My Sirius Plug & Play solution

Santa brought me the Sportster plug and play I was hoping for and as I was combing the net I noticed that there are not a lot of options for us Prius owners when installing satellite radio. I looked into the kit that plugs in the back of the radio and sits under the passenger seat, but I wanted the option of having the radio in the house without having to pay the extra fee. Also the permanent install was pretty spendy in comparison to the other units. So I set out today to install my new plug and play. The recommendation on the install instructions was to attach it to the front windshield. Obviously not written with Prius owners in mind. The windshield is way to far forward with our extended dash. Also, who wants the wires hanging down the front of your car dash? I don't.

I'm not super mechanically inclined and wasn't looking forward to the install at all. Alot of that time was me trying to figure out how to install the unit where I wanted to, which was attached to the plastic directly below the radio and the little hidden cubby. When I was done, my wife and friends were pretty impressed with how it turned out so I joined this site to share in case anyone else is interested in this installation.

I'm going to try to embed pics here.....I played disc golf in the rain yesterday so my floormats are a disaster on the driver side. Apologies to all Prius purists out there.
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This is from the rear seat. You can see where it is situated below the radio and lower cubby.
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This is from the side. You can see more cord in this pic than there should be. I couldn't decide on whether or not to run the 12v power cord under the passanger side mat, or to store it in the map sized cubby under the middle arm console with the drink holders. I just pulled it off to the side for the pic.
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Here is a close up from the side. The nice thing about this location is the minimum of cord visable from the antenna and the power cord. The only antenna cord visable is the few inches from the bottom of the arm console to the unit. I'm going to try to decide on what to do with the power cord for sure tomorrow.

I thought I could do all this before bed but I am not going to make it. Tomorrow I will post up how I mounted the unit...it's really easy. I must say that I have read so much negative stuff on forums about reception problems and the like that I was really nervous about what it would sound like. I drove around for about an hour and a half in Portland, OR and never had a dropout or any of the static people have been posting about so I was very happy with the sportster.

 

I figured that heavy duty velcro can hold quite a bit of weight so I did some experimenting. I knew that I couldn't just velcro the inside of the cradle holder's cup because it wouldn't flatten out enough so I was looking for something small that the cup would stick to. In the end it was a plastic CD case. I am sure that a piece of plexi glass from a hardware store would be the same.

Using a box cutter, I cut out a 3" x 3" square which was a few milimeters larger than the suction cup. I bought some heavy duty velcro (and it is important that it is heavy duty) that was self adhesive. I cut a piece for one side of the plastic square and a piece for the console in the car. Secured the cup on the plastic and put the sportster and the cradle on it and held it with my hand to make sure the cup would hold. It did just fine. The suction actually bowed the plastic slightly, but this was good as the console in the car also bowed slightly so it made for a better fit.

Anyhow, put the vecro in the car, attached the plastic with the arm/cradle/radio and it held up just fine. It holds up to normal use, but if too much weight comes down on it, it will detach a bit. My dog who was helping me, got excited and brought her nose down pretty hard on the unit and it half detached but I caught it and reattached it. It seems fine for normal hand use, although it has just been two days. If it doesn't keep working well I will post up here.

Anyhow I routed the antenna through the back hatch, all the way around the driver side edge of the trunk. I flipped the passanger seat forward and ran the cord through the seat by the seatbelt and then was able to actually slip the cord under the plastic molding where it meets the carpet. I did this all the way up to the driver seat, then passed under the driver seat to the arm console and positioned the cord under the plastic for the console up to where it comes out to meet the radio. The antenna is COMPLETELY hidden from view except the two inches from the molding to under the driver seat, and the couple of inches from the bottom of the console to the radio. I'm still deciding what to do with the 12v cord.

Well that's it. Hope this opens up more options for people. I'll post if something goes wrong.

 

I'll take some pictures and post up on the wiring tonight. I was concerned about how to do it myself, but found a way to make it seamless with virtually no visable chord except where I noted. It turned out better than I thought. Even on top of the car from the antenna on back to where it goes in looks very pro. I should also amend that the velcro is not just 'heavy duty' but is actually labeled as 'industrial strength'. They had pictures of it holding up hammers and tools so I figured it would work and it seems to be working great so far. LOVE all the music stations with no commercials. Blows away FM.

 

A direct wire would definately solve the problem, but before you spend the $20 and the time to wire it in you might want to try to change the frequency your sportster is sending the signal on. On page 31 of the manual they tell you how to set it to whatever radio frequency you want to. You should be able to find one that isn't so busy in your area.

 

