Satellite Radio install for our C, a few questions...

[Desert_Captain]

With a 2 month + trip coming up I would like to add Satellite Radio to our 24' C. I am planning on installing a Sirius/XM unit that will play through our existing automotive stereo by plugging into the auxiliary jack. It will be powered using a simple cigarette lighter outlet (we have three available on the dash), and the install seems straightforward enough but....

What about the antenna? They say it should be up high, as in on the roof with a clear view of the sky. The standard antenna comes with 23' of very small wire and I cannot imagine that being enough to get from the roof down through the coach and to the display unit on the dash. Most manufacturers insist that a GPS also have a clear view of the sky but our Rand McNally (7720 LM - a great unit by the way), works just fine sitting on the dash under the cabover overhang. :h

Has anyone out there installed Satellite Radio in your C and if so how did you deal with the antenna? How well does it work, are dropped stations an issue? Any and all advice is most welcome.

[Snowman9000]

Louseman wrote:
Get an extension cable. Run up the fridge chimney to roof. Dicor the cable and antenna module to the roof.


Amazon search for Sirius antenna extension cable,

Yeah, mine is just a little postage stamp sized bump that is dicor'd to my roof. Its cable goes down through the roof, though.

[Louseman]

Get an extension cable. Run up the fridge chimney to roof. Dicor the cable and antenna module to the roof.


Amazon search for Sirius antenna extension cable,

[WA7NDD]

Mine is under the Fiberglass/plastic vent cover at front of class C MH.Its up high nothing in the way. That frequency passes though fiberglass, plastic, and glass with little attenuation.

[Hank85713]

I dont know for sure as I am contemplating the same thing for this summer. One guy recommended just getting the marine antenna and leaving it on the dash, said he had no problems with that? You can get the outside antennas pretty cheap to plug in my kids told me, I have plans to just use the unit in the different vehicles we have so t will either be the marine antenna or several of the mag mount ones from like ebay. Dont know why they would not work just as well on the wiper cowl??

[Desert_Captain]

Thanks to one and all for the timely responses. I am encouraged and perhaps I was searching for a solution for which there was no known problem. :S I'm going to the rig tomorrow to scout locations for the antenna wire run. At this point I am thinking inside the forward hatch opening above the cabover bunk as there would only be a very thing layer of plastic above it. I think I can run the wire under the trim across the cabover ceiling and down to the cockpit and still get there within the 23' I have to work with.

Our E-350 has 3 cigarette lighter outlets (2 on the dash and one in the glove compartment and I have the one in two out adapter with a USB port - $12 at Walmart), all we run when traveling is the GPS (we charge things off of the 250 watt inverter at night), so I don't see a problem keeping it simple and using one of the DC outlets for power. Keep those tips coming folks and thanks again! :C

[LI-Camper]

I had XM installed in my last 24' MH. We tried the antenna on the dash near the windshield and it got blocked when traveling in a northerly direction. We then tried temporarily attaching it inside the roof of the overhang. That didn't work well either. Finally we ran the wire outside the window and up to the roof to test it. That worked. We then ran the wire thru a marker light and into the cab. The headliner might have to be removed to run the wire down a column to your dashboard. I would recommend connected it more permanently than using a cigarette lighter outlet. The wires with a cell phone and a gps unit will get to be a pain after a while. Satellite radio is well worth the time and effort to install correctly.
In my second Class C, the existing radio was broken. I bought a new radio that was ready to hook up satellite, had bluetooth for my phone, played DVD's , CD's and hooked up to a rear view camera.
I used the sat antenna that was already installed. My installer found the the MH was wired for a camera. It works very well. It is easy to use. It was worth the cost. Good luck.

[gmctoyman]

My Lazy Daze has an aluminum roof, but a plastic escape hatch in the cabover. I stuck the antenna in the hatch . No problem withe dropouts until I reached the Yukon and Nova Scotia.

[Harvard]

I just lay the antenna in the over cab cabinet and it receives through the RV roof material. The only time it did not work was when there was 20 inches of snow on the roof.

We just spent 3 months in AZ plus to and from travel, it worked great, NO outside antenna mounting was required.

[Healeyman]

Desert Captain wrote:
Has anyone out there installed Satellite Radio in your C and if so how did you deal with the antenna?

I had 2 different add-on Sirius Sat. radios in my 22' Class C RV for about 10 years.

The square, magnetic, antenna lives under the airbed in the cab over.

When Sirius says that the antenna needs a clear view of the sky, they mean a clear view at the 2 GHz radio frequencies the radio uses, NOT at human vision light frequencies. Of course, having NO obstruction at all helps.

The satellite downlink radio signals are very near the same frequencies as Wi-Fi, so the same reception principles apply.

By the way, that little wire from the antenna to the radio is not a simple little wire. It is a Co-Axial cable consisting of a tiny insulated wire that it wrapped in a metal foil shield. DO NOT kink, smash, or cut it. You will never get it spliced back together.

Tim

[rvten]

If you have a metal Motor Hood. Stick it on there as a Temp installation.

[PatrickA51]

Desert Captain wrote:
With a 2 month + trip coming up I would like to add Satellite Radio to our 24' C. I am planning on installing a Sirius/XM unit that will play through our existing automotive stereo by plugging into the auxiliary jack. It will be powered using a simple cigarette lighter outlet (we have three available on the dash), and the install seems straightforward enough but....

What about the antenna? They say it should be up high, as in on the roof with a clear view of the sky. The standard antenna comes with 23' of very small wire and I cannot imagine that being enough to get from the roof down through the coach and to the display unit on the dash. Most manufacturers insist that a GPS also have a clear view of the sky but our Rand McNally (7720 LM - a great unit by the way), works just fine sitting on the dash under the cabover overhang. :h

Has anyone out there installed Satellite Radio in your C and if so how did you deal with the antenna? How well does it work, are dropped stations an issue? Any and all advice is most welcome.

Posted By wrote:


Subscribed...Thinking the same thing. My cabover blocks a lot of radio signals IMO

I have a Sirius/XM Satellite Radio mounted in my RV. I operate my Xm Radio thru my installed stereo I use the Aux, plug and use a cassette tape insert instead of using the tuner set up thru the XM Radio. I feed the antenna wire up into the over head bunks vent. It works great. Also I have a Garmin GPS I mount it in the lower left hand corner of the windshield. It works great with no problems.

[path1]

Subscribed...Thinking the same thing. My cabover blocks a lot of radio signals IMO