Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

First let me give credit to rdennis for his pics and instructions on taking the head unit out of the dash, without itI wouldnt have had the balls. So for that part see his Nav posts for destructions.
Annnd my husband although mechanically challenged he is one awesome installer :D Hiding wires just makes me pissy.

Oh and in our family we call this "Better n Nuttin so dont complain" lol

So heres the story, we have a sirius unit that we pass around between the vehicles, the satelite antennas and power supplies were cheap so the boat, car and van were all wired for the same receiver I was the one that usually listened to it.

Hubby ordered a cheap unit to steal the power supply off of it not thinking that it was completely different and ran off 5v not 12v. So he figured he would just give it to me and suck up the extra subscription.

So we decide where to mount it which that part worked quite well however the antenna on the outie is very picky and even with the extension antenna stuck on the inside of the back window the stereo indicator would fade in and out. I dont have the fading on regular FM that others have commented on so I cant complain about that. I wonder if it has anything to do with the aluminum roof. It was fine if I put the transmittter extension on the outside but that wasnt a good idea.

So on to hacking the antenna input on the stereo head unit, I didnt see a standard antenna input on the pics from rdennis so I could only hope there was one.
Well there was *does a happy dance* so we were going to order the antenna adapter to put the sirius signal right on the antenna input then the car antenna plugs into that. I called around to find one locally that didnt cost $40 and came up with nothing and we had to put it together before it went to the dealer tomorrow for the hitch.

So a littlepoor(wo)mansengineering and we decided towrap the wire from the extension transmitter around the plug for the antennna and shoved it back in the hole and much to our suprise it worked and we still have regular radio reception, yay for saving $40 *does the happy dance again*

To cut down on the hanging wires (I may be poor but can do without the look) we drilled through the top of the cubby and routed the wires that way.

>>>So heres my question, I saw in rdennis post about the homelink mirror how to pick up poweroff one of the connectors which is fine but is there a ground anywhere else than behind the trim down there? Has anyone looked into what mitsu has in mind for acessory power i.e fog lamps? I considered wiring it into the back of the radio but hadnt figured out the wiring back there, its different than the nav unit.

And now the pics


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7894/p1010623kr2.jpg

The hole in the top of the cubby...its a little sloppy the largest bit the drill would take was too small

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9462/p1010622wy3.jpg

The sirius transmitter extension wire shoved in the antenna socket. However I highly recommend using the correct adapter to do this :D

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2054/p1010628mx0.jpg

How it turned out ;)The one thing I would have chosen different (if I got to choose) is a unit that doesnt have the connectors sticking out the side. I am partial to blue but I think the orange goes with the red on the dash better.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3557/p1010632qi5.jpg

RE: Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

Came out great I like the install but can you see whats on with it down there? It does look stock like that though. Was your husband handing you the tools today?

I just noticed that your temp gauge has blue and red indicationg hot and cold. I figured that all the models would be the same. After being so use to seeing mine all the time it threw me off seeing that.

RE: Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

You can ground it to pretty much any part of the vehicle chassis - on the Homelink install,that particular ground just happened to be in the right place - its one of Mitsu's grounds but I could have used any.Around the radio, you can ground it easily to any part of the metal radio mount chassis. In your first picture above, the metal mount chassis is right next to the connector on the right (with the bundle of orange wires) - it is properly grounded.

RE: Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

Damn I totally missed the question. A ground is a ground no matter where its at. You can ground into the radio, head lights, but a easier thing to do is ground into one of the metal brackets behind the head unit. Just scrap off alittle bit of paint so you have a good metal to metal contact. Give it a test before permantly attaching it to that spot and your good to go.

RE: Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

Looks clean man....great job!!!

RE: Poor (wo)mans sirius *pics* + gotta power question
 

That is a pretty sweet looking install - I have been trying for months to get a factory tuner to no avail. Although the latest update I have received is they will be available the last week of July - MSRP is $1,000! The best price I have been given is $850. I am not kidding.

In the meantime I am going to do something similar - your install has now given me some good ideas!

Hello - question about your install
 

Hi,

Nice job. Can you tell me what Sirius model player that is? I want to do something similar.
I have an 07 XLS already have the factory Sirius installed on the 6 CD changer. But I'm changing my 6 CD changer for an aftermarket navigation screen and it doesn't have Sirius.

Do you know if I can use a similar player and hook it to the factory Sirius module or do I only need to connect the factory antenna to it?

Thanks let me know if you know any other compatible Sirius radio to work with an aftermarket in-dash GPS/DVD touchscreen Navi.