Improving XM Satellite Radio Reception

PRMP945, the sattelite side of the Prius antenna is almost junk from factory. Bad reception is really common with it. The sttelite side of the antenna is the base portion of the actuall antenna on your Prius roof. Mine was really aweful where I would lose reception for minutes. I bought the replacement antenna and zero drop outs. I only loose reception under long concrete bridges..

 

Can I assume you're talking about when driving the same routes, etc.? This is my first sat radio, so I have nothing to compare my dropouts to. I assume they are pretty standard; buildings, trees, cliffs, tunnels, etc.

 

Pretty much. In situations where the old one would hold this one not so much. Not sure where the antenna is on the stock antenna (satellite) and if it's part of the shark fin. That could be part of it.

It isn't too bad but could be better if it's an easy fix it would be worth it to do.

 

If you have the non navigator radio the sattelite cable should be grey and its the only one with a square weird looking adapter connected to the rear of the ratio. All I did was splice it and solder it. I routed the cable through the door frame all the way back and out through the trunk. I placed the antenna right behind the stock antenna.

 

It is super easy to run the wire in this car. I will pull the radio this weekend and look. My guess is it's back there on NAV unit too.

 

Yes, basically in the middle of nowhere with no blockages to the sides of the car. That definitely shouldn't be happening. But even if there are some trees or buildings, reception should be better than it is I think. I get lots of dropouts when there is even moderate tree coverage on the sides of the road.

 

Do you know if it is possible to connect a new antenna to where the original antenna terminates on the roof? I'd rather not have to route the wire for the new antenna through the car and into the factory NAV/radio. Thanks for your help!

 

I'm not sure. I haven't seen anyone do this because more than likely it will require you to buy and service the antenna at a dealer which will cost a lot. Dealers will 100% rip you off. It took me about 1 hour to do the install. 2 hrs tops id say. I take it you have the Navigator radio right? If so I believe you would have to connect to the box underneath your driver side seat. If you have the regular JBL radio the connection would be at the back of the unit. Both installs are fairly easy.

 

It's super easy to route the antenna in a Prius. You won't even see it.

This weekend I will look at mine and see what it's like in back of the radio. If I can route a new antenna I will and show how.

 

Thanks for your replies, Boriqua and robertk.
My car has the nav package. It would be great to be able to do the install of the new antenna without cutting/splicing a proprietary cable, but rather by using adapters. I wonder if this is possible? Is the connector that goes into the nav unit or radio a proprietary connection?
robertk: if you do end up installing a new antenna, that would be great if you posted here on what you learned during the process.

 

I've done the antenna before just not to the back of this radio. It's easy - just need to see what it looks like back there. I'll work on it!

 

Just wanted to add another testimony to the others. I went through several dealers and other experts and spent hundreds of dollars replacing the factory antenna. Took me 90 minutes from start to finish to install the TERK antenna. Now, no drops at all. I cannot believe that I kept letting the Toyota people talk me into the notion that I was experiencing "normal" problems for satellite radio reception. Bite the bullet and install a third party antenna. BTW, I have a 2010 Prius. I live in southeast Georgia and there are no tower repeaters local to me. So, I am completely dependent on the signal coming directly from the satellite.

 

I know this is an old thread but I just purchased a 2011 prius four. I also had the same problem with poor xm radio signal. Drive under any tree and it would drop out. Unusable. I did some research and actually found a Toyota adapter for the factory receiver under the seat. It has the same end as the one from the factory antenna. You simply unplug the factory antenna and plug the adapter into the receiver. Plug the other end into the aftermarket antenna cable (TERK XMICRO2) then simply route the cable to the outside of car and attach the antenna to the top. The bottom is a magnet so just simply set it on top of the car and you are finished. And the best part is the problem is FIXED! NO MORE DROPOUTS! I found the adapter online at Tss-Radio and it is 49.95. Search for this item:
Vais Technologies Toyota Radio Satellite Antenna Adapter Cable FRA3M

 

Hey Prius_Boriqua, I have the same Prius and the same poor connectivity issue. Could you share a little more detail about which cable at the radio back was the antenna, which antenna you used and your choice of cable routing? Thanks in advance, Tim

 

Can I plug this into the adaptor that's under the headliner about six I chest away from the existing antenna? It's seems that this would save the time of rerouting the cable.

 

Can you explain exactly where this adapter under the headliner is? I have the VAIS adapter cable so I can tell you whether it will hook up at this junction or not.

 

I had good xm in my 2012 prius v for three years, then it started dropping. Replaced the antenna base and its integrated rf amp and all is good again, through trees and all. Incidently, the original part has been updated to a new part and number on mine. Smells like a reliability fix has taken place.

 

Do you have a part number or source for the antenna base? I've been searching around but can't seem to find the correct one.

Did you wire it to the plug under the headliner? If so, what adapter was needed?

Actually, I think the more important question for me is if it's the same base as the 2010... I should read more carefully before posting

 

The important thing is the cable length and number of connectors depending on your car and options (different connectors for satellite only, satellite with the cellular "mayday" system, or just FM radio). The other thing to appreciate is that the issue is not a bad connection, it's the active antenna amplifier in the antenna base. That part goes bad. I went to the dealer with my VIN and got the actual part number needed and then shopped online. The standard hatchback can be replaced by partially removal of the headliner; Prius v's like mine are more complicated. See the pdf I posted toward the end of this post.
Prius v Antenna XM Satellite Fading | PriusChat

 

I don't think it's a bad connection, I'm looking to replace the antenna base (which contains the XM antenna amp) I called my dealer who said they could order the part, but they wanted over $250 for it and he wouldn't tell me the part number. I was thinking of just getting an aftermarket Terk and wiring it in, but thought it'd be nicer to just use a full replacement. If I went the Terk route, I'd like to wire it up as close to the original base as possible. It seems like a waste to pay $60 for the FRA3M type adapter and still need to manually splice the wires.