Sirius Sattalite radio

[Fred Voorhees]

I have been holding off on getting a Sirius sattalite radio deal since I want to also add a CD player to my truck. I wanted to see if I could find a unit that handled both applications. Does anyone know of such a thing. I took a quick look at a Best Buy and also asked one of the salesman there and he didn't offer much promise on such a thing.

I was told that you can buy some kind of Sirius piece of equipment that you hook up "in-line" to your radio or whatever in your car and this piece of equipment sits on your dashboard and you tune your cars radio to a certain station and that is where your Sirius equipment takes over. I don't know if I want to go in that direction, but it may be an option. I would really rather had an actual Sirius radio/cd player that I can mount in my dash. Does anyone have any real "poop" on this subject? Thanks ahead of time.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Fred,

I have Sirius and like it very much although, like all things, it gets a little tedious at times. I think there are quite a few things out there that might suit your needs. Try the Crutchfield site (www.crutchfield.com).

I hope this helps.

Jack

[JayStPeter]

Most of the aftermarket mfrs of car stereo equipment offer head units that have satellite radio capability. Most are optional boxes that you mount somewhere out of sight that are controlled by the head unit itself. Alpine, Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood all support one or both of XM/Sirius.
If you choose to get one of the portable receivers so you can bring it into the house/shop also, most of the newer head units support some form of aux input. Most of the new portable satellite units also have a small FM transmitter to make hookup wireless. But, you also get the associated lack of fidelity along with it. You could get the satellite into your car now that way and wire it in nicer when you upgrade your in-dash unit.

Jay

[Jim Young]

I think the salesman you talked to must have been from the refrigerator department. What you are looking for is a head unit that is Sirius ready, most will play CD's and some eve MP3's. Even if you get a Sirius ready unit you will need a modulator and antennea(sp?). I put my modulator under the pass seat.
http://www.fordf150.net/photopost/data/3067/5567tunerinstalled.JPG
This setup allows you to tune through the radio. No additional devices required.

You can also install a Sirius tuner seperately and still use your existing radio. You will still need to get an antannea. In this case you need to install the tuner somewhere you can see it. This unit will be what you tune to get the different stations.

We have one of each, one Sitius ready radio and one tuner. I feel that the Sirius ready radio is the better way to go since the dead spots are alot fewer. By dead spots I mean the times when your reception is lost.

Hope that helps

[Jim Young]

Wow Jay, we responded the same info at the same time.

[Fred Voorhees]

Thanks guys, I will have to start investigating soon. Have had it on the back burner and will be needing it sooner than later now.

[JayStPeter]

Wow Jay, we responded the same info at the same time.

Looks like we have the same truck in the same color also :)

Jay

[Jim Young]

Here is a shot of the antannae, it's hardly noticable

http://www.fordf150.net/photopost/data/3067/5567antennaback.JPG