madsonp

I've performed a modification using adapter cables so the stock XM antenna can be used with the aftermarket SiriusXM XSV300 tuner which connects to an aftermarket head unit. This is the tuner I'm referring to https://www.crutchfield.com/p_220SXV...earch=xm_tuner The cables and adapters needed vary dependent on the age of the car and the type of car (convertible or coupe) which determines the location of the stock XM tuner. In my 05 convertible for example the stock XM tuner is located under the waterfall, in a coupe it's my understanding its located at the rear drivers side wheel well. The stock XM antenna connector at the stock tuner on the older cars look like this.


To where the stock XM antenna connectors in the newer cars looks like this.




From what I can tell from my service manual, the stock XM antenna is actually two antennas in one, the one that picks up the signal from the satellite out in space (which is the tan cable on the older cars, and the yellow connector on the newer cars) and one that picks up the signal from a XM terrestrial broadcast source (which is the black cable on the older cars, and the green connector on the newer cars) These terrestrial sources also broadcast the XM signal in large metropolitan areas where the signal from space can be blocked by the large buildings in big city's, with the idea being that these terrestrial broadcast sources are suppose to eliminate the potential interruptions in service that you'd have when the signal from space is being blocked by the large buildings.

I know many have adapted the aftermarket tuner to work with the stock XM antenna, myself included. For those of you who may not know how this is done, This is how I suggest doing it. The first thing you'll need is one of these. https://www.crutchfield.com/S-hjBtWm...stro-SAT1.html Because this isn't long enough to reach the antenna connectors at the stock tuner, you'll also need a extension cable such as this. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4ft-Fakra-Z...53.m2749.l2649*See update concerning the cables in post #11 *This particular cable is 4' which is of sufficient length to reach the stock XM antenna connectors from the stock tuner under the waterfall on a convertible (this is assuming the you mounted the new XM tuner at the right side beneath the HVAC controls. If your car is a coupe and the tuners mounted at the rear drivers side wheel well, you'd need a longer extension cable to reach it (I'd suggest maybe a 10' one which I would think would be more than long enough.

So on the newer cars with the yellow and green connectors, what you do is plug the iDatalink adaptor into the new XM tuner, then plug the extension cable into the adapter then run the extension cable back to the location of the stock tuner, unplug the yellow connector from the stock tuner and plug it into the extension cable. On the older cars with the tan and black cables, a little more modification needs to be done which I'll cover next.

On the older cars with the tan and black cables in addition to the iDatalink adapter and extension cables mentioned above, you'll need to get some of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Fakra-Z...53.m2749.l2649 For this application only the turquoise and blue pieces will be used to adapt the connector from the old blue one to to work with the new extension cable. To do this is pretty simple, you remove the retainer clip from the old connector (the white piece) from the tan cable side using a very small jewelers screw driver to pry it out, the once removed simply pull the cable from the blue connector as shown here.



This shows the retainer clip removed.




Then the tan cable removed from the old connector.



Then using the new connector you purchased



Insert the tan cable fully into the new connector and secure it with the retainer clip that came with the connector.




Then connect the new connector to the extension cable.




So that's how to adapt the stock XM antenna to work with the new XM tuner, however this only receives the signal from the satellite, which doesn't do you much good if you live in a large city where this signal can be blocked by the tall buildings. So I have an idea that might overcome this short fall, however, myself living in Montana, and being nowhere near a big city, am unable to verify whether or not this will work, this is where some of you living in or around big cities might be able to help to prove (or disprove) my idea.

So the idea I have is as follows, first of all get one of these splitters https://www.ebay.com/itm/FAKRA-Z-fem...53.m2749.l2649 Plug it into the extension cable previously mentioned, then on the newer cars plug both the yellow and green antenna connectors into it. On the older cars you'd need to modify the black antenna cable from the old tuner connector the same way the tan cable was modified, then plug both the tan and black cables into the splitter. My theory is by doing this you'll receive both the satellite signal when it's not blocked by the buildings, and also the terrestrial signal when the satellite signal is blocked.

Like mentioned before, I would like to have someone living in a big city to do this modification using the splitter cable to see if it improves your reception while driving around the city. I'm not sure what all cities have these terrestrial transmitter sources so it may or may not work depending where you are, I'm assuming they're in most of the largest cities in the country, of course none of which are located even close to Montana (thank god). I've added the splitter cable to mine just in case I end up in a large city (which I don't foresee happening anytime soon) and also because I wanted to see if by doing so it has any detrimental affects, and at this point there's none that I've noticed. If you do decide to give the splitter a try in a big city, I'd appreciate if you'd please let me know if you notice an improvement in your reception like I'm thinking you will. Thanks in advance.

TorchRedFred

Madsonp, looking over your directions for the newer model C6's with XM, I'm not sure why I would need to purchase the Maestro SAT1. With the 10ft Sirius/XM antenna extension cable, I plugged one end into the new tuner at the head unit and plugged the other to antenna cable at the stock tuner location. The Maestro SAT1 is just a short 6.5" extension cable for those who don't need to run so far.

