A&Q about 350Z
Q:
Check out http://www.our350z.com/todo-2.html .....TwoLow has some very good instructions on his site for that model of XM reciever.
A:
Hey,
yeah I installed that same exact model, putting the display up where the sunglasses pocket is...but it can go just about anywhere.
If you have any questions just give me a shout. Just check out the link above or in my signature.
2003 Nissan 350Z Enthusiast Coupe (Fast)
2003 Mercury Marauder (Faster)
1996 Ford Ranger (Don't ask!)
A:
I think whoever puts it on the strut bar must be lying when they say it works great. Reason I say that is look where I put mine and look at your Z and the roof line. The antenna can't see over the roof line so if your driving south towards the sat. in the sky with a lot of trees overhead it fades in and out.
On the same exact road where the Z fades in and out, my truck does not (antenna mounted on flat roof).
I cannot see any way possible that a antenna on that strut bar could work well at all as it can only get a signal from the direction your driving away from, and a small bit from the sides.
Nissan factory puts the antenna above the passenger side door because thats the highest point of the roof so not to be blocked in any direction. They did so for a reason :-)
It does look tacky there in my opinion so I put it where I did instead. Works great except for the rare occasion Im driving down that road with so many trees overhead. Doesn't really bother me.
2003 Nissan 350Z Enthusiast Coupe (Fast)
2003 Mercury Marauder (Faster)
1996 Ford Ranger (Don't ask!)
A:
I originally had my Sirius antenna mounted on the roof in front of the rear window washer nozzle. It bothered me every time I looked at the car. After a couple of months I went back to the installer and had the antenna moved to the top of the right side of the strut. It has been many months now and I haven't noticed any deterioration in the reception.
That doesn't mean that the results would have been the same had I gone with XM. Sirius uses 3 satellites that are in elliptical orbits designed to maintain a high viewing angle over the US & presumably Canada. XM uses two satellites ("Rock" and "Roll") that are in a geostationary orbit over the equator.
2004 Enthusiast LS 5A
A:
hmmm... that makes sense in regards to Sat. position.
I think TwoLow has the best install position then, no way I'm gonna have that sitting off-center on the passenger side... yuck.
ideally, if you wanted to keep the install inside the car, you could place an antenna on the strut bar and one on the front dash, to get better coverage, but I haven't seen any double antennea setups, nor am I likely to.
either one of you install that PAC AUX-in piece yet, for real AUX in for the Blose?
I'm not going to go XM then have that modulated down to FM sampling...
photoz
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2004 LS Touring
Meguiar's Deep Crystal 123 + NXT
A:
My Enthusiast had the base stereo system in it, which I thought was awful. If you faded out the front speakers so that only the rear speakers were on, the defective sound was obvious. The dealer even replaced the radio for me under warranty but it didn't make any difference. In the end I wound up replacing the whole unit with a Kenwood system. If you would like to see it, DaddyPhatSaks posted the dash picture for me sometime back:
http://www.zcar.com/forums/read.php?f=5&i=120609&t=120609
2004 Enthusiast LS 5A
A:
I dont have that kinda dough! LOL
I saw that picture back when and saw the price that went along with it :-(
I run the base stereo as well and heres what I found for myself:
The CDs sound better for sure but it distorted out before I ever could crank it up. The better sound quality was actually what was hampering me jamming out once in a while.
XM isn't as flat as radio and not as crisp as CD but being in the middle where it is, I can crank it up and jam out once in a while.
I eventually will change the radio one day and will be sure to shop for a head unit that has RCA inputs (the XM unit being discussed as FM out and RCA aoutputs). I'm buying a house right now so the Z funds have been put to other uses for a few months *cries*
2003 Nissan 350Z Enthusiast Coupe (Fast)
2003 Mercury Marauder (Faster)
1996 Ford Ranger (Don't ask!)
A:
TwoLow,
Your antenna install doesn't look bad at all! That's where I had mine originally but at the time Sirius wasn't offering that miniature antenna like you have. I had the big old hockey puck sitting there. The cable connected to it was tapered and too thick to sit right beside the hatch, so it had to be moved forward by 6 inches or so. Even with that once the summer heat arrived it started pulling the rubber seal off the hatch door each time it was opened. A smaller antenna and thinner cable would have eliminated my issues.
2004 Enthusiast LS 5A