Just had the XM radio installed in my 2006 HCH and the reception is not as good as I expected. The antenna is mounted on the inside of the windshield in the upper right-hand (passenger side) corner. When the car is heading in a Northerly direction the XM radio signal fades in and out. I know the satellite is in the Southern sky here in North America (SF Bay Area) but I never had this kind of problem with my XM radio installed in my pickup truck with an external antenna on the roof.

Anyone else having that issue?

 

Are you using the OEM version of XM radio or aftermarket.

 

I have my XM antenna sitting on the rear shelf on the right side... just where it meets the back glass. No problems with reception on my aftermarket unit (Delphi Roadie)

 

My car has Nav and I thought the GPS antenna was the same as the XM antenna (back center of the roof where the FM antenna screws into). Is this not true? Is the XM antenna a *separate* item in/on the car? Let us know if your car has Nav as that might be the reason for the separate-mount for XM. I can play the PC cards in my radio and that alone gives me 900 songs and then I can burn as many CDs as I want with 900 songs on them so I have little need for any XM right now. Saves me the subscription fee too.

 

This is the dealer sold and installed OEM option.

 

I had the OEM antenna installed and ended up returning it for a new one because of coverage problems. It was constantly cutting in and out. New one did the same thing. Finally purchased a miniature XM radio magnetic mount antenna ( Best Buy ) and replaced the OEM antenna ( required some splicing ) Problems went away. Works great now.

IMO the OEM antenna is JUNK.

 

I thought the same too but I was mistaken. The GPS antenna for my Navi HCH is not the XM antenna too. The installation of the XM system requires an additional antenna which, in my case, was installed on the upper right corner (passenger side) of the windshield. I think that is causing the bad reception when facing north in the US.

 

Same exact problem here with my '06 Civic hybrid. Here's the deal. This black block of an antenna that they have mounted on the inside of the winshield is a 2.3ghz patch antenna. It's an active antenna meaning it has an amplifier in the base (the part that is stuck to the winshield) and the coax cable has voltage on it to power the thing. The patch antenna (active element) is located on the sloping front of the case, and instead of it looking towards the sky (as it should be), it is instead focused on the passenger seat!! The 'engineers' at Honda might be good at auto mechanics, but they have zero RF experience. Basically, they have mounted the antenna upside down!! That ain't gonna cut it. My Hybrid is in the shop today because of this, and I'm battling this out with Honda, trying to make them understand the error of their ways. I too, would prefer to buy a micro antenna and replace this massive ugly big black block, however, the way they mounted my XM receiver in the wheel well area is virtually impossible to gain access to the antenna jack on the reciever!! So needless to say I'm not at all happy about this.

Regards,
Steve

 

I also had initially believed that the antena above the rear window was used for XM. When I had it installed, I found out that I was wrong.

Is the XM antenna from the Accord integrated into the navigation antenna? If so, is it possible to retrofit the Accord antenna on the HCH?

 

Well guys, Honda has really put the screw to me on this one. After holding the vehicle for five days, and using a Honda Pilot with the XM antenna factory mounted on the OUTSIDE of the vehicle, they claim that they cannot find a problem with my incorrect installation and they won't warranty it. I plan to appeal this with the owner of the dealership as well as a writing campaign to Honda. I probably won't get anywhere doing all of this, and I know it's going to be much simpler to simply buy a micro antenna, pop it on top of the car and all is solved.. It's just the principle of the whole thing. Honda did this wrong, yet they won't admit it. That's pretty lousy. I would highly recommend against the factory XM installation for the hybrid.. It's best to get a 3rd party solution, the SkyFi2 etc.. and enjoy it that way. XM or Sirius is well worth the subscription (in my opinion) but this garbage that Honda offers for hardware is a joke.

Shifting gears here briefly, can someone direct me towards an article that explains in basic terms how the Civic hybrid works.. I have a lot of folks wanting to know how all the batteries, engine, etc work together to achieve it's hybrid format, and this is one area I know nothing about. Got any links that I can read up on? Please send 'em over, and thanks!

Steve