GKrenn
Well-known member
Has anyone installed an XM radio in your Vette? If so, how did you mount the antenna? The standard antenna that comes with the car kit is magnetic and naturally won't work with fiberglass.
Xm Radio
- Thread starter GKrenn
- Start date
c4c5specialist
Technical Advisor
HI there,
On 4 that I have done, I use a Velcro attachment. However, the genuine VELCRO.
I have found that if I use anything but this, it will NOT work.
Usual mount for me is the deck lid, near the glass on convertible and hardtop. On coupe, I mount at the top of the glass, centered between the hinges.
Allthebest, c4c5
On 4 that I have done, I use a Velcro attachment. However, the genuine VELCRO.
I have found that if I use anything but this, it will NOT work.
Usual mount for me is the deck lid, near the glass on convertible and hardtop. On coupe, I mount at the top of the glass, centered between the hinges.
Allthebest, c4c5
Xm
From 'z06nut' on Z0Vette.com Forum
"I put little black silicone rubber pads (like the kind they put on the inside of a drawer or cabinet door to keep it from banging when it shuts. Got 'em at Radio Shack) on each corner of the underside of the antenna. They act as soft standoffs, and keep the underside surface of the antenna from touching the car body (I didn't want the antenna scuffing up the paint if it happened to get moved around). Inside the trunk lid, facing up, I have a big-ass magnet I took from an old Disk Drive (you can probably get a similarly powerful rare-earth magnet at Radio Shack, too). The magnet holds the magnetic antenna mount to the decklid just fine. The rubber feet keep the antenna from sliding around on and scratching up the paint.
At one time I actually had the antenna mounted on the center/bottom of the rear window. The rubber feet on the antenna let it follow the curve of the glass without rocking, and the magnet worked through the glass just as well as it does through the plastic body. It actually looked a lot better there, but the reception wasn't as good so I went back to the Deck Lid.
The antenna really wants to have a "ground plane", a conductive flat plate, beneath the antenna itself. Ground planes improve antenna reception. On a steel bodied car, the body panels serve this purpose. On a Corvette there is no steel = no ground plane. I considered putting a flat plate (aluminum foil would do just fine, thickness doesn't matter) under the deck lid (it doesn't have to touch the antenna, it just has to be reasonably close). Killed the idea because there was no way to make it look decent. Terk makes an antenna for trucks and boats that doesn't need a ground plane. It's huge, but I bought one anyway. Used it inside the car (plastic doesn't work as a ground plane because radio goes through it, so there's no reason the antenna actually needs to be on the outside of a Corvette). Unfortunately, my 02QS has metal flake paint, which does a good job of blocking the signal. The antenna inside worked, but not very well. I just gave up and got the smallest antenna I could. It works fine even without a ground plane. I have XM in my wife's Sierra truck, which is all steel, and it doesn't work very much better."
Derald
From 'z06nut' on Z0Vette.com Forum
"I put little black silicone rubber pads (like the kind they put on the inside of a drawer or cabinet door to keep it from banging when it shuts. Got 'em at Radio Shack) on each corner of the underside of the antenna. They act as soft standoffs, and keep the underside surface of the antenna from touching the car body (I didn't want the antenna scuffing up the paint if it happened to get moved around). Inside the trunk lid, facing up, I have a big-ass magnet I took from an old Disk Drive (you can probably get a similarly powerful rare-earth magnet at Radio Shack, too). The magnet holds the magnetic antenna mount to the decklid just fine. The rubber feet keep the antenna from sliding around on and scratching up the paint.
At one time I actually had the antenna mounted on the center/bottom of the rear window. The rubber feet on the antenna let it follow the curve of the glass without rocking, and the magnet worked through the glass just as well as it does through the plastic body. It actually looked a lot better there, but the reception wasn't as good so I went back to the Deck Lid.
The antenna really wants to have a "ground plane", a conductive flat plate, beneath the antenna itself. Ground planes improve antenna reception. On a steel bodied car, the body panels serve this purpose. On a Corvette there is no steel = no ground plane. I considered putting a flat plate (aluminum foil would do just fine, thickness doesn't matter) under the deck lid (it doesn't have to touch the antenna, it just has to be reasonably close). Killed the idea because there was no way to make it look decent. Terk makes an antenna for trucks and boats that doesn't need a ground plane. It's huge, but I bought one anyway. Used it inside the car (plastic doesn't work as a ground plane because radio goes through it, so there's no reason the antenna actually needs to be on the outside of a Corvette). Unfortunately, my 02QS has metal flake paint, which does a good job of blocking the signal. The antenna inside worked, but not very well. I just gave up and got the smallest antenna I could. It works fine even without a ground plane. I have XM in my wife's Sierra truck, which is all steel, and it doesn't work very much better."
Derald
C
Chad072
Guest
One of my friends had XM installed on her 99 Firebird and she had the antenna put inside her trunk. She gets great reception on the highway and along many back roads. But when she gets deep into the woods, or goes under a bridge, it cuts out for a few seconds. I've thought about getting it installed in my car, but shelling out $500 for a radio and installation kind of deturs me from that
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