Sirius Radio Antenna

Thundr56 · 10-31-2018, 05:54 PM

I keep getting an intermittent error message on the factory installed entertainment center display of my ('16 Sightseer) that when in Sirius mode says; "Check Antenna". The radio works fine except when this error is displayed. Does not seem to to coincide with signal blockage (trees, etc.) The antenna as viewed from the roof is pristine with no evidence of impact or damage of any kind.

Before I start disassembling the front of the coach to find the lead from the antenna, has anyone else seen this and chased it down?

bobmac · 11-12-2018, 09:24 AM

My roof antenna failed even though everything looked good. Best way to determine if it is an issue is to get a second aftermarket magnetic antenna and unscrew the old one connecting the new one to see if the signal improves. My Sirius receiver is mounted to the left side of the drivers foot. I mounted the new antenna above the driver's seat on a small piece of metal for a ground plane - the roof is fiberglass which is transparent to RF signals - you might need to play with the position to avoid the few metal supports in the sidewall. Good luck,

powercat_ras · 11-12-2018, 12:52 PM

The Sirius antenna cable goes to a separate sat receiver module that is a few inches behind the radio, at least on my Vista, that connects to a plug on the back of the radio with a short cable.

I had the problem you described and it was just the sat antenna cable not fully inserted into the sat receiver module. On my Vista, the standard SiriusXM antenna is surface mounted on the fiberglass cap and is stuck down and the cable hole sealed with lap sealant. The cable runs down into the dash behind the window trim molding on the driver's side.

If you don't have a bad connection, then the other possibilities are a bad module or a bad antenna. Both are available at reasonable cost to substitute and replace.

IMHO you need the SiriusXM antenna up on top, where it is now, if you try to put it on the top of the dash next to the winshield you will have reception problems as you need line of sight from the Sats in earth orbit to the antenna.

Thundr56 · 11-12-2018, 02:13 PM

Thanks Bob and Randy. I’ll have to see if I can track down the wires and find the receiver. The Dashboard on my Sightseer looks like opportunities to get behind it are very limited. Maybe the entertainment / climate control panel will pop out for a look behind. Is the receiver marked ‘Serius’, etc., so it’s obvious?
Sidetracked on other projects at the moment

powercat_ras · 11-12-2018, 03:11 PM

SiriusXM Module and SiriusXM antenna, both available together from BestBuy for $ 35.99 right now. 3.5" x 2". In my Winnebago they just secured it to the wiring harness behind the radio with a wrap of black duct tape.

loydt · 11-13-2018, 01:22 PM

I have a stranger problem. On my '14 Ellipse, I cannot for the life of me get my dash unit (XSG2NA-X2) to receive the refresh signal for programming from Sirius. All I can get is the preview channel and the ID channel. The signal strength appears to be excellent from what the display says. I even tried shutting off all the batteries, too. It still wont receive???

Thundr56 · 11-16-2018, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loydt

I have a stranger problem. On my '14 Ellipse, I cannot for the life of me get my dash unit (XSG2NA-X2) to receive the refresh signal for programming from Sirius. All I can get is the preview channel and the ID channel. The signal strength appears to be excellent from what the display says. I even tried shutting off all the batteries, too. It still wont receive???

If you worked through this process;
1.After installing your SiriusXM Connect Vehicle Tuner and antenna, power onyour radio and select SiriusXM mode. You should be able to hear the SiriusXMpreview channel on Channel 1. If you don't hear the Preview channel, make sureyour tuner is installed correctly as described in the tuner Installation Guide.
2.After you can hear the Preview channel, tune to Channel 0 to find the Radio IDof your tuner.You will need this number to activate your subscription. Write the number down forreference.Note that the SiriusXM Radio ID does not include the letters I, O, S or F.
3. With the radio still turned on, the next step is to activate your service by:a.visiting thewww.siriusxm.comwebsite and click on ACTIVATE RADIO orb. calling SiriusXM Listener Care at 1-866-635-2349.As part of the activation process, the SiriusXM satellites will send an activationmessage to your tuner. When your radio detects that the tuner has received theactivation message, your radio will display: "Subscription Updated". Oncesubscribed, you can tune to channels in your subscription plan. Note, the activationprocess usually takes 10 to 15 minutes, but may take up to an hour. Your radio willneed to be powered on and receiving the SiriusXM signal to receive the activationmessage.

If it’s not working, try calling Sirius....

BobT · 11-19-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thundr56

I keep getting an intermittent error message on the factory installed entertainment center display of my ('16 Sightseer) that when in Sirius mode says; "Check Antenna". The radio works fine except when this error is displayed. Does not seem to to coincide with signal blockage (trees, etc.) The antenna as viewed from the roof is pristine with no evidence of impact or damage of any kind.

Before I start disassembling the front of the coach to find the lead from the antenna, has anyone else seen this and chased it down?

I mounted my antenna on the roof of our 04 Adventurer. I glued a junction box cover to the roof as a ground plane and sealed the hole. Everything works fine. Also on my Ranger, Best Buy mounted the antenna on top of the dash next to the passenger window post. Sure it hides the antenna but also blocks the signals. Put a magnetic antenna on the roof and ran the cable through the sliding rear window, no more problems there.

