XM Antenna

[rider595]

2018 Goldwing Tour... Does any have a suggestion for an antenna other then the OEM. Why spend 100.00 dollars.. The plug on the OEM antenna looks different

[MikeB]

Just yesterday I read that this one worked.
https://www.amazon.com/XM-Interoperable ... 252&sr=8-3
I do not use XM so there is not personal experience involved here. Just passing what I have read.

Find This Item on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H5D0I1A?tag=goldwingdocs-20

[minimac]

This is what you need. It adapts your OEM antenna lead to the 3mm plug, if that's what your looking for.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Antenna-Adap ... lsrc=3p.ds

[WingAdmin]

This is what you need. It adapts your OEM antenna lead to the 3mm plug, if that's what your looking for.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Antenna-Adap ... lsrc=3p.ds

That will definitely not work for the XM satellite antenna. That's for AM/FM radio.

[minimac]

Posted wrong picture. It should have been this:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Scosche-Uaa3 ... r/23014644

[WingAdmin]

Again, that's for an AM/FM antenna, and definitely won't work.

AM works at 540 KHz to 1600 KHz. FM works from 8810 KHz to 1080 KHZ (88.1 MHz to 108 MHz).

Satellite radio works at 2345000 KHz (2345 MHz). Two orders of magnitude higher. You can't send those types of frequencies down inexpensive coax as they will vanish into noise.

So the antenna is not just an antenna, it is an amplifier and downconverter. It has electronics inside that amplify the extremely faint satellite signal, mix it with a local oscillator signal, producing a signal at 500 MHz, which it then sends down the coax. However, even 500 MHz requires different impedance and shielding than the typical AM/FM frequencies handled by the typical automotive antenna cable and connectors. Attempting to send the 500 MHz signal over those will cause the signal to vanish.

Even cutting and splicing the satellite antenna coax can cause disruptions in that signal. Not that it can't be done, but it really has to be done properly in order to keep that signal intact. This is the reason the antennas typically have very long (and thin) coax cables so that you just bundle up what isn't used.

The good news is that MOST of the satellite radio antennas are interchangeable. You can take an antenna from any manufacturer, and connect it to any other manufacturer's radio, and it will work.

[minimac]

Again, that's for an AM/FM antenna, and definitely won't work.

You have to tell that to my old 1500, because that's what I had been using(factory antenna) along with my old Roady XT for a number of years. Used in conjunction with the cassette adapter on the factory radio, no issues whatsoever.

[Geeoff]

I bought a cheap antenna on amazon for $ 18.00 cdn and was able to remove the plug casing (of which different suppliers have different shape openings in) by removing a clip on the side of the plug and the innards of the plug fit perfectly in my 2020 DCT Tour
I also mounted the antenna inside the lid of the trunk (invisible to the public). The only downfall is the spotty reception that we seem to get up in Canada , It may be because the position of the satellite in relation to our own position. If anyone knows please chime in as I'm no expert on this..

This is the cheap antenna I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/Eightwood-Satell ... B071NN751H

Find This Item on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071NN751H?tag=goldwingdocs-20

[Geeoff]

Sorry the Amazon address did not function ( I'm new to this stuff)

Description is,

https://www.amazon.com/Eightwood-Satelli ... 20-2345MHz

[thboyd29]

...The only downfall is the spotty reception that we seem to get up in Canada , It may be because the position of the satellite in relation to our own position. If anyone knows please chime in as I'm no expert on this..

I'm no expert either, and so (as usual) I reserve the right to be wrong. With that out of the way...
Communication satellites are positioned over the Equator in what's called "geosynchronous orbit", which is a fancy way of saying that, no matter what time of day, night, or year, we can point to a specific spot and say "Satellite 'X' is *there*". Now. Where "there" is depends on where *you* are. For our purposes, the further north you are, the lower in the sky "there" is. That means two things: One, the actual satellite signal has farther to travel to get to your antenna, and thus is weaker. Two, since the satellite sits lower in the sky, the signal's more likely to be blocked by tall trees, buildings, hills/mountains, or whatever.
Your problem isn't limited to Canada, BTW. Those of us in the northern States have the same problem, but it's not as bad because our version of "there" is relatively higher in the sky. It just takes taller trees to block *our* signals, that's all...
Hopefully all that was at least reasonably coherent.

[WingAdmin]

...The only downfall is the spotty reception that we seem to get up in Canada , It may be because the position of the satellite in relation to our own position. If anyone knows please chime in as I'm no expert on this..

