850 satellite radio

Dec 27, 2004 3 Replies

Just wondered if anyone out there has had any experience or tips on the installation of satellite radio in the 850. The manufacturer says the antenna must be put on the outside of the vehicle at it's highest point (obviously to get continuous omnidirectional reception.) To avoid this getting this ripped off in the car wash, I was considering mounting it (if there is clearance) on the top of the sliding panel under the sun roof. Another option I was considering was full forward on the glare shield with the wires running down the hole the remote power lock receptor goes under the dash that would come into the radio unit.



If anyone has had any experience, please give me your thoughts. I am not jumping into this until I give this serious consideration of the best installation without serious modification of the car. By the way, I have currently have 2 850s, so if it goes well with one, I intend to do it again.



Cheers, Randy Hass in cold Pittsburgh, home of the red hot Steelers


I have not done it on an 850, but I have external mounts on an Acura TL and a Mercedes C320. No trouble with car washes treaing them off or having them ripped off by vandals. The magnetic mounts work very well. I do recommend placing ont he roof rather than the trunk lid. Have also heard of them installed inside in the front or rear panels. The biggest problem that I have found is the installation of the FM modulator and the radio mount itself. The SkiFi is a large unit and there aren't many places to locate it. I have a Pioneer on one car and the SkiFi on the other. The Pioneer installation is much cleaner as it is a much smaller unit.

I put placed my giant jvc unit in my 850 just for one trip from LA to Phoenix. Since it was a temporary, I put the antenna right on the dash, under the windsheild and had zero difference in the recepetion as compared to the car I had it permanently installed in.

airbusdriver321 wrote:

Thanks guys for the info. Probably will try a temp installation in a few days.

Cheers, Randy

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