Forum Discussion

Farmerjon's avatar
Farmerjon
Explorer
Mar 31, 2021

satellite radio and gps antenna

Hi all
I have a 2015 f350 and I need to mo e my roof mounted satelite antenna out of the campers shade.
What have you folks do done?
  • I bought a second antenna and mounted it on the plastic cowl in front of the windshield. It is still occasionally blocked by the camper but far less frequently. It's an easy fix and the plug under the dash by the driver's left foot is easy to swap back and forth when the camper is on or off the truck. The antenna on the roof is in the best location but the alternate location has worked well for me.
    • raybuckner's avatar
      raybuckner
      Explorer

      Do you know if there is a way to split at the plug under the dash to hook up both antennas so I don't have to switch it back and forth?

       

      • Tango424's avatar
        Tango424
        Explorer III

        What plug are you talking aboit? The antenna connections?  raybuckner Depends on the connectors on the cables if it is a stick in type like a car radio you could do a y cable but may cause issues  you could get or make a antenna switch which would work better theyre easy to make if you understand basic electronics and can solde

  • deserteagle56 wrote:
    Fishbreath wrote:
    Here is a post I did adding an XM/Sirius antenna to the hood. It is magnetic and I can move it from the windshield area to the front of the hood if I need to. (It is on a 2019 GMC, but the idea should work for any truck)

    https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30134476.cfm


    This is what I did also. Magnet mount antenna sitting at the front of the hood. Never loses signal.

    But since your hood is probably aluminum the magnet mount won't work. A lip antenna mount of some sort would have to be used.


    For alum panels you might try, if accessible, gluing a steel plate or another magnet to the back side of where you want the new antenna mounted.
  • The OP was last on here on 11/23 so you probably not get an answer to a three year old post.

     

  • I had my sat antenna mounted on the front corner of the hood. Even then it would still loose signal sometimes when driving north.
  • Thank you for your replys.
    I'll get another antenna and mount it on the cowl.
    Probably not as good as out on the hood but I can't see my way to drilling a hole in the hood or even putting a magnet base on it.
    Thank you. Farmerjon.
  • Here is a post I did adding an XM/Sirius antenna to the hood. It is magnetic and I can move it from the windshield area to the front of the hood if I need to. (It is on a 2019 GMC, but the idea should work for any truck)

    https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30134476.cfm
  • Fishbreath wrote:
    Here is a post I did adding an XM/Sirius antenna to the hood. It is magnetic and I can move it from the windshield area to the front of the hood if I need to. (It is on a 2019 GMC, but the idea should work for any truck)

    https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30134476.cfm


    This is what I did also. Magnet mount antenna sitting at the front of the hood. Never loses signal.

    But since your hood is probably aluminum the magnet mount won't work. A lip antenna mount of some sort would have to be used.
  • On the 2015-2016 Superduties, the GPS/XM antenna on the roof has a short pigtail of just a few inches long. It’s connected to a cable that runs down the driver-side A pillar next to the windshield, and connects to another cable that’s located between the emergency brake and the service brake pedals.

    Buy both, the antenna itself, and the A pillar cable, and mount the new antenna on the cowl at the bottom of the windshield, somewhere close to the driver-side hood hinge.



    Run the new cable through the firewall, and to the area above the emergency brake. Find the cable connection that’s secured to the side of this module and unplug the existing A pillar cable. Plug in the new cable, and now the camper doesn’t block the antenna.



    :):)
  • I went through this on a 2015 and 2018 ram. this year I realized how bad Sirius sounds when I started streaming HD audio. I have turned off 4 Sirius accounts in the last month.
    sure you can get into place with bad coverage so I have songs on my Phone I can stream to stereo as well.

    Hell, even after moving antenna to front of ram hood, it will would loose receptions some times i satellite was low in sky behind me.(about 10% of the time).
    DONE!