removing the radio ('02 Durango)

The plastic bezel around the radio speedo pulls off with just fingers. Only

First, yes this can be done. HOWEVER! Using that type of FM Modulator is going to make your newly purchased Sat radio system sound, well, to be blunt, like ass.

Depending on what Sat system you are looking at ( XM or Sirius) both make a unit with an internal wireless FM Mod. All you have to do is plug in the cig lighter power cord, run the antenna and turn it on. No need to remove the radio or anything.

If you go XM, use the Roady 2.

So wait... a hard-wired FM modulator will sound like crap, but the built-in wireless modulator won't??

Right, because you are not getting direct input from the hard line antenna.

Mind you I am not saying that the wireless FM Mod is great, just better then the hard line. If you want true digital and all that you have to go with a sat ready radio and the tuner for it.

That's the exact opposite of my experience. When I was using the wireless, I got considerable "bleed-through" of stray signals. With the in-line modulator, input from the antenna is cut off, and the only signal available on the radio's antenna input is from the modulator.

Digital schmigital... my ears are analog :)

Yes, I'm aware that units from Sirius and XM can be listened through my stereo wirelessly. HOWEVER, I have a wireless transmitter from Belkin that I use in my car for my MP3 player. It works pretty good but I do get static from it. I also noticed that the further away from my stereo, the worse the reception. So, depending on where I were to place my sat radio, it may or may not give me good reception. I do get much better sound quality from my MP3 player when I use the cassette adapter (I know I can do this with the sat radio as well but I'd like to avoid the hanging wires). This is why I was exploring the possibility of doing a hardwire setup. Frankly, if you got worse results, I'm tending to think it's more of an isolated incident because from what I've read on other posts (in other newsgroups), hardwiring worked better. Be that as it may, if I can't easily get access to the radio in my car, then all this talk is moot because I don't really want to pay a lot for someone to do something that, on the surface, seems so simple.

"azwiley1" wrote in message news:KYe7f.25587$fE5.23619@fed1read06...

That's been my experience. I currently use an XM MyFi with a hard-wired FM modulator, and I have absolutely no complaints at all with the sound quality.

You don't necessarily need to take your radio out. In fact, an '02 Durango probably has the newer Chrysler antenna connector on the radio, which isn't compatible with the GM-style plugs on most FM modulators. Behind the passenger kick panel, you should be able to access the antenna wire, and here you will find a GM-style male/female disconnect (this is where the wire from the antenna connects to the wire that goes to the radio). You can splice your FM modulator in here. Remove the glove box, and you have plenty of room to mount the modulator, stuff the excess wire, and run your sat antenna wire.

Do you think the Chilton manual would have this sort of info in it?

Well, think what you want, I only gave you the advice off of 15 years experience, so I guess you know more then I.

I know that with a Roady2 and wireless modulation, I pick up all kinds of static... not to mention when driving on a road in proximity to another vehicle with a modulator on the same freq. (had this happen several times). I also know that when I installed an in-line modulator, all those problems went away. Go figure...

Well, then I guess you are right Tom (and J), what the hell do I know and what does years in the car audio and electronics business mean?

All the customers that we install wireless mods in everything from Sat radio systems, to "blasters" for headphones, to wireless mods for DVD systems, are all flukes. I guess the years of experience, going from wired mods of all sorts to the newest wireless ones don't mean squat.

So, next time all you "self proclaimed experts" deal with it.

Okay... deep breath time... how is a wireless transmitter less susceptible to interference and signal loss than something that's wired directly? That just seems counter-intuitive. They're both doing FM modulation, right? It's just that one is directly connected to the radio's antenna input, and the other transmits through the air, to the same antenna input. How could a direct connection produce worse signal quality than a wireless connection?

It looks like the two of you may be talking about two different things. If I read this correctly, axwiley1 is saying that the radio or IOW other FM radio stations besides the sat frequency could sound like crap with a direct connection because of the separation of the antenna from the radio causing a signal loss while Tom is saying that the wireless transmitter is more susceptible to interference from other sources such as causing less than desirable performance with the sat receiver. If this is the case then I would think that they both are correct and the type of connection used would depend on where you are and what you want to listen to. If you are in the middle of nowhere where signals tend to be weak and intend to continue to listen standard FM as well, then the wireless setup may be your best bet for quality sound from both and if you live in or near the cities where signal strength is strong and or intend to listen primarily to the sat receiver, then a direct connection would be your choice since it is much more resistant to outside interference and the minor possible signal loss on other FM frequencies will be negligible.

Yo, relax. I never said I was an expert. I was just telling you my experiences with the little wirless unit I had. Maybe you're right and the ones on these radios are better. Who knows. I just THOUGHT that hardwiring would give me better reception. I DO know that my cassette adapter gives better sound than the Belkin unit I have in my car for my mp3 player so I figured the same for sat radio. I don't even have it yet. I was just looking for advice/help/suggestions well in advance of me buying it so I appreciate any answers I get.