To the few of us who have a Gobi rack or looking to get a Gobi rack, my only beef with it was that it covered the XM antenna and so XM stopped working as soon as I installed the rack!!!
Well after several months of the dealer and the local radio shop telling me that you can't just plug in an antenna, I had enough of thestories and went to town in an all or nothing effort to get my XM back!

I bought a normal antenna..same one below..
Magnet mount, decent amount of wire.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QJL07An...rch=xm+antenna

Step one was unplugging a wire from the XM module that looked like an antenna. Picked the right one on the first try...mine had a brown adapter on it and what looked like a proprietary adapter but the middle was just a standard coax cable and the same size as the one I just bought. I've heard this can be orange or yellow also.

Step two was snapping off the pink end of the antenna I bought. I'm sure there is some way to do this gracefully but I missed my IRL radio far too much so I took a dremmel to it and chopped it to bits. You dont want to just cut the wire though. There is a standard coax plug hidden in the middle of that pink adapter and that needs to stay in working order. Now I had a Female end of a proprietary GM plug (round but with prongs making it square) and a standard coax plug on the antenna.

Step three was the final brutal step and involved fitting a round plug in a square hole. Thinking back to pre-school days where the idea of 'force it until it fits'..I plugged the GM adapter back in and took a wrench to it and turned it until it snapped. The plastic fins broke off and left me a nice round hole the same size as the antenna plug.

Step four was plugged it in, routed it along the wires for the gobi lights and the magnet sticks right to therack grating just fine. With some removable wire ties, it also gives me the freedom to move the antenna in case I load up the rack or cover it again with something else!

 

I'm attempting to add XM to my H3, and had a quick question...


Is there a seperate XM antenna, or does XM utilize the Onstar antenna? I've got the Onstar antenna, but can't find a lead for XM underneath the headliner.

Any suggestions?


Shane

 

If you go aftermarket .. separate antenna, comes with the tuner in most cases. Mount it on the rear of your roof according to the instructions that comes with it and then route the antenna lead in to the cabing as you see fit. I'm in an H2 and I took mine in through the grommet used by thewiring for the 3rd brake light on the toppart of the rear hatch.

 

didnt your h3 came with xm i dont understand your question?


they come stock with xm and a free 90 trial

 

Branstone-- XM itself is optional and I believe it's an add-on box that plugs into the OEM head unit.

[IMG]local://upfiles/2455/EFFB00E38DE149A797CA085C1E459FAE.jpg[/IMG]

 

yes it is an add on box. it mounts above the glove box under the dash. and then plugs into the radio. The base of the onstar antenna assemblyis the xm antenna. The litle stub that sticks up is the actualonstar antenna.Youre looking fora small coax cable (just like a mini version ofyour cable tv). I'm not sure if they come pre-wired...I would assume so though. i would take the stereo completely out and unplug all the wires from the control panel so that you can get up in there good and start looking around for a wire with a plastic adapter on the end that is roughly an inch long and yellow, brown or orange. That will be your XM antenna lead. You can take that adapter off and use it also in aftermarket systems. Less to run and much cleaner.
If you still cant find it, take the dash apart and follow back from the OnStar module to see where it meets up with the XM antenna. Given the way they mass produce, wiring is usually one assembly so I think its safe to assume the wires are in there somewhere.
The problem I was having though is that since there is only 1 XM satellite, you have to have line of site to it. GPS though is fine because it connects to multiple antennas. So I was told even if your XM doesnt work, your GPS still should. Unless you flip. Which is why you need to push the red button quickly if you think you'll roll over because onstar cant get a signal if you're upside down.

 

Actually, there are 3 XM satellites currently orbiting. XM1 launched May 8th -01, XM2 launched March 18th -01, and XM3 launched March 1st -01, http://www.n2yo.com/list.php?c=33
Regardless of satellite count you need line of sight .. nature of the beast I'm afraid.

 

I'm currently running an aftermarket deck and XM tuner with a seperate antenna as you described. I was just wanting to use the factory antenna for a cleaner/factory look, so I could then remove my seperate antenna. The H3 uses a third brake light mounted inside the rear gate, so you can see the wire snaking down, hence my wanting a better look.


Shane

 

Thanks GR, that's what I was looking for. I have the headliner dropped down, and the stock radio removed, but couldn't find the antenna leads from the antenna to the Onstar module. I'll pull the glove box and look above the heater core/fan housing. Chevrolet trucks come pre-wired with the antenna lead if the truck has Onstar, so I was hoping the Hummer was the same. Just wanting a cleaner/factory look on the outside. Appreciate it...


Shane

 

No problem...let me know if you find it. I'd be interested to know if the XM antenna is considered part of the stock wiring harness.