Sirius Outdoor Antenna / Amps Discussion

[Wharfe]

Ohmy, I had a friend with Sirius who had a huge wooden stick screwed onto their back deck to mount the Sirius antenna. Sounds like Sirius needs to be including some mounting accessories with the radios, such as the parts you are trying to use now, seems to be a trend :P

[deezee]

Would this work?

Taken from Digital Radio Central. Thanks to user Mopar86.

1. Take a standard SIRIUS Home PNP Antenna
2. Take (4) SIRIUS One Suction Cups and slide them into the grooves on the bottom of the PNP Antenna.
3. And BAM instant Home Antenna Hanger

[peth]

Drilling through the soffit face might be your only option to get something on there solid. Dont know if you are mounting this on the slope side of the roof or not, but I would be worried that a pvc pipe might not stand up to snow / ice coming off the roof.

The Sirius website has some tips if you have not already been there - http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conten...=1180555415659

[raize]

I had the same issues as by BEV dish is mounted to a satellite board under the soffits. I also tried to mount the antenna to the mast of the dish but signal kept dropping.

After reading, because I live in the West, the antenna has to face straight up. This left 1 option (roof). Like many others, I didn't want to drill holes into the roof. I actually used zip ties and mounted the antenna to the eaves so the antenna faces straight up. I've never had a drop out and my signal is full strength. No drilling required...

So much better than mounting an antenna on the window sill (that's tacky)...RG6 on an outdoor antenna is the way to go.

[linuxgeek]

I just bought two coax extension cords and ran them into the attic. I put the antenna under a plastic mushroom vent in the peak of the root. Full signal all the time.

EDIT ----
Its a Sirius receiver...

[92SL1Mann]

Hey guys, this is prolly a no brainer but would like to confirm before i buy. I have a dock station for the starmate 5 inside and am currently just using a car antenna on the inside window sill. It only gets like one bar most for the time but it works. I can get a cheap XM home antenna...I m pretty sure they're the same connector? If so, will the signal be any better without putting it outside? Reason being is I have old slider windows and I dont think the wire will hold up well being shut in the window.

thanks in advance.

[mr weather]

Starmate is a Sirius radio, right? An XM antenna will work but it's not optimized for the frequency range used by Sirius.

If there is any way you can get the antenna outside that will help immensely.

[TheKidd]

Having the antenna outdoors or using an outdoor antenna would be your best bet, otherwise what your doing now is going to be about the best your going to get.

[joey90210]

I have a Sirius outdoor antenna that uses RG6, but it recently seems to have stopped working. In addition the length of cable seems to make the signal weak by the time it reaches the receiver, I really doubt that the total cable run would be more than 100 ft.

Outdoor antenna runs to the basement electrical panel (where all the other RG6 cables are) ~50ft. I ran this cable. Then it runs on the house cabling to the office where I have the receiver. Didn't build the house but I doubt this run is longer than 50 ft.

Initially it wouldn't work unless I put the receiver in the basement on the first run of cable, so I picked up an inline amplifier (cheapo thing to try, I didn't think it would work) but it allowed it to work.

I live in Newfoundland and in general reception is weak, but this set-up allowed me one bar with constant blackouts about once an hour for about 3-5 minutes. This same outdoor antenna worked great in Alberta constant 2-3 bars

Anyone tried any of the other outdoor antennas or know if there is a decent powered amp.

I have look at some stuff by Pixel Technologies but I am still looking for a Canadian retailer.

I also have the Sirius Home antenna and it works but the location of the office won't allow for the receiver and antenna to be placed together. I can put up with it for a bit, but I really like being able to change channels and see the titles from the receiver. I have small kids, as well as the wife factor, that doesn't want loose cables running all over the floor.

I'm going to try redoing my connections, but any other tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Antenna direction is W / SW.

Thanks

[mr weather]

Does the radio still work when plugged in at the electric panel? If it works that suggests the second cable run has gone bad. You may have to run a new cable.

I don't know about Sirius but XM makes an extension cable that incorporates an in-line amplifier. I use one for my home XM receiver which has about a 75' run to the external antenna.

Take a look around the Satellite Radio Source website. They carry a lot of XM and Sirius accessories.

[joey90210]

Thanks, I'll check each line on their own.

My radio came from Sat Radio Source, when I bought it a few years ago.

[bond220]

I have had no experience with satellite radio but am considering buying a Sirius configuration from The Source. I'm told by the salesperson that installation and activation is a snap, that an outside antenna is not required and that I can use an antenna cable which comes with the package entirely inside my home.

However the Sirius web site indicates that a roof antenna is highly preferrable and that an interior antenna may come with problems. I'm wondering whether anyone who has had experience can tell me how easy it is to install a satellite system. What they are featuring in the store is an "exclusive Sirius radio bundle" consisting of "Sirius Satellite Starmate 5 Satellite Radio Dock Bundle with Boombox".

In a related question, is there another vendor in Canada that I might talk to? I went to The Bay today but was told that they don't carry satellite radio offerings.

[ajhaze]

I have a Sirius radio set up in my house. I tried using it with the antenna that came with it in the house but reception was less than desirable. I experienced issues with reception constantly.

I ended up picking up an outdoor antenna and installed it outside. Reception is great and it never cuts out.

You can check out a store called "Satellite Radio Source" - just google it. They are in Mississauga. I have been to their store and they have everything you'll need. You can also order online.

I would recommend the Sirius Outdoor Antenna with 2-way splitter. It uses RG-6 cable and allows you to have the cables run to two different areas of your home.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

[bond220]

This is very helpful. Thanks. I'll get over to Mississauga and talk to them in the near future (I live in Hamilton). A very basic question due to my complete lack of experience in this area - am I correct then in assuming that what will be involved here is screwing the antenna to an outside surface that has a clear view of the sky, drilling a hole in the wall someplace, running the antenna cable through the hole, attaching it to the satellite receiver and then calling Sirius and registering a subscription with them? I was having a hard time getting any answers at all that I could understand at The Source.

[ajhaze]

Yes, that is all you need to do.

A friend of mine has his antenna installed high up in his garage - attached to the rafters and he gets good reception too. Might be an option you can try too.

Cheers!