the door frame near the top of the door and then up to the roof. I used some construction adhesive to hold the "mouse antenna" to the roof. It is working fine. The installation is not as neat as I'd like it to be, but I can live with it.