I'm no expert either, and so (as usual) I reserve the right to be wrong. With that out of the way...
Communication satellites are positioned over the Equator in what's called "geosynchronous orbit", which is a fancy way of saying that, no matter what time of day, night, or year, we can point to a specific spot and say "Satellite 'X' is *there*". Now. Where "there" is depends on where *you* are. For our purposes, the further north you are, the lower in the sky "there" is. That means two things: One, the actual satellite signal has farther to travel to get to your antenna, and thus is weaker. Two, since the satellite sits lower in the sky, the signal's more likely to be blocked by tall trees, buildings, hills/mountains, or whatever.
Your problem isn't limited to Canada, BTW. Those of us in the northern States have the same problem, but it's not as bad because our version of "there" is relatively higher in the sky. It just takes taller trees to block *our* signals, that's all...
Hopefully all that was at least reasonably coherent.

Very true about geosynchronous satellites - except Sirius/XM has both geosynchronous satellites as well as lower orbiting satellites that move in a "figure 8" pattern over North and South America. So chances are you have at least one satellite overhead at any given time. It wasn't always that way - satellite dropouts used to be COMMON anytime there was something blocking the signal to the south: buildings, trees, a large truck. I can't remember the last time I had a satellite signal dropout.

[thboyd29]

Very true about geosynchronous satellites - except Sirius/XM has both geosynchronous satellites as well as lower orbiting satellites that move in a "figure 8" pattern over North and South America. So chances are you have at least one satellite overhead at any given time. It wasn't always that way - satellite dropouts used to be COMMON anytime there was something blocking the signal to the south: buildings, trees, a large truck. I can't remember the last time I had a satellite signal dropout.

I won't question you about the "figure 8 pattern" (other than to ask if those those were the old "Rock" and "Roll" sats that XM hyped when they first came online?), but I *can* tell you that I get sat. dropouts here in northern Indiana/SW Michigan **all the time**. They happen both in my car *and* on the '19 Wing, which has the Honda accessory XM antenna feeding the built-in radio. They also happened regularly on my old '01, which had a Roady XT installed by Sierra Electronics. The dropouts are mostly due to trees to the south while traveling east or west - usually worse when traveling east, since I'm closer to the trees off the south shoulder. The further north I go, the more often it happens. Once you get out into open farm country (with few trees), the problem disappears.
PS: FWIW, I *have* been able to receive an XM signal as far north as Yellowknife, NWT. However, I occasionally had to remove the antenna from its magnetic mount on the bike's dash and reposition it so that it faced south in order to maintain reception. That's how relatively low the sats are positioned when you get that far north.
Enjoy the rest of your evening!

[WingAdmin]

Very true about geosynchronous satellites - except Sirius/XM has both geosynchronous satellites as well as lower orbiting satellites that move in a "figure 8" pattern over North and South America. So chances are you have at least one satellite overhead at any given time. It wasn't always that way - satellite dropouts used to be COMMON anytime there was something blocking the signal to the south: buildings, trees, a large truck. I can't remember the last time I had a satellite signal dropout.

I won't question you about the "figure 8 pattern" (other than to ask if those those were the old "Rock" and "Roll" sats that XM hyped when they first came online?), but I *can* tell you that I get sat. dropouts here in northern Indiana/SW Michigan **all the time**. They happen both in my car *and* on the '19 Wing, which has the Honda accessory XM antenna feeding the built-in radio. They also happened regularly on my old '01, which had a Roady XT installed by Sierra Electronics. The dropouts are mostly due to trees to the south while traveling east or west - usually worse when traveling east, since I'm closer to the trees off the south shoulder. The further north I go, the more often it happens. Once you get out into open farm country (with few trees), the problem disappears.
PS: FWIW, I *have* been able to receive an XM signal as far north as Yellowknife, NWT. However, I occasionally had to remove the antenna from its magnetic mount on the bike's dash and reposition it so that it faced south in order to maintain reception. That's how relatively low the sats are positioned when you get that far north.
Enjoy the rest of your evening!

"Rock" and "Roll" were geosynchronous satellites placed on either side of the continent, and transmitted to XM radios. XM's are in green, Sirius in red/white:

The Sirius satellites are set up so that there are always two over North America at all times:

Some (especially older) radios could receive only XM or Sirius signals. The companies merged back in 2008, and many of the newer radios can use both satellite systems. For more northerly latitudes, Sirius performs better than XM.

[thboyd29]

Some (especially older) radios could receive only XM or Sirius signals. The companies merged back in 2008, and many of the newer radios can use both satellite systems. For more northerly latitudes, Sirius performs better than XM.

