Poor Sirius reception

My guess is a defective unit, but it also sounds like a shorting wire from the Sirius receiver to the Prius unit. CDs would play okay because of the wiring being internal to the head unit. The Sirius receiver is a separate unit. Your professional installer may need to look at his work again.

 

I'm pretty sure it's not your reception. Digital audio is either there or it's not. It's not like an analog signal like FM or AM that can become distorted by interference. If the reception is bad enough that it can't reliably receive the digital signal, then you would have audio drop outs (periods of silence) not static. If you're hearing static or crackling, then it's something else.

I vote for a loose connection between the Prius radio and your Sirius radio.

 

I'm absolutely sure it isn't.

What he said.

 

I have a Sirius plug and play. I don't have a direct FM connection, I just put my radio to 88.1. What i've noticed is the reception isn't great. When I do this in my house, I can turn on a radio 20 feet away and get good reception.

With all the reports I'm seeing on Prius Chat, it makes me wonder if there is some interference inherent in the Prius. I don't get this on my Sienna.

Frankly, the static doesn't bother me. I'm no audiophile.

 

Yeah, but the original poster is not using an FM transmitter (neither a direct antenna connection or an over the air kind). He's connecting the toyota Sirius radio directly into the jack on the back of the headend.

I would bet that the audio connection between the Sirius radio and the Prius headend is an analog signal. Therefore a poor connection on that line could result in static, particularly if vibrations are affecting the poor connection, but even if that's not the case.

Alternatively, a poor connection on the power or ground lines, which run through that same cable, could provide a poor power supply to the Sirius radio and could also produce static or crackling.

 

Is there anyone with the Toyota Sirius unit that can post something good?

 

I've had zero issues wth static or a bad connection. Quality is about equal to a strong FM station, not as good as CD. I believe that's due to the compression and I am hearing what is being uplinked. My only issue is that I lose the signal more often than I expected, whenever driving near tall obstructions (trees, buildings). I thought the Sirius satellite were high enough in the sky that I'd have to be really close to the obstruction, or the obstruction would have to be really tall before I lost the signal.

I'm not sure whether the antenna being mounted on a sloping portion of the roof has anything to do with losing the signal. In any case, I would not want to drive a Prius w/o satellite radio of some kind. Most of the complaints appear to be from people with crappy installs.

 

Sirius? I have XM and no problems. Perhaps the BS detector is enabled.

 

Your problem may be caused by a nearby radio station that is either using 88.1 or one of the next frequencies on either side of it. Check your plug and play's manual, there should be an option to pick a different frequency that your plug and play will broadcast on. If you can find a 'quieter' frequency it should help your reception.

 

The first thing that jumps out at me is that you were recieving the channels on the way home without activating the unit first. Unless the shop that did the install walked you through the registration at their shop, it sounds like you got a used unit. I have read of people who bought a 'new' unit that looked used and it turned out it was used and the deactivation of the unit never was done or didn't go through. If this is the case, then it could be a defective unit that someone else turned in for a refund and either didn't tell them that it was defective or the dealer accidently put it back out for resale and didn't pull it.

Some other questions I would have if the unit turns out to be okay:

Does the 'crackling and static' sound more like a sizzling sound or definately a hard crackling sound? If it is more of a sizzle, then it could be antenna related. If the signal gets too low, on the edge of dropout, you get a high end sizzle sound that accompanies the audio. If this is the case I would ask two more things.

1) Where was the antenna installed?
2) You mentioned the antenna was 'ugly'. Is it the big square box antenna, or the small circular antenna, or some other type? I have read that the big sqare box antenna's blow and that the ciruclar type have twice the gain. I havn't seen the numbers, just repeating what I have read. It could be a combo of crummy antenna along with poor antenna placement.

 

My sirius sounds fine...I placed the antenna on the rear of the car to the right of the FM antenna...sounds like a defective unit

 

I vote for bad unit now, although it could still be a poor connection.

If it works fine for 15 minutes and then craps out, then my guess is that after 15 minutes the unit warms up to the point where a defective component fails or a bad solder joint fails.

If the unit truely is defective, I would think that Metro TPN would replace it.

 

Something that may help you with your arguement is that unless they walked you through the registration process with sirius and you bought a plan there with your credit card, you got a unit that had already been activated. That means someone else had already used your radio and returned it. When you get a new unit, you only have access to one channel and the unit says "call sirius to activate".

 

Yeah you make a good point. I bought mine from Metro as well, and tell them you had an installer put the unit in properly...and tell them you just want to exchange it. It shouldn't be a problem...at least hopefully...and if they tell you it's not for the Prius...then tell them why does it say on their website "2004-2006 Toyota Prius"

 

Have you talked to Eddie Bell at Metro? He's the one who created the installation instructions and their website says "Still have questions? Give us a call 877.885.2900 ask for Eddie."

I have no idea what standing Eddie Bell has in the organization, but personally I'd call the number and ask for Eddie.

As for the "It's not for the Prius so you can't return it" line... As other's have pointed out, their website says it's for the Prius.

And they probably get very few people who walk in to buy one of these. I imagine their business on the XM and Sirius radios is mostly over the internet. As such, the guy behind the desk may be clueless.