Sirius Radio car to boat ?

[Expidia]

So now that my Kenwood KDC-232MR Sirius ready marine radio from Pond Tunes is installed and sounds great I'm ready to look at signing up with Sirius . . .

Since I will use it more in two cars than my boat due to the short Northeast boating season does anyone know of a Sirius unit that I can swap from cars to boat and is waterproof but maybe cheaper than the only one I've found so far like this one:

http://www.hodgesmarine.com/JENSEN-AM-FM-IPOD-REG-SIRIUS-REG-SATELLITE-REA-p/jenmsr2007.htm

Am I on the right track here? I know since I already have the Kenwood Sirius "ready" unit in the boat what I would need is some type of small Sirius box that somehow plugs into the back of the unit plus a portable Sirius antenna and the Kenwood is already the tuner.

But I'm confused because since I also want to use the unit in the car would the above Jensen unit work out for me?

This Jensen says you still need to buy a Sirius tuner and my cars just have the standard Saab radios.

Anyone clear this up for me or point me to small weather proof unit that will work in my cars and also work with my Sirius ready Kenwood in my boat?

Thx

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

All you need is the Tuner and antenna,that one in your link is another complete radio unit.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

Check out some of these. All you need is a portable unit and buy 2 antennas,one to leave on the boat,one for the car..
http://www.siriusspecials.com/

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

Since you want to be able to move it from boat to car to possibly home, something like the Starmate looks like the best solution to the problem. Only issue is that it isn't "waterproof" or marine grade... The only thing i've been able to locate that says its "waterproof" is the Jensen.

http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conte...s/CachedPage&c=ProductAsset&cid=1160595858993

With this unit you get a in-car kit, with a cradle that you snap the unit into. All you would really need is another car-kit to put on the boat, and you could take it from boat to car just by un-docking it. The unit is FM Modulated which means you wouldn't have to have a tuner in both your boat and your car, you could pick up a home kit and take the unit inside.

I'll send you a pm with some more details.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

Thx Sean, I'll read the PM.

And thanks for the super fast delivery of the flip up stereo splash protector. It came today and I already installed it.

It fit right over the radio's faceplate and I didn't even have to remove the radio again to install it

 

[Expidia]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

All you need is the Tuner and antenna,that one in your link is another complete radio unit.

That's what I thought. It looked to me that I'm just looking for a tuner, because my car radio supplies the power. And my Kenwood on the boat is Sirius ready so I thought I would just need some type of Sirius converter.

Pond Tunes is correct though in that this one you point out would work for me, except it's not waterproof. Mines an open boat. The Starmate would work fine in a boat's cabin.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

hope you have better luck with yours than we did with ours. i hate it. wires everywhere, never stay in place.. cut in and out. i' ready to junk it.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

hope you have better luck with yours than we did with ours. i hate it. wires everywhere, never stay in place.. cut in and out. i' ready to junk it.

Ya, that's what I'm afraid of. First off I don't want any Mickey Mouse looking installation.

For $12.95 a month this hurts me to think of paying for this monthly. Paid "radio" to me is like paying for air for my tires or bottled water!

I can't take Howard Stern anymore either. So I certainly won't pay $12.95 for him. Every day is the same old same old as he parades his rat pack of misfits over the air. So I certainly don't want him in my boat.

But on the plus side I would like talk radio and music channels without commercials. I can't take commercials anymore. But I hear commercials are starting to ramp up on many of the channels. Wait till they have to fund their merger.

Their pay $499 once for lifetime service deal does look attractive though. I'd pay that to never have to listen to commercials again!

I also don't want to deal with FM modulation units. As I hate static especially while paying for static on a monthly basis.

Sirius ran a $100 rebate a month or two ago. I might have to get a box for the Kenwood Sirius ready boat unit and get a separate subscription for another unit that I can swap between my cars and home.

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

Awhile back, I was considering buying one of those handheld units like the Roady IIRC. No need to rig up any wires, it's a standalone unit. Anyone have any experience with those? I grew concerned when the reviews talked about reception issues that had gotten slightly better with the newer receivers. Been a guinea pig too many times with new technology...

 

[PondTunes]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

My suppliers are telling me to try to steer people away from the RF modulated units. Mainly the wireless ones that just broadcast on a FM frequency. They are telling me that restrictions have gotten tighter on them and to even pick up the signal you have to have the unit really close to your antenna/radio. I remember a time when if you had an RF modulated device people in other cars could pick up on your signal at a stop light!

The RF units that work inline with your antenna should give you no problems nor should they broadcast out to other boats/cars. The adapter hooks directly into your radio's antenna jack then the antenna hooks into it. You set your FM station on a preset and whenever you want to use the Sat just tune in and fire it up.

These also have the drawback of not having the display readout or being able to do any kind of control other than volume from the head unit.

 

[U Rest U Rust]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

I had the same issues with installation of Sirius in the boat. No real marine kit out there. I have a cuddy so the stereo is down below. I installed the car mount unit next to my GPS under the windshield. Broke the cigarette ligher adapter and hard wired that to a fused line. Ran the wires for the antenna and power. I did not use the antenna module yet, but will try it this week. I get static with certain accesories turned on. I think thats from the original wiring of the stereo.

In your case, the kenwood is "Sirius ready" I think you need a wire that connects from the sirius head to a input jack on the front of the Kenwood. I would recommend trying both antenna's that came with car kit. maybe they will work fine. if not, then buy the marine antenna.

I know the mount is going to rust, will see how long it lasts.

 

[vess]

Re: Sirius Radio car to boat ?

Be careful when looking at the lifetime contract- it is for the lifetime of the UNIT, not your lifetime. I am on my 3rd radio in 3 years, so that wouldn't have helped me. Unless I read that incorrectly.
I do have the Sirius Stilletto (handheld) and it works great. Has its own battery power with a speaker output, so you can plug it into your stereo tape deck adapter, or even the new inputs on many of the stereos coming out now for cars. I like that the unit has battery power, as they seem to suck a lot of power when in use off the car cradle. I move this one from house to car to boat, and only pay the one subscription. I do like Howard, but the rest of the programming is the hook for me- you can get news, talk, music, whatever you want. I will gladly pay the subscription to avoid the commercials of regular radio. You had mentioned that there are advertisements now on Sirius. Music is commercial free, but the news and entertainment feeds have commercials. They originate from other sources.