I remember. I started out with a Sirius radio on my 01, which had a nifty latch in the back of the mount that locked the radio onto the mount. Neither the Roady XT (XM) that followed, or the Onyx (SXM) that followed that had that feature, requiring a rubber band or other means of retaining the radio if you hit a bump. Less than an elegant solution, but workable.
It *is* weird that the radio included with the '18-plus Gold Wings is labelled as XM-only, as opposed to SXM. There are several SXM channels that the Onyx radio gets that the Wing's radio doesn't. I wonder if GW radios can even receive/process signals from those Sirius sats? You'd think they would, since those sats would help reception in the north, but who knows?

[ka4yqi]

Just got done installing the xm satellite motorcycle antenna here and did a 25 mile round a bout trip where I use to lose signal. Dont know if the antenna or just lucky, but no signal drop notice. Now mind you this was on my kawasaki nomad and I mount it to the handbar about in the middle. I dont have xm on the goldwing trike yet. I not sure where I run up on the antenna, but it works so far a lots better than the magnetize mount antenna.

www.xm-radio-satellite.com/content/pdfs ... Insert.pdf

I got mine off walmart.com and got free shipping.

The only problem I han is the antenna lead was 6 foot and my xmradio is in my saddle bag. lead was almost to short.

[Lumberjack1844]

XM using satellite is line of sight and find when I get into the treed or mountainous area I lose signal frequently. Unless you are in a city that has terrestrial repeaters (towers) it will cut out due to buildings. If you have good cell/data reception while riding try using the app instead and may fair better. Personally, I only switch XM when Spotify fails and I can't touch my phone while driving.

[raven41951]

My ongoing issue with satellite reception starts with the self-install, Toyota Tundras with built-in, an F350 and now a 2021 DCT bagger with built-in. I have found reception is affected as previously mentioned, tall buildings, mountainous terrain, thick forest growth and anything else that blocks the signal.

I have never had many issues with the self-install units with reception and continuous playing under bridges etc. as that is where they were originally marketed to (truckers and other long-haul drivers). I have noted the placement on Japanese vehicles is on the passenger side (drivers side in Japan) where they are more prone to blockage. My F350 has the antenna on the drivers side and has less outages. My theory fails with the DCT as it has the same outages but the antenna is centrally located under the cowl.

I'm no expert but my experience suggests that buffering is the main issue. The self-install radios sold by SXM have buffers to provide continuous play when signal is temporarily lost (like a UPS). In my vehicles, I suspect there is little or no buffering so that when the signal is lost, even momentarily, service is interrupted. SO, if we could add buffers to the radio would that help?

[WingAdmin]

The radios actually receive from BOTH satellites at the same time, and each satellite has two copies of each audio stream. One of the audio stream copies on each satellite is delayed by a second or two. There is also a delay between the two satellites, as one is (normally) farther away than the other.

So the radios are receiving four copies of each audio stream, all of which are delayed from one another. The radio will typically play the earliest stream, but will buffer the other three (or as many as it is receiving). When it loses signal from one satellite, and has access to the other, it will switch over. The radio will emit an artificial burst of quiet white noise when this happens, meant to imitate a terrestrial radio static, so people know what is happening.

If it has one satellite being received, with the two streams, it will play the earliest stream, and buffer the later stream. If the signal is interrupted, it will switch to the buffered later stream. Once it regains signal, it will temporarily slow down the playback slightly (not enough that you notice) in order to build up the buffer again before switching back to the earlier stream.

If it runs out of buffer during signal interruption, you'll again get the short white noise, and then silence until the signal comes back.

It's actually a really well-thought out system.

[raven41951]

I was confidant you'd know and thank you for the technical details. Too bad they didn't think about signal obstructions.

[C-dub]

It seems clear to me that I'm missing something here. When I check the satellite information on my 2016 it appears as though I am connected to at least 10 every time I check. The only times I have ever had any drop out is when going through a tunnel or a long underpass.

[thboyd29]

It seems clear to me that I'm missing something here. When I check the satellite information on my 2016 it appears as though I am connected to at least 10 every time I check. The only times I have ever had any drop out is when going through a tunnel or a long underpass.

Are you sure you're not looking at a GPS display, instead of a satellite radio? My 4 (so far) radios simply displayed signal strength by a series of bars in a corner of the main screen - much like a cell phone.
As always, I reserve the right to be wrong...

[C-dub]

It seems clear to me that I'm missing something here. When I check the satellite information on my 2016 it appears as though I am connected to at least 10 every time I check. The only times I have ever had any drop out is when going through a tunnel or a long underpass.

Are you sure you're not looking at a GPS display, instead of a satellite radio? My 4 (so far) radios simply displayed signal strength by a series of bars in a corner of the main screen - much like a cell phone.
As always, I reserve the right to be wrong...

I checked earlier today and I think you're correct. I did not find a screen that indicated how many XM satellites I am connected with.