No, SiriusXM did not try to charge me a service transfer fee. Maybe it's because our Dodge Grand Caravan new owner had already purchased SiriusXM so that service was no longer on our account.
Or why a Lariat, the highest trim level does not have Sirius built in.
Assuming you just want music. I listen to mostly non-music stations with my Sirius.
No news channels or a lot of channels I listen to. I seldom listen to music on my Sirius.
Mike, we're in similar boats regarding satellite radio. I'm feeling the need to move to an easier-access vehicle (otherwise I really like my Colorado), and I don't drive enough to justify spending a lot, but the cell service around here (I'm in south GA too) isn't reliable enough to give me a warm fuzzy about not springing for a creature comfort I enjoy. I may end up buying a Santa Cruz just to save some bucks.
you can bluetooth it from your phone either by using Fords wireless plan through ATT or using your phones data plan.
Third antenna input is for DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), found in Europe and 40+ other countries, but not in North America. It broadcast at different frequency than FM, so needs different antenna not available in North America.I finally received the fuse taps and the Fakra to FM antenna cable adapters on Monday and Tuesday. So yesterday I took the afternoon to install. The plastic bezel around the center console vents and AC controls comes off easily, just popping four tabs.
I removed the blue Ford Fakra type blue onnector shown on the left within the red eclipse in the above photo. The female Fakra to FM cable adapter plugged easily on the Ford male connector. The Ford female connector on the loose cable plugged easily on to the Fakra to FM adapter with the male connector. This left me with only two FM cable ends on the purchased adapters not connected.
This leaves the obvious connection of the FM cable ends of the FMDA25 inline FM relay to the FM cable connectors of the Fakra to FM adapters. Pretty logical and obvious. I ran the FMDA25 connection cable to the Commander Touch Module down the right side of the open center console out bottom to the fuse box area for connection to the Commander Touch Module.
After removing the right floor board fuse box cover, I spent 1-1/2 hours trying to find a fuse slot that was not hot when the key was off and out of the ignition. I didn't find one. I don't know if they just were staying on for a few minutes after the ignition was turned off or not. I just didn't find a fuse slot controlled by the accessory which was necessary for the Commander Touch module to work properly. See the photo below that shows the power connections with the yellow wire connecting to the battery or a connection that remains hot. The red wire connects to an ignition control accessory connection, the orange wire connects to the cars illumination control which is not necessary for use. I don't care if the Commander Touch display dims with cabin lighting, or not, so I did not connect this wire.
Obviously the black wire is the ground and is connected to the stud with a nut and washer just below the red battery wire and the green accessory wire feeding the fuse box. Instead of a fuse adapter, I tapped the fused yellow wire of the Commander Touch power connection wire to the red battery wire feeding the fuse box shown below. The red accessory Commander Touch power connection I tapped into the green wire shown below controlled by the ignition. Unfortunately, the first time I made the connection I mistakenly connected both the red accessory wire and the yellow battery wire of the power harness to the red always hot wire feeding the fuse box. So, naturally, when I turned the ignition off the Commander Touch display remained on. So, I had to remove the accessory red wire connection and make the tap on Ford's green accessory wire.
I then connected the Display, the FMDA25 relay, the antenna, and power harness to the Commander Touch Module. I did not use the auxiliary cable since it will not work with the auxiliary input of the Ford Radio.
So with everything connected, I started the truck and turned on the Commander Touch display and activated the SiriusXM radio and set it up. The Commander Touch display is bright and easy to see with great resolution and relieved my concerns about the small size of the display. Touch controls on the display work without lag and are intuitive to use. Finding an unused FM channel was difficult but finally I found one and tuned the Commander Touch to the appropriate channel.
I was going to put the display above Ford's display, but it seemed to interfere with the FM signal. So, I have notmounted it in a permanent position yet. I'm not real happy with the FM signal from the FMDA25 adapter and location seems to be important. The FMDA25 adapter is supposed to be a relay and block all FM over the air signals only to broadcast the FM channel chosen. It doesn't seem to work as I can change FM channels and they come through fine.
I'm going to try a few different places within the center console or fuse box area to locate the FMDA25 adapter. On the road it seems to perform a little better but I still notice some occasional FM static. I'm going to try and get some support help with SiriusXM to alleviate static through the FMDA25 relay and see why it will not cut out the FM broadcast signals. My old school 2003/2005 XACT radio FM signal had no static, so other than controls the Commander Touch did not improve the Satellite radio performance.
It's still a work in progress and I'll update when I can.
Thanks...good information. Although, the Harman CTR OM says the antenna port is SDARS. It's not on mine, so it doesn't matter.
Please review my post “Satellite radio antenna in all Mavericks?” I would like to know if you find any errors. If what I say is true, would you do your install differently? I would like to know the best way for when my Maverick arrives.
I don't know what to say, other than, there was no satellite antenna cable present in my XL at the ACM. Does this mean there is not a SiriusXM antenna contained in the shark fin? No, not necessarily. It also doesn't mean there is one either. I've got mine running and unless I can afford to upgrade the ACM and install an APIM upgrading to Sync 3/4, or another aftermarket SiriusXM that adds control to the 8" Ford display, I'm not fooling with the SiriusXM antenna again. Once is enough.
There is definitely not a satellite antenna in the shark fin on any trim level as a base option. The only aerial that has it is the one included in the Lux. package for the Lariats. They also using different wiring harnesses.I don't know what to say, other than, there was no satellite antenna cable present in my XL at the ACM. Does this mean there is not a SiriusXM antenna contained in the shark fin? No, not necessarily. It also doesn't mean there is one either. I've got mine running and unless I can afford to upgrade the ACM and install an APIM upgrading to Sync 3/4, or another aftermarket SiriusXM that adds control to the 8" Ford display, I'm not fooling with the SiriusXM antenna again. Once is enough.
