Xm Radio Install

[pete0r]

has anyone installed one into their volvo?

i'm going to order the skyfi2 on thursday (when i get paid, heh) and install it as soon as it comes.

i'm going to be using this mount: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/mount.htm to mount it to the right of my radio.

here's my question.

1) has anyone figured out how to hardwire their radio to the power of the car? i think i have to use the cig. adapter that comes with it because it takes down the voltage.

2) there are wires for a cd changer in the back of my wagon. i'm going to mount the antenna on the back of the roof and hide the wire so the install looks really clean. i kind of ripped out some of the side interior of my car today trying to figure out where it went. is it very hard to do this all the way up to the headunit?

3) has anyone done it before? any photos ?

[Owned]

1) You can tap into an ACC wire to get your power.

2) Running the wire to the HU under the carpets is no problem. Just lift the plastic on the side and push the wire under.

3) I never bothered to take any pictures.

When I install satilite (xm or sirius) I generally put the antena on the front dash. Some place inconspicous, of course. This avoids chancing water getting past whatever gasket you mush the wire under and also avoids the need to put any holes in anything. You also are very close to the HU this way.

The only comments I get from this method, as far as problems, is that from time to time the signal will cut in and out when it's raining. This is due to the pass of the metal whiper arms.

[Guest DougK]

I put my antenna on the rear shelf. Works ok, but it does drop out when surrounded by tall tree's buildings.

[Owned]

Defog strips can cause problems. You have none that you know of?

[Guest DougK]

Defog strips can cause problems. You have none that you know of?

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Could be what it is. Good point

[pete0r]

well, i don't have a rear shelf. it's a wagon.

i'm still seriously considering putting it on the back of the roof, running it under the rubber on the top of the hood and down the wall with the speaker on it, and then into the floor and up to the front of the car.

if putting it on the front dash will work, then i guess fine, but i really want a super clean install.

[JoshV70]

I have my Sirius antenna on top of my dash right next to my radar detector. It only drops the signal when I go under trees, which I don't mind, since it picks the signal right back up when I'm not under the tree anymore.

[Owned]

You can put it there but just becareful of water getting past the gasket.

You can do super clean on the dash too. Just bring the wire up under the dash and poke thru up front, like how the stock alarm LED is done. Notice that you can't really see it when you're in the car and hardly when you're outside unless it's flashing. You may also opt to move it all the way to one side as to hide it more from the outside. It'll only have to deal with one wiper over there also.

[billr99]

has anyone installed one into their volvo?

i'm going to order the skyfi2 on thursday (when i get paid, heh) and install it as soon as it comes.

i'm going to be using this mount: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/mount.htm to mount it to the right of my radio.

here's my question.

1) has anyone figured out how to hardwire their radio to the power of the car? i think i have to use the cig. adapter that comes with it because it takes down the voltage.

2) there are wires for a cd changer in the back of my wagon. i'm going to mount the antenna on the back of the roof and hide the wire so the install looks really clean. i kind of ripped out some of the side interior of my car today trying to figure out where it went. is it very hard to do this all the way up to the headunit?

3) has anyone done it before? any photos  ?

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I have XM in both my cars, but each is a bit different so between the two maybe something will give you some ideas.

I have an Terk Commander in my basic V70. By using the wiring in the back that's intended for the CD player (I don't have that obviously), I was able to wire up the unit completely back there only needing to run the wire to the Commander's head unit up front where I attached it to the console next to the handbrake with Velcro. In the back of the V70, there is already a hot lead and a switched hot lead that goes hot when the radio is kicked on (I found it in an empty plug behind the panel that gets you to the back side of the lower tailight). Also I was able to use the Commander's FM modulator by picking up the antenna lead on the right side of the cargo area under the far right floor panel. I ran the XM antenna lead up under the left side tailights to the water channel at the top of the rear hatch to the center of the car under the door weather strip and then located the antenna just foward of the center of the rear hatch just enough forward to allow clearance when the hatch is opened. This setup was the easiest way I could see to do it and is pretty inconspicious.

On my '96 R sedan, I use a SkyFi that I located in the area where the front ashtray resides. I tried to do a ProFit but it just would not work that great in my dash and I didn't like how tight stuff ended up looking when the unit was mounted that high on the dash. Anyway, I pulled the ashtray and mounted a bracket in the ashtray holder panel (or whattever its called) to hold the SkyFi mount. It ends up just clearing the coin tray, lighter, and OBD plug cover and pretty much renders that wee storage area useless. But the console of my R is so filled up with buttons, the shifter, etc. you are pretty restricted as far as choices. In any case, I used the Delphi FM modulator that does both the signal to the stock headunit as well as power and mounted it inside the console but beneath the stock radio and behind the ashtray holder panel. I wired the power into the aux power plug under the driver-side footwell and hooked the stock antenna lead to the FM modulator. I ran the XM antenna lead under the door threshold covers to the trunk and mounted the antenna on the trunk lid. Could have just as easily put it on the rear shelf, but I have one of the micro antennas and it does not look too bad on the trunk lid anyway. The whole problem with this setup is the fact that I can't read the screen of the Skyfi as it sits too low. Its not a huge problem but still a pain that required me to get the remote so that I could at least see what channel buttons I'm pushing (also doesn't help that my tri-focals are absolute jerk for this anyway).

Unfortunately and in my humble opinion, neither the 850 or 70 series dash arrangements are really setup for this type of add on-gear. There just is not a clean spot to put something as big as a SkyFi on the dash without covering up something else or mounting it in an akward spot. I also tried a Roady and being a bit smaller with no seperate mount, it was a bit easier. But its really not designed to be removed once installed and it still not quite right in regard to keeping a neat and tidy cockpit. The combination of a Commander and a 70 series dash/console layout is a bit better due mostly to the fact that the Commander's head unit is fairly small and the 70 series console has a bit more open space on it. Now my setup does not make it looked built in or anything, but with it mounted on Velcro it can be moved about a bit so that either I can read the screen or my wife can if she's the co-pilot. I tried to figure out if the Commander was a better setup for the R before I installed it in my V70 and it might have worked, but not quite a "clean" as the 70.

Anyway, hope this helps some

Cheers,

[Fake Name]

I love the mounting options offered by www.proclipusa.com. I use one of thier console mounts for my iPod and a vent mount for my Treo, but I am not a geek. At all, really. I don't know if proclip has a specific mount for the skyfi, but they have a lot of univerrsal options that appear to be better than the one mentioned.

I installed XM in a Mini a few months ago, and i routed the antenna wire up through the rear hatch- it worked out very well, nice and clean. But the reciever was in the rear trunk area, so...

I'm a Sirius subscriber and like the XM better, but that's awfully subjective.

fn

[miniman342]

I know you have a V70, but here is my install in my 740:

I have to play it thru the FM radio, but I think it is clean nontheless.

I put my antenna on my trunk.

[BtownVolvo]

I have the XM Commander. Its a pretty neat toy!

Installed in the pocket under the HU.

Antenna on the trunk (put felt on the bottom or it will scratch the he!! out of it)