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Got XM in, not as clear as a CD, normal?

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Old 09-20-2005, 09:13 PM
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Originally Posted by badhoopty
heres a pic with the hood closed, (its a ws6) you can see that it really isnt obstructed at all by the hood.

if i would get better reception by re-locating it inside the rear spoiler i might consider it although it would be a pretty big pain in the ***.
That spot in the cowl has a wire mesh under the slots.
That wire mesh is blocking some signal.
Someone on here noted an improvement in signal by moving the antenna to a different spot. The best hidden spot I have found is in the spoiler (since its all plastic, if there is any metal in there, let me know). Its not a pain in the ***. Its quite easy actually. Check out my post above.
Old 09-21-2005, 10:26 PM
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I'm curious how the inside the spoiler is that great. My XM radio on my truck states that the antenna should be mounted on metal at least 2' x 2' square area for best reception. Are the Sirius antennas not magnetic mount? I want to put XM in the Camaro in the spring and am wondering where to mount the antenna. Does anyone make a through-glass antenna? I thought I read about one somewhere but haven't seen it again but I haven't searched that hard either.
Old 09-21-2005, 10:34 PM
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the only metal left on our cars are the rear quarter panels, and the stock Z28/V6 hood.

no one really wants it on the hood, and the quarter panels are two low/off angle. so your limited to place it on fiberglass, at that point look at where you can hide it.
Old 09-21-2005, 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by GETGONE
I'm curious how the inside the spoiler is that great. My XM radio on my truck states that the antenna should be mounted on metal at least 2' x 2' square area for best reception. Are the Sirius antennas not magnetic mount? I want to put XM in the Camaro in the spring and am wondering where to mount the antenna. Does anyone make a through-glass antenna? I thought I read about one somewhere but haven't seen it again but I haven't searched that hard either.
I have XM and my Terk Antenna is magnetic-mount.
Terk used to make a through-glass antenna.
I dont know if they still do or if anyone sells it.
Old 09-21-2005, 11:09 PM
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my sirius antenna is magnetic, but thats nothing a little velcro can't fix. through glass would be nice, but i ain't spending any more money on the damn stereo, all this extra weight needs more power now
Old 09-22-2005, 07:00 AM
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The only reason satellite radio antennas need a metal surface is for the magnetic mount to stick - it has nothing to do with reception. Since they are only receiving antennas they don't need a metal ground plane like a transmitting antenna does (CB, short wave, etc.). There's no reason you can't use velcro or two-sided tape to mount the antenna someplace where there is no metal. I have mine mounted with two-sided tape on the trim bar between the t-tops and it works well.
Old 10-03-2005, 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
The only reason satellite radio antennas need a metal surface is for the magnetic mount to stick - it has nothing to do with reception. Since they are only receiving antennas they don't need a metal ground plane like a transmitting antenna does (CB, short wave, etc.). There's no reason you can't use velcro or two-sided tape to mount the antenna someplace where there is no metal. I have mine mounted with two-sided tape on the trim bar between the t-tops and it works well.

