Static on my Sirius radio

I'm having the same problem...
Where are you located?
Orange County, CA here.

I didn't really understand your post though.
Is the static there now?
Did the re-install a cable and antenna and now the static is gone?

Let me know.

On my unit, it sounds as if the Sirius unit is blasting out too much power (or something) to the speakers....

Write back.
Let's figure this out!

 

There is no reason to install the antenna on the dash unless you requested that. That alone is the sign of a poor job by the installer. I've never heard static on my Sirius radios, but have on XM so I guess it might be a "weak" signal. I'm thinking it's probably a bad install perhaps a loose cable or a kinked cable? Ask them to redo the installation and place the antenna on the roof where it belongs.

 

Hi guys,
Here is how mine went.

I have a 2006 Prius, package 8 (?) with JBL sound sytem.
The guy came to my house and installed Sirius.
The boxes that the unit came in said "Toyota" and "Sirius."
The installer is an installer for Toyota.
The boxes have mailing labels which state that they were mailed to the guy's Toyota dealership.
So, my point is, I believe the unit installed in my car was OEM Toyota Sirius equipment.

I just had it installed on Friday. Give me the week to listen some more and describe it better.
But as of right now, Sirius as a whole sounds like Internet radio. Very unimpressed. I went to a friend's hous and listened to his home Sirius system, and it too sounded the same--warbly at times, like low bandwidth internet radio.

As far as the static goes, on mine, it's weird--it's only "really" noticable on the talk or news stations. BBC World News. CNN News. etc. I think the music channels are ok. However, this static on the news channels was NOT on my friend's home system when listening to the same channels.

Like I said, give me a few days to drive around, and I will report back.

By the way, he did install the unit under the amp (under the passenger seat). It just slides underneath it. Not bolted down or anything, just tightly fits there.

He also installed the "big" antenna, on the inside if the rear window. Yes, I said "inside." I wasn't too happy with this idea, but I figured it was bigger so therefore would get a better signal (?), and I also liked the idea of not having a wire going out to the roof. I'll take a pic or two and post 'em later.

Peace out for now!

 

Actually, the smaller antennas do work better. They are a new and improved design. Yes, the sound quality either XM or Sirius isn't the best. The talk channels are really bad sometimes. The music channel tend to be much better though. Satellite radio can sometimes sound like a lowbit rate MP3 and sometimes better. It all depends on the particular channel you are listening to as they do vary the bandwidth.

In anycase no one should be getting "static" at least on a regular basis. My XM2GO radio sometime has a little "static" when it loses the signal, but I don't think that is "real static" just the way the radio is trying to fill in the missing data. I've never heard a Sirius radio do this. As was stated above the signal is digital so its all or nothing.

Anyway keep us posted! Oh, a great place for Sirius specific information is Sirius Backstage

 

What you are describing sounds like distortion from clipping. Meaning the signal from the Sirius is too strong (too much voltage) for the input circuitry on the head unit to handle. Or else the unit is just defective.

Why that would occur I have no idea.

If you are not getting signal cutouts then I think you can be confident the problem is not your antenna.

 

One wild guess is that the installer somehow put the wrong sirius unit in your car... perhaps they put one in that was designed for a different vehicle that requires a stronger signal.

 

Alpha Team,

I can't write much now (I will write more tonight), but a quick question for you:

Do you have an iPod?
Do you have the AUX jack in the console?
Is there anything connected to it?

Let me know...

 

Damn...

I thought I was on to something.

I'll write more tonight....

 

Okay, here's where my Sirius install has lead me.
To recap:

I have a 2006 Prius, package 8 (?) with JBL sound sytem and AUX input.
I had Sirius installed last week.
The guy came to my house and installed Sirius.
He works for a Toyota dealership, and has been for 17 years.
The Sirius installed in my car was all OEM equipment.
The boxes that the unit came in said "Toyota" and "Sirius."
They also said something like "Cam/Sol/TC". More on this later.

Sirius as a whole sounds like Internet radio. Very unimpressed. I went to a friend's house and listened to his home Sirius system, and it too sounded the same--warbly at times, like low bandwidth internet radio.

As far as the static goes, on mine, it's weird--it's only "really" noticable on the talk or news stations--BBC World News. CNN News. etc. It is on all the channels, though. However, this "static" on the news channels was NOT on my friend's home system when listening to the same channels.

By the way, he did install the unit under the amp (under the passenger seat). It just slides underneath it. Not bolted down or anything, just tightly fits there.