Amazon link to 10ft XM cable.

madsonp

True, what you have works, however, call me funny, but I like having secure locking connectors where possible, and it's only about $10 more in price (if buying the iDatalink cable on eBay) which is worth it to me. Do you live by a big city Fred, to where you'd be willing to give the splitter idea a try to see if it works ?

TorchRedFred

I live in NJ not close to the city, but I do have poor XM reception in my C6. I have since cancelled XM and use it through the app on my phone through the head unit. I find it works well this way with no reception issues. I wish this would have come up earlier, I would have been willing to try it if I still had the XM subscription for the vette. The splitter looks promising.

madsonp

Darn, you were one of the people I was hoping could try this out for me, oh well. Here in Montana my reception is real good, of course we have a lot of wide open spaces. I can lose reception sometimes up in the mountains though. Can't really do the app on my phone for a couple reasons, one being that I have data limits on my phone plan, and another is that there're may places in the state that don't have service.

drj2011

I’m getting ready to install a new Kenwood DNX696S in my 2011 Grand Sport convertible. Also using the SIRIUSXM tuner. I may try your install suggestion with the splitter. Can I assume you believe the use of the original antenna produces superior reception over the new antenna supplied with the XM tuner?

madsonp

I don't know if it's any better or not, I just figure why not utilize what's already there instead of having to mount an additional antenna, and it works just fine. I'm also currently working on an adapter so I can use the stock GPS antenna with my Pioneer for the same reasons. I have the parts ordered, I'm just just waiting for them to get here, once I get it made up and if it works I may be able to come up with some that'll work with other aftermarket head units. Do you think you'd be interested in one for your system ?. I did the same thing in my 2012 Ford F-250, in it, the stock XM and GPS antennas are in one unit, through the use of adapters I was able to hook them up to the Pioneer system in the truck, which, there again meant I didn't have to mount the additional antennas, and they work just fine. So do you live in a big city ? If you do, what I'd like to see you try if you could, is just hook up the yellow connector by itself first, drive around the city, then use the Y adapter and connect both the yellow and green connectors, drive around the city again and see if you notice an improvement, then report back on your findings.

madsonp

Possibly good news for you, if your 2011 uses the same stock GPS antenna connector as my 05 does, it looks to me like it's the same one Kenwood uses on their GPS antennas so I think it'll just plug into your Kenwood without the need for any adaptors. This is what the stock GPS antenna connector looks like on my 05. Let me know if you have the same one and if it'll plug in to your Kenwood.

drj2011

Yes, I live in the St. Louis metro area. Beginning my disassembly today, will let you know more in a day or so. I can confirm the GPS antenna connector is the same as my car and the Kenwood DNX696S. More to follow.

madsonp

Cool, thanks, I'll be looking forward to your report.

madsonp

Up-Date In the past I searched for a single cable long enough to reach the stock tuner that had the XM tuner SMB connector on one end and the Falkra on the other and couldn't find one long enough (hence the idadalink adapter used in conjunction with a extension cable) . Searching today I found someone who now makes them long enough, one is 2 meters long (about 6') which is more than long enough to reach the stock tuner under the waterfall in a convertible which you can find here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fakra-K-to-...sAAOSwkdFak3N4 and one that is 10' which I believe would reach the stock tuner at the drivers side wheel well on a coupe which you can find here. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fakra-K-to-...EAAOSwG1Jak3N~ Using these would allow you to do the run with one cable instead of the two cables mentioned in my instructions, the Falkra connector on these should work with the yellow connector on the newer cars and the tan cable as modified per the instructions noted above. They would also plug into the Y adapter. These particular ones come from China so it takes them a while to get here, but it can reduce the price from about $20 for the two separate cables (datalink and extension) if purchase on eBay, to about $8.50 for the other ones. I just ordered one of the 2 meter ones to try it out. So then using one of the cables mentioned above (depending on your application) combined with the splitter/combiner I mentioned earlier https://www.ebay.com/itm/FAKRA-Z-fem...mcf000b2800004 will reduce the number of connectors and save you some money to boot.

drj2011

End of Day 2 disassembly - Got the car fully opened up today and installed new rear view camera and new mic on the door pillar. Removed the waterfall and got a good look at the old XM Radio. The three cables are ordered (Friday delivery) before I saw you later post. While in the truck I pulled the molded carpet piece to feed camera wire and located the terminus for what I believe are the 2 XM antennae.

The GPS antenna is the same connector as you sent via a picture. Will reuse the original GSP antenna for now. Never got a change to find out if my stock NAV unit always had a good signal or not. I should have it all back together next weekend. I can quickly get at the splitter under the waterfall. Should I connect the green wire first, and then wait a week or so before hooking up the yellow wire? Will try to give a good test after I drive around downtown St. Louis.

madsonp

Connect the yellow one first by itself, that's the side of the antenna that picks up the satellite signal, then drive around the city, you should loose the signal when it's blocked by the buildings, then connect both the yellow and green via the splitter (no need to wait a week) (green being the side of the antenna that picks up the terrestrial transmissions), and drive around the city again. It's my thought that if St. Louis has the terrestrial transmitters, the areas you lost signal with just the yellow one connected, you should now have signal in those areas via the terrestrial transmitters again providing St. Louis has them, I'd think it's a big enough city where they would, but I have to admit, I've never been there. I'll be really interested in what you come up with. Sorry for not finding those one piece cables sooner, however what you're getting works just fine.

