sat radio antenna

[wanderingbob]

I am sure this has been come up before but I could not find it .
Will my roof mount sat antenna work under a camper top ?

[Powelligator]

Simple physics tells me that the further forward on the hood you mount the antenna the better your reception is going to be. In my case, it was nothing more than aesthetics that made me want to put the antenna at the base of the windshield on the plastic trim piece. At the Lance factory I saw their corporate F-450 in the parking lot and the antenna has been moved to middle of the hood on the driver's side. It looked kind of goofy, but I bet it works great.

One thing to note is that the antenna itself has a front-rear orientation. It gets better reception if it is mounted in the direction like my photos show above. A friend of mine mounted the antenna in the same location as mine but reversed the orientation of the antenna, he got lousy reception until he rotated it 180 degrees.

Joe

[bikepsych]

Can you guys who have made the Ford Mod provide some additional information such as year of your SuperDuty and perhaps a picture showing how much overhang there is?

I'm hesitant to install it there just in front of windshield as my Adventurer 89RB hangs over significantly. Was considering running it up to the front of the hood.

Thanks in advance.
Bruce

2013 F250 6.7PSD
2013 Adventurer 89RB

[mooring_product]

You are correct. Its one unit. I can live without XM but not without NAV.

[R2D1]

mooring product wrote:

Marshfly wrote:
Mooring product, he doesn't have nav. This won't work with the newer trucks with a combined nav/sat radio antenna. The only solution currently is to purchase another factory antenna and relocate it. It's BS. My 2014 is the same way.

Ill check into that. I believe I have two antennas. One for Nav and one for XM.

I own a 2012 RAM and the NAV and SAT antenna in my truck appear to be in one unit. I tried a magnetic aftermarket Sirius antenna some time ago and lost the NAV functionality.

[mooring_product]

Marshfly wrote:
Mooring product, he doesn't have nav. This won't work with the newer trucks with a combined nav/sat radio antenna. The only solution currently is to purchase another factory antenna and relocate it. It's BS. My 2014 is the same way.

Ill check into that. I believe I have two antennas. One for Nav and one for XM.

[Marshfly]

Mooring product, he doesn't have nav. This won't work with the newer trucks with a combined nav/sat radio antenna. The only solution currently is to purchase another factory antenna and relocate it. It's BS. My 2014 is the same way.

[portscanner]

For mooring product and Capt Eddie and anyone else interested

Step by step picture installation

[mooring_product]

portscanner wrote:

Capt Eddie wrote:
I need to relocate the antenna on my Dodge. Any help with the Dodge setups?

I went to Best Buy and got a magnetic version for $19.

I have a 2011 Dodge 3500 - if you have a different year, the following information may not apply

stick your head under the dash on the passenger side of the truck, pull off the plastic cover on the right side of where you put your feet. The plastic piece extends back along the door - you dont need to remove it completely - just enough so you can get your hands into the side of the truck.

look for a little yellow connector in there. A plastic clip holds it in place. Pry the lock open and it will pop off the wall. There is a separate clip that holds the two wires together. Separate the two. One side goes to the radio and you can connect it to the antenna from Best Buy - however - to make a good connection, you will need to remove the half of the yellow plastic shell from the end. Remove it - then re-assemble it back onto the other left over wire (that goes to the existing factory antenna) If you want to put things back they way they were, you will still have all the parts.

I had my camper on my truck when I did this so I could experiment with where to put the new antenna. I found that both on the dash (inside the windshield) and just outside the windshield, I had a marginal signal. I ended it placing it on the bicycle carrier that I have on the front hitch and routed the cable through the engine compartment and back through the passenger door.

To keep the wire from flopping around, I used tie wraps in strategic locations and routed the wire behind the weatherstripping for the passenger door.

If you want pics, let me know and I will post them this weekend.

Note:I dont have the factory GPS - only the Sirius radio

Please post pictures of under the dash hook up please. I have a 2012 and my Nav works fine but the Sirius goes in and out. I signed up for the weather and traffic and it will update me with traffic and bad weather reports on the road.

[Capt_Eddie]

Portscanner. Thank you for the post.

