I generally have a problem with things being left out in the open, especially where there is space to hide such items. Case in point: my TomTom GO and Sirius satellite antennas. While they are not overly obtrusive, I still wasn't happy about seeing them on my roof. I originally had them both stuck to the roof of my E just ahead of the factory AM/FM antenna and it was OK (a little like hiding something in plain sight). I remember reading somewhere about hiding them under the E's roof cladding, but upon further investigation, I found the roof's sheet metal was angled under the cladding...upwards of a 20° deviation from horizontal...unacceptable for satellite reception in my opinion.
Solution: Fabricate a wedge shaped platform for the antennas to attach to and then cover them with the cladding. I started with a 99 cent piece of styrofoam from the local crafts store, a piece of sheet metal, some sandpaper and duct tape. I started by rough cutting the foam into a wedge with a hacksaw, then duct taped a piece of sandpaper to the roof where the wedge would sit. I then sanded the foam to match the contour of the roof, siliconed a piece of sheet metal to the foam, and then siliconed the whole thing to the E's roof. The antennas are magnetic, so they stick to the sheet metal, then you just reinstall the cladding. Presto! hidden satellite antennas.
The roof cladding is removed by opening the tailgate and removing one bolt in the upper right corner, then removing the rear roof rack crossbar cover and removing one bolt there, then slide the cladding towards the back.
Yeah...styrofoam, sheet metal and silicone sound real cheesy...but who's going to see it? I didn't want to make any mechanical connection to the body in order to prevent rust...hence the use of silicone RTV adhesive.
I put the antennas where I did because they were already there and didn't want to move them. The antennas can pretty much be put anywhere you choose under the cladding.
So far no...and I checked it with my TomTom GO since it has a menu where you can see a chart that depicts how many satellites it is tracking and how strong the signal of each is. I'll be sure to add to this should I have any reception issues.
James, that looks great. So it was sliding it to the rear, not pulling it up like you were doing yesterday? Does it slide back on just as easily?
Did you use regular old silicone? Are you going to put down a bead on the 4 edges to keep water/leaves from settling beneath the foam to prevent mold/mildew and lessen the foam breaking down?
Tell me the name of the foam I'll be heading to Michail's tomorrow before I install my Starmate Replay. Need to make sure I have a small piece of sheetmetal in the garage too. lol What size sheetmetal do I need, so I can cut it tonight and prime and paint it tonight. lol
The foam I got was a white 4X4X1.5 inch block from Michaels...it was in the aisle with the green floral display type foam. (sorry I haven't got a name for it, but it looks like a Klondike Bar without the chocolate coating). I'll most likely add a bead of silicone to the edges like you said, although it really is more dusty under the cladding than full of leaves, although there were leaves accumulated between the cladding lower edge and the rear side window. The sheet metal was roughly 4 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, roughly 18 gauge or so. Yes, I used plain old 100% silicone (sometimes called RTV) to bond the parts together and to the body.
Yeah, pulling up on the cladding was a bad idea It turns out that you just slide it back about an inch or so and the clips stay in the roof and slide out of their slots in the cladding. Meh, live and learn.
Okay, so I went out to run some errands and while doing so, paid attention to the reception on my Sirius receiver. Since I live in a heavily tree-lined town, I get the occasional split second drop out in service (more so in the morning when everything in the E is cold) and I didn't experience one disruption tonight.
So far so good with the antenna being hidden under the roof cladding.:grin:
Not likely since they are on the same plane as they were when stuck to the roof ahead of the stock antenna...so nothing should have changed. Just as outpost4 said, the plastic should be invisible to the satellites (thank you for the info!). It seems I get more drop outs in the morning...maybe a cold Sirius receiver is just cranky? Even my TTG works funky in the cold.
But I thought you said that the placement where they were in front of the AM/FM antenae was angled outward slightly... didn't you put this more level? Could have improved it slightly...
But I thought you said that the placement where they were in front of the AM/FM antenae was angled outward slightly... didn't you put this more level? Could have improved it slightly...
They were actually real close to level on the roof, and I checked them with an angle finder...Hmmmm, got me mystified. I'm just glad it works as well as it looks.
Very nice, I will be doing this soon but I think will silicone the antenna to the styrofoam rather than using sheet metal which could rust over time...
Very nice, I will be doing this soon but I think will silicone the antenna to the styrofoam rather than using sheet metal which could rust over time...
I am also looking for an adaptor that would allow the factory XM antenna to hook up to a Sirius receiver but I doubt they exist. Another option may be to try and hollow out the factory XM antenna base and install the Sirius one.
While I was on the phone with spdrcr5 (Larry) earlier in the week, he had thought about and suggested doing such a mod. The only issue is that he and I own 2003/2004 models and would have to buy the 2005+ antenna and then "hollow it out" so to speak. Still an excellent idea and if there wasn't such a large amount of space under the cladding I would be cannibalizing a 2005 antenna right now.
This mod not only hides the antenna from prying or scrutinizing eyes (me), it should also some in handy to prevent damage to the paint and/or antenna in the case of car washes. My guess is that the Mach 2 capable blow dryer at the end of the carwash may blast the magnetic antenna off the roof and it will flail around tethered to it's cord beating the hell out of your paint and possibly also damage the antenna itself rendering it useless. If that isn't a scenario right out of the paranoid-horror genre, then maybe the thought of the "Towel Team" drying your E and inadvertantly catching the antenna is. I shudder to think what could happen.
The last part of my Sirius install arrived via UPS today, and that part is the JVC KS-U58 line in adapter. This item connects to the JVC J-Link CD changer port on the back of the HU and allows hard wiring of an input signal. The JVC adapter is much like the PIE and Blitzsafe adapters that are available for factory radios, and utilized in the same way. It only took roughly 30 minutes to disassemble everything, run the wires and then reassemble and reconnect the system. The sound quality has improved 100% over the built in FM modulator in my Sirius receiver.
Genom, you hard wired to the rear of your unit for the clean install right? Or was your connection more for sound quality? Does the 03 Element have the AUX port for the EX model? I am wondering if the sound quality will be better with your connection or through the AUX connection?
thoughts?
Kudos on the hidden antennas, I will be changing my antenna location soon..
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