Yup, the micro antenae will fit and that's the way we've run the wire. Not going to do the searching for you, but there's an excellent thread on the process somewhere on the site. Reception is NOT as good w/ the antenna under there. But, it's adequate for 90% of listening and for the improved appearanced is worth it IMO.
Would a Sirius satellite antenna a) fit underneath the sharkfin antenna sold through the shop here, and B) would it work just as well? I'm looking to get sirius installed in the next couple days, and I want them to position the antenna in a spot where it COULD go under the shark fin antenna if I ended up getting that. Also, has anyone run the wire to the antenna up through the hole in the roof where the FM antenna goes? Does that work without any problems?
I too would appreciate help on how to install the Sirius antenna under the Shark Fin. I have searched the site using a variety of terms, including "Sirius", "Shark", and "Antenna" and have not found any instructions. I did find instructions on installing the Shark Fin, but that's not what I'm looking for. Does anyone know where to find this information or, alternatively, would someone who's done this installation be willing to post an explanation of how they did it? Thanks!!
I, like Evan, thought I had seen a thread on installation of a sat micro antenna under a sharkfin. I found the link on a member's private web page: http://home.comcast.net/~moverstr/Sirius_Starmate_Installation.pdf I hope this helps.
Thanks, Bill! I really appreciate the help. However, after tonight, I'm not sure that I'm going to try any more mods myself. I've never worked on a car before (that was always the man's job, don't you know), but thought I'd give it a try. How hard can it be, right? Well, I just installed the 20" wiper arm/blade from Sigma, and it won't work. I read everything I could find on PC, and it sounded pretty straight-forward--except for getting the old arm off, but I managed that. I put on the new arm, and it won't wipe. It's like it's stuck or something. I can hear the motor running and see the blade trying to move, but it can't. When I put the old arm back on, it works fine. Ughh. I wish more PCers lived around here so I could get some lessons on how to do this stuff.
NOVA-Prius, I'll be glad to help you with the Shark fin Sirius installation. I'm the author of the user guide that was previously linked to. If you can make it down to the Richmond area, it would be pretty easy. I've got a newborn, so my travel is fairly limited at the moment. If you want to try the install yourself, rest assured that it looks a lot more difficult than it actually is.
Skwyre7, Two quick questions about the OEM antenna base: Did you happen to notice how long the wires are that come out of the base? A very similar base with built in AM amp used by VW awhile back had 6-8 inch leads with connnectors that then plugged into wires which led to the radio. Is that true for the Prius base unit as well?
I don't remember exactly how much play I had in the wires. 6-8 inches seems right. All I know is that there was enough slack in the wires to pull the base off the roof enough to get it out of the way.
fyi, i have been installing sirius this weekend and getting that wire to go through the antenna base has been the biggest pita of the whole job. i finally got everything done, but then sirius did not work as the wire was pinched. in my opinion, it is necessary to notch out the sheet metal at the rear of the mounting point so that the sirius wire does not need to bend at such an extreme angle and get pinched. I used my dremel tool to do this then covered it with touchup paint. a total pita, but it will be nice to have sirius and the shark fin should look nice.
peakay, I'm with you on this! I did the same install last weekend and like to never thought I would get it done. I pinched the Sirius wire pretty good to, but lucked out, as it still works. I ended up cutting out the plastic from the center of the antenna nut and threading the Sirius wire thru the nut instead of using the guide for the whip antenna wire. It seemed to give everything a bit more room. But, for the life of me I couldn't thread the nut back on. The antenna pushed up just enough to not let me catch the threads, and I had nobody that could help. That is, until I found some painters tape to hold it down topside and finally it threaded. I put a tiny amount of black sealant around where the Sirius antenna comes out from the base of whip. Hopefully, it will keep any water out, as the shark fin won't be in for a few weeks. But, it should look great when finished!
Dale, this sounds all too familiar. I used my dremel to cut out the roof slightly and augered out the plastic piece on the nut but then had a cursing hell of a time getting that nut back on! I had wrapped the sirius wire in electrical tape as it worked once i straightened it out, but then it was too thick to allow the nut to go back on. I finally pulled all the tape back off and put a thinner wrap on it and finally got it back on. i must have fought with it for at least 2 hours and came really close to damaging the headliner. totally frustrating as i expected the antenna to be the easiest part of the job! My back is still sore today form messing with it for so long... I also had to rip nearly the entire dash out to get the previous owner's shoddy xm add-on installation, but that 3x easier than the stupid antenna! I sure hope the shark fin looks good and doesn't cut out the sirius reception. if i have problems, I could easily see myself getting a sledgehammer out and beating the crap out of the whole mess....
