tomikem

I have very poor Sirius radio reception in my 99 vert. Keeps popping in and out constantly to the point where I have to turn it off.

It is a new installation and my antenna sits on the dash on the passenger side next to the A-pillar.

Can anyone help!!

rrichar2591

That is where mine is mounted and I haven't had problems for the most part. When I do have issues it's usually because of tall buildings, canyons or something blocking the signal. Does it happen all the time or just certain times? All areas or just centain areas? All stations or certain stations? Have you checked connections to the unit itself? My docking station in my truck finally gave out after about 7 years of service. If that all fails you could think about running it by a place such as Best Buy etc. They usually install them and might be able to tell you what the problem is. Good luck.

MUGILLA

I have my Sirius antenna mounted inside of the waterfall in my vert and the reception is fine and the antenna is completely hidden. Maybe give Dennis @ DD Mods a call. He is wonderful to diagnose and troubleshoot audio problems. Good luck

tomikem

Thanks Guys,

I just bought the package from Dennis and have emailed him several times regarding the reception, but for some reason he doesn't return my emails (maybe he is busy).

My wife has Sirius in her car and the reception hardly ever pops out.

Is there an antenna booster or something similar out there?

Wioldthang

I too just had Sirius loaded into my new head unit I bought from DD, & I am having the same exact problems. My antenna is mounted inside the waterfall of my vert like Dennis suggested & Sirius cuts in & out at different times in the same areas. I thought it was a problem with the unit connecting with the satelite? A couple of people have told me that Sirius may take a while to "set up" on a new system but I dont know how long a while is. If you find out anything please let me know, I would really like to listen to some uninterupted Sirius radio, like the rest of my vehicles.

Wioldthang

Chilliwack vettes

Mine always cuts out due to tall trees, mountains, etc. You need a direct line for an uninterupted signal.

jrose7004

I've got my anntenna in the same place that you do and I sure don't have all the reception problems that you do.

Mr.Bill

I have a Pioneer AVIC920BT I bought from Dennis with the anterrn on the dash like you and I have no issues at all except when I stop under an overpass. Which is normal.
Mr.Bill

0Double D Mods

Sorry Mike
I am about 150 emails and messages behind right now.
5 installs in last 5 days has me backed up

Try moving it around.
I usually put them in the middle of the car
just did one and put it under waterfall and it works perfect

call em anytime as well. seems to be best way lately to get ahold of me till i am caught up on messages

devan@doubledmods.com is another options too for email


Sorry your having troubles.
Dennis

0Double D Mods

make sure its horizontal

El original

Just a quick suggestion as I had issues and found that the antenna jack was not pushed in fully. It is a very snug fit and it takes some force to make it a positive connection. Give it a real good push into housing. Just a thought. Good luck ,Rob

azgeek

I just had a Sirius installed in my 04. My antenna sits in the middle of the dash at the very front, tucked in tightly to the windshield. My reception is great except for the usual tall buildings, underpasses, etc.

Is your antenna fixed to the waterfall or can you move it a bit? Sometimes a slight adjustment is all it takes. Let us know how this problem is resolved.

jim993

I had a similar problem in my F-250. It turned out to be a partially cut antenna wire where it was routed through a hole in the roof. Replaced the antenna and wire no problems since. I did not do the original installation myself.

On my 2001 Coupe, never a problem, but I routed the antenna wire carefully and the antenna is outside on the center of the roll structure.

On my 2000 Buick no problem but I routed the antenna wire carefully to the rear center outside roof. SAME for my '75 Datsun 280Z

srs244

i have my antenna mounted behind the passenger A piller molding and don't have anywhere near the problems you described. i do have the same tree, disruptions someone else indicated, but it is consistent and always happens in the exact same places on the road, so i know it has more to do with the signal being blocked than my equipment being bad. i have an add on unit (sportster 4) that has been in 3 different cars over the years and i learned a long time ago that if you have the antenna exposed to the elements, they give up rather quickly (i replaced the antenna 3 times under warranty during the first 8 months i had the unit several years ago) and finally moved it to the dash inside the car. i still have the last "replacement" and it is working great. if you don't have the antenna flat facing directly upward, you hamper the opportunity to receive a signal. if you have it m mounted in the waterfall on the convertible, it is possible that it is placed in such a way as to have some metal from the release, etc interfering with the signal. don't overlook the fact that the antenna itself is defective. it wouldn't be the first time it happened.