He also installed the "big" antenna, on the inside if the rear window. Yes, I said "inside." I wasn't too happy with this idea, but I figured it was bigger so therefore would get a better signal (?), and I also liked the idea of not having a wire going out to the roof.

I also had my windows tinted BEFORE I installed Sirius. The tint in non-metallic. According to Sirius, the window tint place, and the installer, the window tint is NOT an issue.

The "static" sound is really distortion. It sounds to me as if the Sirius box that was installed is putting out too "hot" of a signal. It's overloading the speaker. It sounds like the Sirius rceiver need to be adjusted, however, there is no adjustments.

So, today I went back to the installer.

We changed the antenna--no luck.
We put an antenna on the roof, outside--no luck.
We used the "small" antenna, on the roof, on the dashboard, on the rear window--no luck.

We changed the Sirius receiver--no luck.
We changed the cable from the Sirius receiver to the amp--no luck.
We wired it directly from the Sirius receiver to the head unit in the dashboard--no luck.

We called Sirius and had them "refresh" my signal--no luck.

We were stumped.
I had him uninstall everything, and he gave me a full refund ($640).
Sirius was free for the first three months, so I didn't pay for anything.

This weekend I am going to get my friend's plug-and-play unit and try that in my car.
I think the distortion will be gone.

I think the problem is either:

(1), the Sirius receiver he installed was NOT for the Prius. Does anyone know if there is a OEM Sirius unit designed just for the Prius? If so, I'm sure that unit would have lower output. My Toyota guy said no, that they were all teh same Toyota Sirius receiver, but they came with different lengthsof cable for the different models (Camry, Solara, Scion TC).

(2), or maybe that new AUX input. The entire time I was dealing with this, I did have an iPod plugged in the AUX input. Most of the times it was off, but it was plugged in. And, the iPod sounds fine in the AUX input (as does the FM, AM and CD).

I'll report back again and let y'all know if the plug and play has the distortion on it.

The programming on Sirius is fantastic, plus they have Howard Stern (which I wanted to hear), but the distorted signal was driving me insane.
Plus, after listening to my friend's home Sirius unit, the sound quality is shit.
It is perhaps Satellite Radio's dirty little secret!
In my opinion, Sirius satellite radio sounds like weak internet radio, at best.

I am going to miss Sirius. I was looking forward to it.
Perhaps I'll get it again in a year or so when the quality picks up.

Anyway, there's my report. Sorry I couldn't figure out the Sirius distorted problem.
Anyone else here have a 2006 Prius with OEM Sirius in it?
If so, I'm wondering if your receiver is some sort of Sirius Prius unit?


Hope this helps some.

 

I've currently got a little plug-n-play Sirius unit.... about as cheap as they come. With a wired FM modulator (good for the sirius unit only- no ipod input here... but hey, it was only $20). The newer, smaller antenna. I was looking for the MFD integration and steering wheel controls of the factory unit, but these posts are definitely making me rethink. (Plus, I was wrong about the $199 price- it's actually $299 for parts from the dealer- and I can get the new SoundLNQ for that). The only time I have a real complaint about Sirius is on the talk channels- there are definitely some times I get a little speaker chatter there, but after several months, I'm pretty much used to it. Sirius NEVER sounds as good as a CD or the ipod, but it's a bit better than standard FM stations. While I LOVE good sound, I've compromised in view of the content I love (on Sirius). If you're looking for CD-quality sound from the satellite, I'm not sure it's available... anyone getting those kind of results?

 

I've got the Starmate Replay PnP now. (I had the S50, but decided to give up after two bad car docks and too many firmware bugs.) The Starmate FM signal sounds awful. The S50 sounded very good. I now have a cheap cassette adapter for the Starmate, and it has improved the sound. (I'm waiting for the VAIS A/V controllers.)

In my old car, a '93 Probe, I had a Pioneer tuner/HU. The sound quality on music channels was awesome... just a step under CD quality. I wish I could move that system to my Prius and still have full functionality with steering wheel and MFD controls. But I'm going off on a tangent.....

It seems to me there must be a problem within the integrated unit for you to get that kind of distortion. I know others on this forum have used the Factory Interactive SiriusPrius in their 2004/2005's, and the only complaint seems to be the 10 character limit of artist/title info. Have you found any kind of tech support number on the box or in the manual? Or can you find a manufacturer's name and look them up on the web?