XM Radio woes

I continue to half a lot of 5 second cut offs on my xm radio - I've refreshed it several times, I am not sure if it is a dealer issue, and xm issue, or if it is because of the roof rack interfering with the antenna reception. I could buy a truckers xm antenna and figure out how to mount is low profile in the rack but figured I would ask if anyone else has had this issue and resolved it.

Do you have a Gobi or other rack that goes all the way to the front? If so, it is a rack issue. I believe Gobi has an antenna relocation kit or can recommend one.

Yes -- and thanks for the tip

I have never had any problems with my factory XM antenna with my Yakima rack. But as Alrock is hinting at, if you have a full rack, it might cause some interferrence. Just not sure myself. (I also have an aftermarket Pioneer radio and XM receiver connect via the stock XM antenna, so it might be something else in your system. But I would sure look at the antenna/rack combo first.) XM is very sensitive to antenna location due to having just one satellite (or repeaters in metro areas) to pull from. Although there are actually two sats, unless you are in the center of the USA, you will only pull from either the western or eastern Sat.

Maybe post a photo of your roof rack and how it's installed?

I had the same problem after installing my Gobi Stealth. The Gobi fairing effectively blocks the signal from the XM antenna most of the time.
My solution was to use another XM antenna at an alternate location.The antenna that I chose was the Terk XMicro2 that I bought from Crutchfield http://www.crutchfield.com/p_209XMICRO2/Terk-XMicro2.html?search=terk+xm+antenna





I had to do a little modifying of the antenna's Fakra connector with the addition of another slot.



I ran the new antenna wire out the side of the dash, up the inside of the door gasket, behind the A-pillar trim, to the roof.











The base of the antenna has a very strong magnet, and the antenna stays where you place it.
I chose the center fairing bracket as a nice flat, exposed location.









I now get good XM reception, with very, very few times of a momentary blocked signal.

That looks fantastic - really seems to be the thing to do - low profile and spot on. Thanks

I am having the same problem with XM on the '08 H2 with the factory Navi/XM head-unit. I may need to try this mod.
I just created a separate thread to also discuss improving GPS reception since it sucks as well.

btw, where exactly is the XM antenna in the '08 H2?

Fun tidbit for those of you who are not happy with paying for XM. When your subscription is up and ready for renewal, consider calling to cancel. They will give you a promotional price (usually half off for a year) just to keep you. I have been doing that now for 5 years. Hell, I just called On-star because they over billed me and they refunded the over bill amount and gave me an extra 2 months for free to say sorry. Good times!!

"btw, where exactly is the XM antenna in the '08 H2?"

I believe I already answer theat question in the thread you started yesterday.

HIROLA said:

Fun tidbit for those of you who are not happy with paying for XM. When your subscription is up and ready for renewal, consider calling to cancel. They will give you a promotional price (usually half off for a year) just to keep you. I have been doing that now for 5 years. Hell, I just called On-star because they over billed me and they refunded the over bill amount and gave me an extra 2 months for free to say sorry. Good times!!

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Hahaha awesome. If I didn't have a shade under a million songs on my iPhone I would subscribe to XM. Just don't have that need.

Same here.... I prefer my iPhone over XM. I had XM for a while when I had my H3 and I'll admit that it IS pretty nice being able to listen to the radio while rolling down the Mojave road

I did the same thing with a relocated XM antenna on my H2 and it has been working great for over two years.

f5moab said:

"btw, where exactly is the XM antenna in the '08 H2?"

I believe I already answer theat question in the thread you started yesterday.

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Just saw that, good info thank you!