Ironically, I have the "Check Antenna" problem on my home radio. Haven't moved antenna in years,checked cable connections, tried new radio and base mounts. Some days it works fine other times not so good. This morning it was pretty lousy reception but right now it seems to be better.

bobmac · 11-19-2018, 02:55 PM

Thundr56
The Sirius antenna lead from the roof came down the driver side channel in front of the drivers side window. My Sirius receiver was mounted to the left of the brake pedal further back in the corner - very close to the bottom of the wire channel. The antenna wire is extremely thin and obviously quite fragile given the failures. It will likely be the finest wire you find and should not be difficult to locate. I mounted the new antenna in the ds cabinet above the window and brought the new wire down the corner channel that housed the original. Good luck and have fun!

loydt · 11-20-2018, 08:34 AM

I finally got mine to work. I had to remove the dash cover above the gauges and get to the back of the radio. I unplugged the wire harness from the back and waited about a minute or so. Plugged it back up and it finally started working. Basically a hard reset on the unit. Lots of scrapes and cuts on my hands tho. Ouch!

SLOweather · 12-04-2018, 12:53 PM

Having just been through something simalar with the aftermarket Pioneer head unit and SiriusXM on our trip in October.

As I saw in posts above, the P.O simply glued a mag mount SiriusXM antenna to the roof. My feeling is that mag mount antenneas are expected to be, duh, magnetically mounted to a ferrous surface, the metal of which would then act like a ground plane, increasing signal strength.

One remedy (which I have used on other magnet mount antennas) is to stick a steel plat to the roof and then mount the antenna to that. I've used galvanized steel from a sheet metal shop, as well as a 4x4 galvanized j-box cover.

The alternative I elected to use is to mount a 10" marine SiriusXM on the roof. I just installed it yesterday. Here's a pic of the new SXM antenna, and the ones for GlobalStar and the radio. The pucks are the P.O.s SXM and GPS. Barely visible to the left of the GlobalStar antenna is an amateur 2M/440 antenna on a motorized layover mount. The while plate is a 3 cable Winegard cable entry cover.

Thundr56 · 12-04-2018, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOweather

Having just been through something simalar with the aftermarket Pioneer head unit and SiriusXM on our trip in October.

As I saw in posts above, the P.O simply glued a mag mount SiriusXM antenna to the roof. My feeling is that mag mount antenneas are expected to be, duh, magnetically mounted to a ferrous surface, the metal of which would then act like a ground plane, increasing signal strength.

One remedy (which I have used on other magnet mount antennas) is to stick a steel plat to the roof and then mount the antenna to that. I've used galvanized steel from a sheet metal shop, as well as a 4x4 galvanized j-box cover.

The alternative I elected to use is to mount a 10" marine SiriusXM on the roof. I just installed it yesterday. Here's a pic of the new SXM antenna, and the ones for GlobalStar and the radio. The pucks are the P.O.s SXM and GPS. Barely visible to the left of the GlobalStar antenna is an amateur 2M/440 antenna on a motorized layover mount. The while plate is a 3 cable Winegard cable entry cover.

That’s a lot of antennas SLO. Should be able to pick up something with that!
As a follow up to my original signal loss predicament, I pulled the entertainment/climate control panel off and the Sirius box was right there, easy access. I wiggled the antenna connection and it seemed a bit loose so I snugged it up and haven’t had a problem since. I like cheap fixes.

Rossi6998 · 12-07-2018, 09:15 AM

When I had my SiriusXM antenna installed on my motorhome, the installer put a small metal plate down on the fiberglass roof first, then installed the antenna on the metal plate. He mentioned something about receiving a better signal with the antenna installed on a metal plate instead of installing it directly on the fiberglass roof. If you do a search on this issue, some will say you will get better reception and some will say it is so the magnetic antenna has something to attach to. I don't know what is true, but I get good reception with the metal plate attached.

Good luck.

loydt · 12-11-2018, 12:13 PM

So, mine lost the signal again. Well, not really since it shows full bars on the reception meter on the radio display, but it is just stuck on the ID and preview channel. I tried the same reset again by unplugging the harness from the back but this time it wont refresh and load the channels per my subscription. I cannot get to the other side of the radio where the SiriusXM antennae is connected to try unplugging that. Oh well.

SLOweather · 12-11-2018, 12:49 PM

Sounds to me like your radio just needs to be reauthorized. Call em, or use the text link they might have sent you to reauthorize it.

SLOweather · 12-11-2018, 02:25 PM

BTW, our marine SiriusXM antenna worked flawlessly on our 230 mile round trip to Pnnacles NP last weekend. Much better than the lil hockey puck would have.

loydt · 12-12-2018, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOweather

Sounds to me like your radio just needs to be reauthorized. Call em, or use the text link they might have sent you to reauthorize it.

I bet I have refreshed that radio 50 times. I have done both on the phone and via the web. It just wont receive the refresh signal.

SLOweather · 12-12-2018, 03:00 PM

I suppose the next silly question is, "Is your subscription paid up?"

kc8kix · 12-12-2018, 05:11 PM

I had the same problem with my sirius radio in my 2016 vista. Get ready to pull out the radio and check the antenna connections. That was my problem. I contacted sirius and they were no help at all, they said to reload the setup. There are sites that tell you how to get to the unit, not that hard when you have directions. Good luck.

loydt · 12-13-2018, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLOweather

I suppose the next silly question is, "Is your subscription paid up?"

Yes, lol. All my other vehicles that have SiriusXM are working just fine.

I took the entire dash top off and got to both sides of the back of the unit. I even found the Sirius tuner and unplugged it several times and watched the signal on the display go from no signal to back full. So everything is working.

I just think that they are not sending the signal as they think they are