Sirius anyone?

[ellhef]

Hey all,

I am thinking about getting Sirius for cruising around. I am pretty sure I have to get the Sirius antenna, so I was curious if there were different ones and which ones people would recommend? How much do they run with installation and all? Also, is there anything else I need to get the sat radio up and running?

Does anyone already have it? Is it worth the 12 bucks a month or whatever they charge?

Thanks!
Elliott

[MazdaTom]

I have it and love it. Since I've had it in my car, I have not listened to normal radio.

I have an S50- which I believe they don't make anymore but they make similar receivers. What I like about it is that I can undock it from the car adapter and it becomes an MP3 player. I can listen to specific songs that I "record" off the satelite transmission or I can re-listen to a couple of the stations that the receiver notices that I listen to the most. I've got 4 to 5 hours worth of broadcasts from a couple different channels on the receiver. Going back to listen to it later isn't much different than listening to it live- except I can skip ahead or behind as I want.

And then I have a home adapter (which is in my garage) and I can listen to Sirius on the stereo I have in my garage while I work in the garage.

Plus, in addition to being able to listen in my car and in my garage, I can listen online. This is a feature any Sirius subscriber can take advantage of. I listen at my desk at work all the time.

So I would STRONGLY recommend getting a receiver that you can undock like this. It adds a little "clutter" to the interior of the car, but for me it's 100% worth it.

[turbo99jetta]

elliott,

Your mazda 3 is sirius sat radio ready. however, you if you would like it to run threw your factory deck without something like mazdatom was talking about, you have to get the sirius sat radio receiver from mazda, and have that installed. once that's done then you can have sirius, adding just an antenna wont work. Also when you do this if you use the mazda factory sirius receiver, you will loose the AUX in plug in your center console, so you can't plug an ipod or anything into it, unless you also buy the MAZDA switching box. ITs a huge nightmare...

[turbo99jetta]

ooops double post.

[MazdaTom]

Is the AUX IN plug just a normal 1/8" stereo plug? If not and you can't get an adapter, my S50 comes with a small antenna that will broadcast locally and I can tune my radio to a certain station to pick up the Sirius. But I have a new head unit ("deck", stereo....) that has an AUX IN in the faceplate.

And another benefit of having a receiver like mine- you can get multiple car kits and have Sirius in multiple cars, although only one at a time. My cop friend has one hard wired in his personal truck and then he puts one in his police cruiser for when he's on patrol that is easily removable at the end of his shift.

[ellhef]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Freezing Cx7 @ Apr 16 2008, 04:13 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=40983]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

elliott,

Your mazda 3 is sirius sat radio ready. however, you if you would like it to run threw your factory deck without something like mazdatom was talking about, you have to get the sirius sat radio receiver from mazda, and have that installed. once that's done then you can have sirius, adding just an antenna wont work. Also when you do this if you use the mazda factory sirius receiver, you will loose the AUX in plug in your center console, so you can't plug an ipod or anything into it, unless you also buy the MAZDA switching box. ITs a huge nightmare...[/b]

Ok, so if I want to run the Sirius through the stock stereo, I buy the Sat Radio Receiver from Mazda and have that installed. And I assume that the Sirius and AUX port must use the same plug on the back of the stock stereo, which is why you can't have both hooked up at once unless you get the Mazda switching box.

Ok, so how much would it be to get the Sat Radio Receiver for the stock stereo and the switching box so I can use the Sirius and still be able to use the AUX in plug? For instance, say I bring it right on over to your guys at Burt, how much would parts and labor for all that be? Just a rough estimate is cool, I am just trying to get a general idea...

Thanks again for the help!
Elliott

[ellhef]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MazdaTom @ Apr 16 2008, 04:04 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=40979]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

I have it and love it. Since I've had it in my car, I have not listened to normal radio.

I have an S50- which I believe they don't make anymore but they make similar receivers. What I like about it is that I can undock it from the car adapter and it becomes an MP3 player. I can listen to specific songs that I "record" off the satelite transmission or I can re-listen to a couple of the stations that the receiver notices that I listen to the most. I've got 4 to 5 hours worth of broadcasts from a couple different channels on the receiver. Going back to listen to it later isn't much different than listening to it live- except I can skip ahead or behind as I want.

And then I have a home adapter (which is in my garage) and I can listen to Sirius on the stereo I have in my garage while I work in the garage.

Plus, in addition to being able to listen in my car and in my garage, I can listen online. This is a feature any Sirius subscriber can take advantage of. I listen at my desk at work all the time.

So I would STRONGLY recommend getting a receiver that you can undock like this. It adds a little "clutter" to the interior of the car, but for me it's 100% worth it.[/b]

Thanks for the input. I have been debating about just getting a new deck with the iPod hookup and Sirius Radio ready, so depending on the prices to get both working with the stock stereo, I might just end up spending the bucks on a new deck.

Yeah, I can see that, it would be nice to be able to bring it inside or take it on the go, there is a huge convenience factor there...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MazdaTom @ Apr 16 2008, 04:21 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=40988]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

Is the AUX IN plug just a normal 1/8" stereo plug? If not and you can't get an adapter, my S50 comes with a small antenna that will broadcast locally and I can tune my radio to a certain station to pick up the Sirius. But I have a new head unit ("deck", stereo....) that has an AUX IN in the faceplate.

And another benefit of having a receiver like mine- you can get multiple car kits and have Sirius in multiple cars, although only one at a time. My cop friend has one hard wired in his personal truck and then he puts one in his police cruiser for when he's on patrol that is easily removable at the end of his shift.[/b]

Yeah, just a normal headphone size jack. I just got a tiny male to male headphone connector and hook up the iPod when I am in the car. That would be handy too, what deck do you have, with the AUX in right on the front?

Thanks!
Elliott

[MHSD]

if you need any info on head units with the accessories let me know I also run Sirius in my car and my wife's car we have had it for about 7 years since it first debuted.

[MazdaTom]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Elliott @ Apr 16 2008, 05:19 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=41007]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

, what deck do you have, with the AUX in right on the front?

Thanks!
Elliott[/b]

Here it is:


If you can't read the model number, I think it's a Pioneer DEH-P2800MP. It's an OK head unit. I'm not running any amps (although I could run 3 with this head unit) or any fancy speakers. I remember it had one of the higher RMS wattage ratings at the time (Jan of 07).

But you don't NEED a new deck. If you don't use the AUX IN in your car, then you can just broadcast it on an FM station and tune your radio accordingly. There is a little bit of dB loss when doing this, but it's not too bad.