Okay, here are some pics of the antenna install. With people complaining about reception, I decided to put the antenna in front of the antenna that comes with the Prius. I thought it might have more exposure in this position. In addition it worked perfect with the cord router that came with the unit. I went with a center position install because I thought it would look better than having the antenna off to the side as some people recommend.
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Here is one further back. I was pleased with how well it looks. I was worried that the antenna and wire would clutter up the look of the roof or look out of place.
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I ran the chord to the driver side around the left hinge. The end of the antenna cord is too fat to fit through the crack of the back door in any position.
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This next part was the part I was most worried about. I have read posts on other sites where people talk about drilling small holes through various places including the rubber weatherstrips around windows (?!?!?). I was not willing to do any drilling on my car needless to say. I'm not big into cars so I didn't know that the rubber weatherstrip around the back hatch could be lifted up. After playing with it for a minute I discovered it could be gently lifted up and out of it's groove enough that I could get the end of the antenna cord though. The chord is super thin. I then started running it along the inside of the weatherstrip. I found that by using my thumbnail, I could lift the rubber enough to fit the chord under it so I just slid my thumbnail along the weatherstrip and followed with my other thumbnail which was guiding the antenna wire up under the strip. It went ver fast. You can't really see the wire in this next pic but it illustrates where the wire is.
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I ran it all the way down to the bottom of the back hatch where I ran it under the plastic guard at the bottom of the hatch. You can barely see the wire as it comes out of the weatherstrip and under the plastic.
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From there I pulled back the rear floormat and the door to the left cubby in the trunk and ran the wire along the edge all the way around towards the driver side rear passanger seat. There is a crack all the way around so the wire is completely invisible.
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Once I got up by the seat, I flipped the passanger seat forward and ran the wire through the space that is by where the seatbelt comes out. Again, you can't see the wire in this pic, but it shows where I routed it.
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This next part was what took the longest. I didn't just want the cord going under floormats because I have kids in my car fairly regularly and I figured that no matter how well it was covered with a floormat, eventually there would be a 'situation' where the wire was tugged with a foot or something else. So I ran it under the plastic molding that goes from the inside of the door down to the carpet. The problem is they made the car molding so dang form fitting that it was really hard to get it under the first section of molding. I ended up creating a thin 'hook' with a paper clip to slip under the molding and pull it slightly out and up. Then I used my fingernail again to try to slide it up and under. In some places I was able to position the tip of a finger under the molding and used the hook to push the wire up and under. I ran it up under the molding all the way to the molding by the drivers seat. That molding was much easier. When I was done it was completely invisible.
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From the side of the driver seat, I ran the wire under the seat. This is the only place the wire is visable from inside the car until it comes up to the sattelite unit.
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From there I just ran it under the seat and up to the center console where I ran it under the base of the console up to the edge where it comes out and plugs into the sattelite unit.
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And that wraps it up. Hope this helps some people. I'm loving the sattelite radio. I keep looking for excuses to drive somewhere...I can definately tell I need a home docking unit. Now if I could just figure out how I am going to rout the antenna wire into my house :blink: :huh: B)

 

Thank you for the thanks! It took a long time to post it, but if it helps some people save some time it was worth it. I combed the net looking for install ideas and with the unusual dash of the Prius, there really wasn't much info at all regarding installs except the one that wires into the display screen. If someone else had posted what I did, it would have cut my install time at least in half, so I hope that some people find this post useful and can save some time and hassle.

Regarding the positioning of the unit, it is easily within hands reach. You don't have to lean forward or down to push the buttons. It sits within inches of the second (forward) drink holder on the middle arm console. Regarding changing statins and the like, the Sportster stores thirty presets on 3 banks. It is easy to safely change stations either using the buttons on the bottom of the sportster, or to tell the truth I have been using the remote that comes with it quite a bit. The remote makes it easy and you don't have to look down at the unit. Now is it less safe regarding looking down than the regular radio? Probably a little bit, although a lot depends on how you use it. The sportster lists so much info and there are so many cool ways to find music that you could definately make it unsafe if you are not careful. My wife was in the passanger seat last night not using my presets, but going to the channel overview where they show what bands are currently playing on what station and she was choosing the bands she wanted to hear. If I were to do that while driving that would probably not be the safest move. In a way it is similiar to first adjusting to the MFD in the Prius as a new owner. I was watching the screen waaaaaay too much when I was first driving it as I was obsessed with how my gas pedal foot was affecting milage.

So to sum up, it's easy to reach, easy to change presets, with the remote it is easy to change presets or just surf through channels, and it is all fairly convienient. But you could make it unsafe by paying too much attention to the unit and not watching the road.

 

Thanks for the advice on the window placement. I will definately give it a shot, I have a plant window that extends out from the house right by my stereo so with any luck it will work there.

 

I looked at all of the portable and plug and play models. I ended up going with the sportster replay for a few reasons. First I wanted one that had a home docking unit as well and not just the boombox. Then there was the offer from Sirius on select models for a $50 rebate on select units which the sportster replay was one. The big one was that the sportster replay constantly stores around 45 minutes of audio so that if you need to pause what your listening to (or rewind) for whatever reason you can do that and pick up the program where it left off. It has more presets than the smaller units, a bigger screen that can display more info. Then radio shack had a 25$ back gift card which effectively meant the $150 unit was $75 after the rebates and gift card.

Anyhow it was the one I thought looked like the best value with a lot of options. I could see that sirius one as being convienent because from the looks of it, you could just slide it in the cubby under the radio, but it doesn't have as many features. Regarding the size of the sportster, it fits in your hand. I don't think it's too big for the car. You can see the pictures at the top of the thread. So anyhow, that was my reasoning behind my purchase. I put a minimum of 600 miles a week on my car so I use the radio a lot and was looking for specific features. Someone else might be happier with the smaller units you were mentioning. The important thing is that I am listening to way more music and enjoying it because I am not constantly having to change channels to avoid stupid commercials and even more stupid DJ's. And then you add in the comedy channels, old time radio (my Dad hooked me on those as a kid), good sports and everything else...well like I said...I'm looking for reasons to drive around! When I get that gift card I'll buy the home docking unit.

 

What 3M strips are you going to use? My wife was out last night driving around with my niece and while my niece was poking buttons, the radio half came down again like when my dog dropped on it. It has been fine for me, but the velcro might not be the best method in the end and maybe your idea is better. I know that every time you undo and reattach velcro it gets a little weaker so it has me thinking....

I'm leaving it for now but will be interested to see how yours works out.