[flht_db]

Very easy install on the Ford as stated, installed Saturday and picked up camper Sunday. Sirius and navigation work great with Camper on.

[flht_db]

Ordered parts today. Satalite is touchy in some spots as is. Pick up camper in 2 weeks so adding second antenna.

[portscanner]

Capt Eddie wrote:
I need to relocate the antenna on my Dodge. Any help with the Dodge setups?

I went to Best Buy and got a magnetic version for $19.

I have a 2011 Dodge 3500 - if you have a different year, the following information may not apply

stick your head under the dash on the passenger side of the truck, pull off the plastic cover on the right side of where you put your feet. The plastic piece extends back along the door - you dont need to remove it completely - just enough so you can get your hands into the side of the truck.

look for a little yellow connector in there. A plastic clip holds it in place. Pry the lock open and it will pop off the wall. There is a separate clip that holds the two wires together. Separate the two. One side goes to the radio and you can connect it to the antenna from Best Buy - however - to make a good connection, you will need to remove the half of the yellow plastic shell from the end. Remove it - then re-assemble it back onto the other left over wire (that goes to the existing factory antenna) If you want to put things back they way they were, you will still have all the parts.

I had my camper on my truck when I did this so I could experiment with where to put the new antenna. I found that both on the dash (inside the windshield) and just outside the windshield, I had a marginal signal. I ended it placing it on the bicycle carrier that I have on the front hitch and routed the cable through the engine compartment and back through the passenger door.

To keep the wire from flopping around, I used tie wraps in strategic locations and routed the wire behind the weatherstripping for the passenger door.

If you want pics, let me know and I will post them this weekend.

Note:I dont have the factory GPS - only the Sirius radio

[soos]

thanks guys! my DH, a Ford retiree is itching to get the parts now, so we'll have decent GPS coverage in AK.

[Powelligator]

On late-model Fords they use a dual band antenna, this means that one antenna is used for both the GPS and the Sirius, as both use different frequencies. So moving the antenna on the Ford Super Duties as described above covers both music and the on-board navigation.

You Dodge Boys might be in a different boat. For example, my Jeep has factory navigation and Sirius. In that vehicle two different antennas are used for each, the antenna on the roof turns out to be Sirius only, the navigation antenna is on the dash. So Chrysler *might* be different in their trucks. I'd recommend checking with the dealer, or maybe someone here might know.

Good Luck!

Joe

[Butch50]

soos wrote:

Powelligator wrote:
(Original post edited with more pictures and a better description.)

This is a simple modification for the late-model Ford Super Duty.

1. Antenna DC3Z-10E893-A $31.00
2. Cable BC3Z-19A397-A $49.00

Result: Works great when the truck is pointed in any direction.

Procedure: Disconnect factory Sirius/GPS antenna cable under the driver's side dash, about where the clutch pedal would be if these trucks were so equipped. Cool thing about this is that you DO NOT need to access the back of the factory 8" touch screen head unit, there is a convenient connector right where you need it. In the photo below the connector is the yellow plastic thing with an RF connector inside.

Connect up the new cable that you got in the parts list above, and run it through a hole in the firewall into the engine compartment. There's easy ways to do this as the factory gives us a grommetted wire harness right adjacent to the Sirius/GPS connector, that's visible in the bottom of the picture above.

Under the hood, run the cable up under the plastic shroud where the windshield wipers park. Drill a couple holes through the shroud (using the GPS antenna as a guide) and connect up the two cables. Optional: Add split loom tubing for additional wire protection, and you can re-use the factory plastic mounts that come with the cable.


Enjoy your Sirius radio with the camper on the truck as you head on down the road for more adventures! Good Luck!

Joe

Joe, did this allow the GPS to function as well? We are headed thru Canada to alaska for the summer. I don't mind going without the radio but I'd really like the GPS to function and right now its spotty with the TC on.

thanks,

I'm not Joe but I did the same on my Ford truck that I had then and yes it does fix both. We went to Alaska last summer from AR and had both GPS and Sirius all the way. There well be times that you well loss the Sirius in the far north as it is just getting to low on the horizon to receive the signal. When heading north in AK I would lose it and then heading south there it would drop in and out but this is not because of the installation it is just the way the satellites are set up in the far south above Texas.