Um, that's not entirely true. Mounting the antenna to a metal surface, gives it a ground plane which helps reflect more of the microwave signal back toward the antenna. While this affect is small, it could help in areas where the received signal is marginal at best.
Old 10-04-2005, 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by HiTechGent
Um, that's not entirely true. Mounting the antenna to a metal surface, gives it a ground plane which helps reflect more of the microwave signal back toward the antenna. While this affect is small, it could help in areas where the received signal is marginal at best.
Sorry, no. Ground planes are essentially meaningless for passive (receiving) antennas. They are only important for active (transmitting) attennas such as HAM or CB. A ground plane reflects radiated power not received signals.
Old 10-04-2005, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Sorry, no. Ground planes are essentially meaningless for passive (receiving) antennas. They are only important for active (transmitting) attennas such as HAM or CB. A ground plane reflects radiated power not received signals.
There is no difference between transmitted or recieved signals except for the power level. RF is RF. While a ground plane is essential for an effective transmitter, it can help on the receiver end also. Like I said the effect is minimal, but there none the less.
Old 10-04-2005, 01:14 PM
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Back to what matters. Anyone have any problems with putting it under the spoiler?
Old 10-04-2005, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by adillhoff
Back to what matters. Anyone have any problems with putting it under the spoiler?
Mine is in my wing and reception is fine:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachmen...chmentid=13633
(Reception there is better than it was when the antenna was attached to the child-seat anchor point.)
Old 10-05-2005, 08:38 AM
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i'm suprised you arent pickin up noise from your PCM, i had XM in my 94 camaro and tried mounting the antenna near that spot and reception wasnt very good.
Old 10-05-2005, 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Martingale
Hi all. I just got XM in my car. It's nice but it's not as clean and clear as a CD. I know it's a satellite and all but I thought it was digital quality which I thought would have been really close to a CD. I can tell a clear difference in sound quality? Is this the case with XM? TIA
xm is a uses compression much like an mp3. It won't sound as good as a cd, but it will beat the hell out of fm.
Old 10-05-2005, 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by HiTechGent
There is no difference between transmitted or recieved signals except for the power level. RF is RF. While a ground plane is essential for an effective transmitter, it can help on the receiver end also. Like I said the effect is minimal, but there none the less.
In this case it should make no difference. I have done plenty of xm antennas mounted in the trunks of vettes and on the windshields of 911's. I have never had anybody complain of dropping the sat signal. I also have an antenna on my display unit inside the building and it works through our roof. I wanted to see if having a ground plain made a difference so I bought a 100.00 home xm antenna. The better antenna gets the same signal level as a basic car antenna with no ground plane.
Old 10-09-2005, 05:05 PM
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Originally Posted by badhoopty
i was kinda dissapointed when i first heard sirius in my car in regards to sound quality. i think some of it depends on the way that maybe certain songs are encoded? as sometimes i find the quality pretty good and other times it sounds like poopoo.

i mounted my antenna under the plastic windshield cowl. werks pretty good (but then again i'm in downtown chicago) and its mucho stealthy.

Looks like I showed up a little too late to the party. Oh well. I originally mounted my XM antenna to the same exact place, but found the signal to be listenable, but not that great.



I thought the metal mesh inside the slots might be causing a "Faraday Cage" effect to the signal, so I moved the antenna as far as I could to the outside of the car, under the black plastic cowl. The signal quality is SO much better now. I saw this thread, and figured i'd throw my 2 cents in for anyone else reading this and contemplating a location for their antenna.
Old 10-10-2005, 06:50 PM
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THANKS SNOOTCH!!

you saying you kept it in the same area (the cowl) but moved it up and out of the way of the mesh section? its been awhile since i had the cowl off, but i seem to recall in some spots it went quite a ways up the glass.

i really have nothing to compare my reception to, in the city dropouts are non-existent, but on cross country drives there are times where it will drop, come back, drop, etc or just flat out dissapear for a few minutes.
Old 10-11-2005, 04:33 AM
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Originally Posted by badhoopty
THANKS SNOOTCH!!

you saying you kept it in the same area (the cowl) but moved it up and out of the way of the mesh section? its been awhile since i had the cowl off, but i seem to recall in some spots it went quite a ways up the glass.

i really have nothing to compare my reception to, in the city dropouts are non-existent, but on cross country drives there are times where it will drop, come back, drop, etc or just flat out dissapear for a few minutes.
Yes, all I did was move it over like 6", and it made a world of difference. I knew the plastic wasn't blocking the signal, and there is a wide enough look-angle to the sky there between the glass and the hood, it's just eliminating any RF blocking material from around the antenna. Originally when I put the antenna in there, I thought the screen material was made from plastic, like mosquito porch screening. Then found out it was metal, and it just made sense what was causing the problems. Glad I could be of help.
Old 10-11-2005, 12:59 PM
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thanks again, i'm pretty stoked to move it and see how well my reception improves.




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