Car Stereos: Satellite Radio Hookup, magnetic antenna, satellite antenna

Question
Hello was hoping to get some information on Satellite radio hookups for my 2007 Solara SLE with JBL system. Radio has Satellite button and controls but my understanding is needs to have “head” installed. I’m not so concerned about that as I am the antenna – Do I need an additional antenna or does the stock mast antenna, mounted on the rear quarter – that comes on the car work as the satellite antenna as well

Thanks – appreciate any help I can get, my wife wants feature added to her car for Xmass.


Answer
Hi Bob,

In order to get Sirius through your factory head unit, you'll need a Sirius tuner, together with an interface adapter for your vehicle.  The tuner is made by Sirius, and the model number is SC-C1.  This is a universal tuner that's made for a variety of applications, using vehicle-specific or brand-specific interface adapters.  It includes a magnetic antenna that's meant to be mounted on your roof (though I've also mounted them on the trunk lid, with good results).  The antenna itself is very low-profile; it's typically a disk about 2" wide and less than 1/2" tall.  

The interface adapter for your vehicle is the Soundling SL2S, made by Vais Technology.  You can find the two items sold as a bundle at this site:

http://www.myradiostore.com/sirius/sirius-connect/factory-oem-stereos/somslsicoj...

I'd recommend professional installation for this system.  Professional installers will have some tricks for routing the antenna cable from the outside to the inside of the vehicle, without damaging the cable or leaving gaps; they'll also be able to mount the tuner out of sight and make the connections at the back of the factory head unit.

Hope this helps!

Brian