I'll also be interested on what you find when you connect the stock GPS antenna to your Kenwood. I know on my Pioneer, there's a page I can open where I can check the antenna connection status, signal strength, and the number of satellites it's receiving signal from at any one time. Don't know if your Kenwood has something similar, I would think it should. I haven't received the adapter to connect the stock GPS antenna to my Pioneer yet, it's coming from China, so I figure it's still probably about a week out.

Is what you think are the XM antennas in the first picture ? I don't believe that's them, if what's in the picture is at the back panel of the car I'm thinking that's part of the AM/FM antenna. I believe in your year of car the XM antennas are in the side mirrors, on my 05 they're on the trunk lid (what everyone calls the wart antenna because of the way it looks). Here's a photo showing the antenna on mine, not very appealing is it ? Now you know why they call it the wart.



This shows what I believe is the location of your XM antennas in the mirrors.




Be sure to keep me posted on everything you find out, thanks for being my test subject.

madsonp

Any up-dates on your install ?

drj2011

New SiriusXM receiver just to right of yellow box

Old XM antenna connections under waterfall


Final connection to new receiver
Madsonp,

I was delayed a bit with a great camera that didn't want to function. However, last evening I finished my install with the exception of buttoning up my center console. Received the splitter in Friday's mail and got it installed. This morning we drove downtown into the area of tallest building near the Arch in St. Lous. On the way down the SiriusXM receiver was working without interruption. Once downtown, I circling around a number of city blocks and did find a few areas where dropouts in signal occurred.

Stopped briefly and connected the green wire and, as best as I could, retraced those blocks again with no dropouts. Your solution would seem to be a success! Not sure I will ever drive around in downtown Chicago or New York, so St. Louis is the best I can do. I was also able to reuse the stock GPS antenna along with the SiriusXM connections.

In the pictures you can see my new XM receiver located next to the "yellow box" just below the A/C controls. The extension cable runs aft through the center console and back into my waterfall. Just removed my old XM receiver as I installed a Kenwood amp in that location. Thank you for your assistance in my install. I have numerous pictures now and intend to write up the complete install in the next few days.

madsonp

That's great, I'm glad to see it appears to work, thanks for taking the time and effort to try it out, and giving me the feedback. It's good to hear the stock GPS antenna works fine also, I should have the final adapter I need for mine to convert the stock GPS antenna connector to my Pioneer tomorrow, regrettably Pioneer doesn't use the same type connector Kenwood does, so mines a bit more complicated to adapt, right now I'm unable to find anyone that makes a single adaptor, what I could find involves two separate adapters to make it work (stock connector to Falkra, then Falkra to Pioneer AVIC), I'm looking at just getting the specific connectors needed, and making up my own single adapter myself, I'll probably get a number of each connector so I can make a few of them up, and offer them for sale for anyone else with a Pioneer system wanting to do the same thing, but until then, what I have coming should work. Did you end up getting your camera working ? Did you just install the rear, or did you do a front camera also ? I'll be looking forward to your write up on your install. Thanks again for testing this out for me.

drj2011

I installed at Kenwood CMOS-230 in the rear and a Clarion 720 in the front. Crutchfield's tech support was great and working through the issue. In the end, I swapped the front and rear RCA plugs and the DNX696S immediately displayed the front camera thinking it was the rear. We decided that the Kenwood was not sending a video signal for some reason. They are shipping me one by Tuesday. Literally everything else is fully operational including all my steering wheel controls through the RP5-GM11 interface and the harness Crutchfield's built for me.

I plan to get my pictures a bit smaller on the forum and write up the entire process as so many have done before. I would not have ventured into my car without a lot of good advice and technical help from folks like you. Thank you!

madsonp

No problem, glad I could help, and I appreciate the help from you in verifying my antenna theory. Crutchfields supports is pretty impressive, that's for sure, hopefully you won't have any issues with the new one. Just out of curiosity, did you try the camera with the engine running, or just in accessory mode ? The reason I ask is I've noticed the rear view camera I have hooked up to mine doesn't come on in accessory mode, but works fine when the engines running, however if you had the front working on your rear connection that might blow my theory out of the water.

madsonp

Got my adapters today to adapt the stock GPS antenna connector, to a Pioneer GPS connector so I can use the stock GPS antenna with my Pioneer system, and it works great, got real good signal strength, that's as good, if not better than using the antenna that came with the Pioneer. A lot less wire clutter behind the dash also. So wire wise, this allowed me to go from this:



To this.



I'm getting the connectors and cable, so I can make some up that'll eliminate the Falkra connectors in the center, currently there's none that I could find that anyone builds out on the market. It'll be a single cable instead of the two you see in the picture. I'll have enough extra connectors to make a few of these, so I may be offering some of these up in this forum

TorchRedFred

Madsonp, I ordered one of those splitters the XM antenna. I may try to give it a shot. Ordering it and getting it installed soon may be 2 different things though. I'll let you know the results when and if I get it done.