Binski

Mine is near the front window just to the left of the driver. Cuts out when traveling North. Wierd.

raydawg357

Satellite radio antennas need to be attached to metal for best reception. The adhesive metal squares that come with GPS antennas work great with dash mounted satellite antennas. Most install shops normally have these squares laying around. If your antenna is bad, your satellite radio will display "antenna" and if you're in an area with a weak signal, it will display "searching".

teebee

I put mine back in the back on top of the drivers side wheelwell. I don't have any issue with it at all.

BillY2KFRC

I had a very similar issue. I mounted mine hidden at the base of the passenger a-pillar as some recommended. It would work great driving to work, but on the way home from work it would cut out constantly. Since the pillar is metal, it was obviously blocking line of sight to the necessary satellite when traveling that direction.

The tail light area seemed like a good idea for reception, but I didn't want to drill a hole to run the wire back there. So I mounted mine next to the trunk latch on my Z06. This area would work on vert I'm pretty sure, I can't say if it would work on a coupe. If you pull back the carpet from where the trunk latch is, you will see a nice plastic base to the left of the latch. It was a perfect area to use some 3M double stick tape and then the antenna gets hidden when you snap the carpet back. My reception was awesome today driving to/from work today. Think I've finally found a good spot.

On a side note, I was going to try under the hood in front of my fuse box, but when I closed by carbon fiber hood, the reception wasn't as good. Apparently the signal doesn't like carbon fiber as much as fiberglass. Just something I thought people may find interesting as I wasn't sure how the signal would pass through carbon fiber.

Jistari

The factory installed ones in any of my vehicles always work better than any I install myself (probably due to their vehicle specific design and placement).

The one in my vette doesn't work as well as the one I put in my 4-runner and that is very likely due to the location on the 4-runner (much higher and stuck to the center of the metal roof.

I agree in the previous statement about attached to metal helping, from reading I have found that its part of the antenna design that they will work best if mounted....horizontaly, as high as possible....and attached to metal with at least 16 square inches of metal around the antenna (thats a 4 inch square...something about reflecting the signal).

We are limited in our plastic wonder mobiles, forget about high (if a tall women lifts her skirt we can drive under it) so high isn't gonna happen, and theres not much metal to attach to.

What Ive done that seems to work well is cut a 4x4 piece of sheet metal, bent a 90 degree angle on one end and drilled a hole to form a bracket to stick the antenna to. I removed a tail light and mounted the bracket right to one of the existing bolts on the rear of the tub you see when you look into the tail light opening). Its horizontal, mounted on metal and about as high as you're gonna get on a C5 (I looked into sneaking it up under the plastic bow cover (if you have a coupe) but there isn't room there, so the deck/dash level is as high as it getting I guess. The rear section is SMC (transparent to radio waves).

The reception is very good but does drop off (usually in the same places) which I believe is specifically related to the terrain and height of the antenna.

a17mike

I realize that the last post was in April but perhaps someone like me will come on this and find some help as I did.

I have an 05 that was XM ready with the harness but no satellite radio. I bought a Sirius unit and installed it with the antena in the rear of my coupe on the drivers side by the latch.
My reception was spotty and seemed after a time to get worse. I had about given up when I decided to look on the Forum for some answers and came across the suggestion above.

I took a scrap piece of laminate covered with copper that we had used in the kitchen as tile backsplash. I trimmed it to fit and attached it with 3M tape in the same spot by the latch. I attached the antena to the copper with 3M tape. The difference was amazing. There is no skipping in and out. It works as well as my F150's Sirius. Hope this helps.

Usually I find the answer to my current Corvette issue on the Forum.

Thanks
Mike