OK Guys
My wife wants to have a SIRIUS radio in her 2000 excursion. I am sure that somebody out there has come with a good way to do this so that it looks good. Also what radios should I look at. I need all the help I can get on this one. It is going to be her Christmas Present. Thanks guys & gals

 

When I first got Sirius, I used a unit from Radioshack that I just left on the floor. It comes with a vacuum mount for dash or windshield. It works with a cradle that has a radio transmitter and that is how it can play with your existing radio. BUT where I live there are no completely clear stations to broadcast on (it has 5 choces around 88.8-89.3) I was alway getting background noise.

I had a good Pioneer sat. ready head unit, but I had to wait for a Pioneer Sirius module. I now have it. It mounts in the right front behind the kick panel and is controlled by my head unit in the dash (Pioneer). The areal mounts magnetically on the rear roof above the cyclops light and I brought the wire into the truck through that rectangular vent above the tail gate glass gasket. It then runs across the roof, down the right rear pilar and to the front under the two right door thresholds. Took some time but all is hidden.
Sound is great, supper clear. What ever you do, change your stock speakers, they are junk! I used 6x8 Piooner specially made for Ford, screwed into all the stock locations no problem and used Crutchfield wiring harnes at each speaker to adopt to the factory harnes. I did not want to make my own rig up.
All the major stereo brands seem to have head units that take optional sat. modules. It is great not having 40 minutes of comercials every hour. I have about $800 in parts in my system including a module to allow the steering wheel audio controls to work the Pioneer.

 

I assume you saw this thread -
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=431983

I have Sirius and really like it. I don't even listen to broadcast radio anymore. I bought one for my fiancee and me, we both love it. You might as well buy one for yourself while you're at it, the second unit is half price for subscription and once you use hers you'll HAVE to have one for yourself.

I haven't heard XM to compare.

See the link above regarding mounting, I have my unit on the face of the dash and the antenna on the top of the dash by the windshield. Took me about 30 minutes to set-up.

It plays thru a radio station on your radio, as long as you have a channel with good static in your area, you can use that "station".

I paid $100 each for the units with a $50 rebate for each (which I'm still waiting for ) from Best Buy.

 

I think placing the antenna on the dash depends on where you live and how high the satelight is above the horizon. In s.e. Pa. you can't get much reception with it on the dash as the sat. is low in our north sky. It is even an issue getting reception when I use the sirius in my house - only works well on the north east side.

 

Thanks for your replies. Has anyone bought one off of the Internet.
PS: I have found and also heard that a REBATE is only good if you call them up and ask them ,where in the HECK it is, and what is taken it so long.

 

I've used Sirius for about a year now. Great if you're an NPR listener (three channels) and various world channels, BBC etc.
I just upgraded from the Xact (not bad) to the Sirius S50 http://www.sirius.com/gs/s50/ as an impulse purchase because Best Buy had it on the shelf with a $50 rebate. It has the great advantage of TiVo features like pause and record, plus a PC interface to download music and so on like an MP3 player. It detaches for security and to function as a personal music player (but can't receive satellite radio once it's detached from the car/antennae ... kind of weak, but I'm guessing they kept that for the next model or whatever ...)
Check the link http://www.sirius.com/gs/s50/ ... it looks very good and is very well made. It's easy to use, it mounts nicely and comes with a great mounting kit with options for dash/console positioning etc.
For long-haul driving, satellite is great. Around trees and city buildings, it gets a little sketchy.
The "per month" is too high. I read that they're going to all be reduced as subscriber head counts go up, so buying longer term subscriptions probably won't save much. Plus, when I travel, I can (if I remember) suspend the service at no cost and resume at will, saving the $8/month or whatever. Kind of crazy to be paying that much per year just to listen to the radio, but welcome to real world today, I guess. And once you get used to better selection, there's no going back.
Now, if only they'd hurry up and implement/deploy all the cool features promised five years ago (live traffic, personal notification of email/voicemail/emergency, stock ticker, professional sports scores ... well, that's sort of working today just for some football etc. ... )
Worth having nonetheless.

 

My Wife Is Allways Listening To It On The Sat.tv And Say's Wonderful