sirius/xm antenna under fairing???

[bugfish69]

I thought I had read a post where someone mounted the satellite antenna under the fairing, but I can't find it now.

 

1. Has anyone done this with success?

 

2. If so, have you been out on the road where there is only signal from the satellite and not from terrestrial repeaters.

 

Thanks

[SaltyDawg]

I know of a few people who have XM antennas in the front fairing. Unless you are in the Southern US I would imagine you would lose reception when you are heading North. I could be wrong. I have heard that those who put them in the fairings have no problems.

[Royal Venturer]

Tried it (inside fairing), not a good idea.....very spotty-poor-to non exsistant reception. Mounted it on a little platform above the XM, best place. In heavy foilage it can be hit and miss during the summer, or on the inside of a northeast facing cliff...no reception. I've had mine on the bike for almost 4 years. I'm surprised it has lasted this long what with vibration, water and sun beating down on it. I do have a water cover my wife made for it. I dielectric greased the connections on a regular basis.

[VTirelli]

I've had my antenna under the fairing for over a year and it works fine. I've ridden all directions woth no loss of signal except for extreme overcast or alot of foliage covering the road but nothing lasting longer than a few seconds. I used double faced tape and mounted it right on top of the radio.

[Redneck]

I have had mine under the faring for a couple of years with no problems. It doesn't know its under the faring plastic has no affect on the signal. I bolted a 90 degree bracket under the faring and stuck the magnetic antenna to it. Look at the upper right in the picture just to the left of the looped red wire you can see my antenna.

[Mariner Fan]

I don't know how that is possible. Seems like my signal is blocked by tall buildings or even trees. If I'm at the right angle, I believe my body blocks the signal.

[Smokee]

You're right about your body blocking the XM (or Sirius) signal...it's because we're made mostly of water. Like others, I've had my XM antenna (magnetic) stuck on top of the sound system box, under the fairing, for a year or so and it works great. I do get the occasional signal loss when riding North. I think this is because the antenna slopes toward the front of the bike, so the angle from the satellites (over the equator) means that the edge of the antenna is seeing the sats, instead of the top of the antenna. I just like having the antenna out of sight from prying eyes and out of reach of sticky fingers.

[dragerman]

If you look at the antenna for the Zomo 550 it looks like a puck. The actual antenna is inside and is shrouded in plastic. The plastic has little to no bearing on the signal. I’ve mounted my antenna on the handle bars because I wanted the option to be able to remove it. If not for that I’d have no reservations about mounting it under the faring.

[Guest steyr1488]

I thought I had read a post where someone mounted the satellite antenna under the fairing, but I can't find it now.

 

1. Has anyone done this with success?

 

2. If so, have you been out on the road where there is only signal from the satellite and not from terrestrial repeaters.

 

Thanks

 

 

I installed a satellite radio receiver where the cassette player was. Gutted out all the cassette junk, carefully opened up the plate behind the door for more access, then made little brackets to mount the receiver. Be very careful around the door hinges. If you hold the receiver back into the opening a little bit, there is room to stick an MP3 player in front of it. Just "Y" off of the aux plug and stick it in front of the satellite receiver. You will have to mount a cigarette lighter plug in the fairing for power because the receiver will run off of a lower voltage than 12v. If you direct wire it, you will burn it up.

As far as the antenna mounting, I put mine inside the fairing above the right speaker. I have no issues with reception except under heavy foilage. This installation is completely invisible. I hate wires and gadgets hanging all over the place.

[TWehrle]

I would seriously like to see pictures of this. Do you have any? Can you maybe post some pictures of the exterior so we can see how it looks externally?

[kd4uvc]

Got mine mounted under the fairing, Sirius. No problems except in central Florida. Know it was not the mounting because the truck, roof mount, had the same problems. The cradle is permanently glued to the windshield and no problems with vibration. Have a GPS sitting on the opposite side and like the setup.

[timgray]

If you look at the antenna for the Zomo 550 it looks like a puck. The actual antenna is inside and is shrouded in plastic. The plastic has little to no bearing on the signal. I’ve mounted my antenna on the handle bars because I wanted the option to be able to remove it. If not for that I’d have no reservations about mounting it under the faring.

 

 

you are correct, but a high metallic paint will affect it. My repaint will block Sirius/XM because I have a really high metallic paint base. the puck is so small I stickered it to the dash on the 1st gen. If you never carry stuff on your trunk rack, that's another good place.