Sirius cuts out under every overpass
 

My old Sirius antenna went bad. Got a new one and this time I installed it in the rear spoiler. Works fine except under every overpass. Now it cuts out a couple seconds after going under, and does so with a noticable electronic click each time. The old antenna mounted on the roof (when it was still working) never did this. Is this a trait of being mounted under a piece of fiberglass or do I need to "reboot" the system.

This is what happened when I moved my antenna under the spoiler. Not quite as bad as you describe for me though. But every time we drive in the mountains now that radio goes out (it did not before in the same areas). Maybe position it differently in the spoiler? I have not tried that myself yet. Mine is positioned directly in the center (near the screw) and just double sided taped right where there is a few inches of room. Good luck! Let us know if you find a fix or not!

Mine's positioned dead center, pointed straight up and there's no air space between the top of the antenna and the bottom of the spoiler. Held in place with IPass velcro which has amazing grip. And as you said, it now cuts out in places it never did before. Even in my own driveway when partially obscured by my tree. I have to wonder if being positioned at the leading edge of the roof is minimizing the ground plane. Or does that not have any effect on satelllite reception, like it does on cell antenna placement.

I believe the antenna needs to be mounted onto a metal surface and that the entire roof was helping to boost its effectiveness.

Personally I got tired of it cutting in and out, searching the channels, and paying the monthly fee. A complete waste of $$$ IMHO.

Mine does the same thing in both of my cars. I don't hear a click, but it cuts out for a second just after going under a bridge/overpass. That is my only complaint though. Both are mounted on the roof as well.

I have had Sirius since 2005 and couldn't imagine letting my subscription go. I literally get pissed when I have to drive a car without it.

I have been told that there usually is a time around the Spring and Fall equinox that has to do with the satellite alignment and periodically cutting out. I additonally have chosen alternative mounting locations on both my M3 cab and my X5 but have installed "Dynamat Xtreme" under fiberglass section on the M3 boot lid and have lined the interior of the spoiler on the X5 with it and placed the antenna directly on it. It has been very successful as the Dynamat Xtreme has a foil coating. Hope this helps.


Nathan

It needs to see the *birds* up north....so that is a feature or downside to sattelite radio.
With that said, there is a very small buffer...I suppose of 3 seconds. If you pay real close attention on when it's operating, you will notice the buffer...

It's normal...happens in all of my cars with satellite...depending on the speed with which I am going under the overpass...:D

Rarely happened when I had the antenna mounted on the roof, now happens with every overpass. Stretches of road I travel daily, it cuts out far more than it used to. And when it did cut out in the past it didn't make noise when it cut out like now.

I thought there was a buffer, or memory, to overcome these split second interruptions.

May have to pull it out of the spoiler and try it on the roof as an A-B test.

Make sure you also have the latest antenna installed. p/n 65200034887. I think it was introduced sometime late 2006 / early 2007.