oceaner

I'm about to purchase an Scion oem sirius radio kit. And from the research I did into the kit, I gathered that the stock satellite antenna is a huge triangular looking hunker.

I have Sirius in my other car which is an 07 GTI with a shark fin antenna that holds both fm/am and satellite antenna all in it together.

I wonder if that same antenna can be transplanted onto the tC.

oceaner

nobody wants to take a stab at it?

beedee

i dont know about the shark fin logistics, but i do know i get frustrated with my sirius satellite cutting out under freeway overpasses, tall buildings and dense trees. i would think they'dd put out a stronger signal that wouldnt let such things get in the way of listening to music.

oceaner

Yeah, it does gets a little annoying.

Ok, how about this. Since no one wants to answer the shark fin question, can I at least use a smaller aftermarket Sirius antenna, and not the huge triangle stock one?

thanks.

nodsetse

There shouldn't be any reason why you can't use whatever type of Sirius antenna you want, provided it has the correct plug. Go for it!

oceaner

That's what I'm afraid of, knowing Toyota, they would have some special multi-pin plug for the oem receiver.

This is what I'm looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-TERK-SIRIUS-SATELLITE-LOW-PROFILE-SIR-MINI-ANTENNA_W0QQitemZ270276762821QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270276762821&_trkparms=72%3A1208|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

can someone confirm that it would plug into the OEM receiver?

thanks.

beedee

if it works, let me know, i'd love to get rid of the big honkin' triangular one my car came with!

oceaner

If only someone can post a pic of the antenna connections.

scribble

I don't think that the shark fin antenna would work - you'd either have to custom mount it somewhere on the car or replace the stock antenna with the shark fin, but I don't think the rear fender has enough room.

I purchased the Sirius kit last year and used an old Kenwood antenna with the receiver until I custom mounted the triangle antenna. The Kenwood worked, and the ebay antenna will work if you take off the green plastic piece covering the plug.

I put my factory Sirius antenna on the inside of the back hatch; I get great reception with it there and I can't see it in the rear view mirror at all. Since it's inside no one knows it's there.

bmph8ter

The antennas should all have the same connector; all the ones I've seen have anyway. I say get it.

oceaner

scribble, thank you for the photo. I have read through your thread, and if all else fails, that's probably the position I would put it in. Can you tell me if the plug is the same as the aftermarket ones?

thanks again.

beedee

scribble how did you feed the wire up to the back of the unit? i wouldnt mind moving mine back there. i dont really care for it being mounted right above my review mirror in the front windshield.

AcidDrop

iTrader: (4)

the plug from the factory siruis is different from the aftermarket units. As for the roof fin it will not work because i'm sure you have a drilled hole to run the wire through and since we have glass it just wouldn't be right to grill through it. sure if you mounted it abit back to the edge of the glass you can run the wire as through and into the headliner and then to the headunit and stick the fin on with 3M double sided tape that holds up to 5lbs.

AcidDrop

iTrader: (4)

i wonder if he ran it through the wire hose, if not it's not like the wire would be visable from the roof to the hatch.

oceaner

I believe from his other thread: he ran the wire through a rubber sheath of some sort.

scribble

The wire goes through the rubber sheath that is already between the body of the car and the hatch. It then goes through the roof, down the side, and under the passenger seat. It's actually quite easy.

As for the antenna plugs, any single wire Sirius antenna will work. The plug from the Sirius unit to the headunit is the only proprietary Toyota plug in the sytem. If it was different, then my Kenwood antenna from my wife's old H2A wouldn't have worked.

oceaner

Great! That's what I needed to know, so the Terk Mini would work then.

Excellent news. Thanks, Scribble.

scribble

I'd be happy to post a pick of the antenna connection later this afternoon (I'm at work) if you are still curious. It's tomy understanding that the older FARKA antenna plug (like the one on ebay) will work if you take the green plastic plug off. Check here for lots of antenna choices
http://www.tss-radio.com/antennas-ve...1_232_394.html

and siriusbackstage.com for more info.

Edit:
I dug up this link. It explains how to modify the old style plugs for use on newer receivers.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sNUoJx1...ech/kb465.html

oceaner

Yes, I would love to see a pic of the connections. And I'm not set on that particular terk antenna, it was just something smaller than the stock triangular one.

If given the choice of having a more modern connection, I'd jump on it for sure.

scribble

Here are a few pics of the stock antenna connection:




Here's the receiver with the antenna plugged in (under the passenger seat):


And here is the Kenwood antenna I used for a bit before getting the Toyota antenna installed:


The Kenwood has a straight connection instead of the factory 90 degree, but it worked fine.