Sirius Prius Receiver Location

I just got it installed last week. The antenna is installed on the dash on the passanger side and the unit itself is installed under the back seat. There is a small compartment on the corner...under that.

Mine sounds like shit though. I'm still trying to figure out what the problem is.

 

I picked up my Prius last Saturday and had the dealer install a "factory" Sirius kit in the Prius. Well, he took it to a local radio shop and had it put in. He swears it's a factory part. The antenna is located on the outside by the existing antenna and it's huge. Worse yet, it drops signals 70% of the time and talk radio shows sound very bad. Music is OK when it's actually receiving a signal.

As I had this done in So. Cal and I' in the Bay area, I'm trying to find a place to fix it.

 

I have an '06.
The guy installed the Sirius unit under the passenger seat, and the antenna on the inside of the rear hatch window.

Sounds like shit, too! Ugh.

He's going to install a new unit and/or antenna when he gets one (this Friday maybe?).

I'll keep y'all posted.

 

I did not buy the unit from him. I bought it from Metro Toyota. I had someone else install it.
It took the kid about 1.5 hours to do it. He said that he had luck with installing the antenna where he did.

I'm going back Friday and have them test another antenna located on the roof. From what I understand is that you either get a signal or your don't. It isn't like analog radio where a weak signal will sound worse than a strong signal.

The radio installer heard it and he says "I've heard that sound a thousand times" (not with Sirius, but with other stereo components) He said it sounded like interference from another source. Like the radio is interfearing or that the cable insn't shieled properly. It doesn't cut out like you would expect, it sounds almost like a rattle in the speakers. I do not get the sound with other sources.

I'll keep everyone updated. I have another thread that I started on the subject so check there.

If a lot of people are having the same problem maybe there was a defect in the cable or the unit. Where did everyone get theirs from? Mine is the factory install kit. It came with the cable and the Sirius unit.

 

I purchased and installed the kit from Jon, based on his video installation. The video recommends installing the antenna on the roof, a few inches away from the back (by the rear hatch), on the drivers side of the car. I installed mine in the center of the back part of the roof. Not sure why tehy installed the antenna on the dash, that is not what Jon recommends nor does Sirius, they all recommend the roof as the best position.

Jon's video also specifies where the receiver is moutned. It is on the drivers side of the car behind the side panel just behind the rear seat. It's basically just above the rear wheel well on the side of the car.

Ken

 

I've asked my dealer about factory sirius, to be told that it's not available for the Prius. Is it Prius (or some other car)-specific, or a general toyota thing? How does it interface for use (ie- hit the mode button 5 times to access or whatever)? and finally- how much does it cost?
thanks!

 

Bob Dylan and I had the same installer (I did mine first). Talk stations and music stations sound fantastic.

 

It wasn't specificly for the Prius. THe box said Camery or something like that. But that box was just a cable that connected the Sirius unit to the stereo. The connector in the back of the stereo must be a standard plug. It went right in no problem.

 

Does it work with the MFD? How do you operate it? I called the dealer and they said that there is a model for the Camry that is $199.... if it just plugs right in and I can have MFD function with that, it'd be fantastic.
Thanks for any more info

 

Yes it works right with the MFD. There is no ugly little box glued to the dash.
You get 3 screens of 6 preset channels.
Just hit the "mode" button on the steering wheel and it will cycle through AM, FM, SAT1, SAT2, etc....
The one thing I don't like about the interface is there is no easy way to get to a specific channel (at least that I've been able to figure out) You have to cycle through the "type" (rock, country, talk etc..) then you can only go forward through the channel list. Example to get to channel 11 you have to get to "Pop" channel type and hit the scan button 10 times, it moves you forward one channel at a time. You can't just type in channel 11. But with 12 preset channels...that covers almost every channel I want. What I do is say I want channel 10 and 11. I'll set a preset to 10 and just hit scan to go to 11 so I don't have to waste a preset on it.

I'm very happy with the interface on a whole though. I don't like the sound quality though.

 

Have you tried using the "tune/file" knob on the radio? If I understand the directions correctly... you should be able to twist that knob and select any station quickly.

/Jim

 

You mean use the tune knob to tune a station....geez never thought of that?!
Doh!!
Man them people at Toyota think of everything.

 

I went through that same thing trying to tune in FM stations.

By the way, there are 3 banks of 6 SAT presets, for a total of 18 presets, not 12. If Dave were to ever come out with his video interface, and you installed it, you would lose one set of SAT presets.

 

Glad to have helped
Sometimes the most obvious things slip us by.

I do have a quesiton on your display. I think you have an '06, and I was wondering if you have the 10 character limitation for displaying Title/Artist information. I think the full text would be 32 characters.

I have a slight preference for staying with Sirius because my subscription would be cheaper (that is what I use in my other car). However, if I go to XM... my wife will be delighted to have baseball stations.

Regarding audio quality.... satellite radio uses a propriatary variable bit rate... but the bit rate is quite low. Hence... you will not get the same high quality sound that is possible off of CD... and it will even be lower than most MP3 players. It should be better than FM radio, but unless they offer fewer stations... with more bits/station... then the quality will remain low. I understand that they lower the bit rate further for talk radio. All in all... I have learned to live with the sound quality of satellite radio OK.

One other question... what about drop-outs? On my other car, I get some drop outs when going under bridges etc, especially on wet days when the signal is attenuated. Also... the signal becones almost unusable when driving through mountain passes where I have limited view of the sky... especially in heavily wooded areas with lots of wet leaves and wet skies.

/Jim

 

Voice recognition works with Satellite too. Just say "satellite 1 , satellite 2 or satellite3" and you are good to go.

 

Wasn't I the one complaining the other day about kids that can't do math??? Yes 3 x 6 = 18. I have 18 presets not 12.

Would I lose one if I did that VAIS AIC-100i also? That is the ipod + video one right?

 

I guess I am wrong. They are really good at shortening the words. I only have 10 charicters on my Sirius. It looks like it could be longer, but...it doesn't display them. On the commercials where they display the phone number it gets truncated.

 

Now, that quote sent to the right people might get things changed!

It really is a suprise that the display is limited to 10 like that. I'm guessing that the Sat. radio option was a last minute addition to the radio design. Remember this radio must have been designed years ago, the fact that it supports Sat radio at all, not to mention both services, is really not bad!