XM Antenna Update

When I bought my Prius last December I had them do an XM radio factory
install. The XM radio is integrated with the other audio components
which is nice but doesn’t have the features of my other XM radio
(currently living in Mrs. Salad Is Slaughter’s car but can be moved in
to the house if I need it.) I was a little surprised to see that the
factory installation of the XM antenna had it mounted on the car’s
dashboard but I figured what the heck, they should know what they were
doing.

I drove the Prius to work and discovered signal dropouts that didn’t
exist with my previous car (a Pathfinder with the XM antenna mounted on
the roof) and during my 5000 mile service last April I asked the Capitol
Toyota maintenance guy to move the antenna to the proper place on the
roof. When I picked up my car I was told that the antenna lead was too
short to move the antenna to the roof but they did move it to a slightly
different place on the dashboard.

I continued to drive my car and found that some signal dropouts went
away but others got worse. Some investigation on my part seemed to
point to XM signal loss when the car was pointing just east of south.
Since the XM satellite is in the southern sky I used my analytical
powers and determined that the body of the car was blocking the signal.
Since my commute for the most part is North/South my XM was unlistenable
for about 5 minutes of my 30 or so minute commute. It’s something I
could live with but didn’t feel I should have to.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Circuit City (they did a good job on my
old Pathfinder and Mrs. SisS’s car) and asked them if they could hook up
a replacement antenna to the factory installed XM radio. They thought
about it for a while and decided no, because they didn’t know enough
about the Toyota radio and they weren’t sure if the replacement antenna
in stock had the same connector as the Toyota-supplied antenna.

Last Thursday I sent an email to Capitol Toyota (through their web site)
with the above details and asked them if they could install a
replacement antenna that I bought, and put it on the car’s roof where it
belongs. I got a call on Friday while I was taking Mrs. SisS’s car to
get a smog check. The manager was very nice and said that his antenna
is on the dashboard and never had a reception problem. I told him about
my signal loss, specifically on Highway 85 going south and he replied
that parts of Highway 85 are an XM dead zone. But he agreed to have my
new antenna installed. Just bring the car in on Sunday because his XM
installer works every other weekend.

I bought the antenna and arrived Sunday morning at Capitol Toyota. As
luck would have it, the XM installer was there and I explained what I
wanted. He asked why I had bothered to buy a new antenna because the XM
radio is under the Prius back seat. All he had to do was take it off
the dashboard and reroute it to the roof. Maybe an hour’s work because
he had to pull off a couple of panels. I was floored because just 4 or
5 months ago I was told that the job was impossible.

My XM antenna is now on my Prius’ roof. The results:
- I used to have severe signal loss while driving past some new
construction. I had assumed that this loss was due to the new,
multistory buildings going up. I was wrong. The signal is now solid as
a rock.
- The areas on Highway 85 where I had no signal at all is now perfect -
no loss of signal at all. I’ll probably drop a note to the Capitol
Toyota manager telling him that he was mistaken about a Highway 85 dead
zone and suggest he move his XM antenna.
- An area on Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale that used to be problematic
now has one brief loss of signal due to tall buildings blocking the
signal.

The bottom line is that if someone tells you that installing an XM
antenna on the dashboard is fine, call bullshit on them. I went from
having loss of signal to rock solid reception just by moving it to the
roof. If you’re told that the factory supplied antenna lead for the
Prius isn’t long enough, call bullshit again. The XM radio is under the
back seat in the Prius and it is easy to route the antenna lead through
the hatchback and on to the roof.

I’m glad I persisted in this because my XM experience is now much
better. I’m kind of pissed that I was told months ago that the job was
impossible.