poor reception ?

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04-19-2009, 08:21 AM
kegger

poor reception ?

Maybe this is a taboo subject since I did not find anything in the FAQ. I am relatively new to Sirius but dove in head first. I purchased one Sportster 5 and move it from each of the other docking stations I have. Then a boom box and a docking station from sirius for my motorcycle. Well at home I get 3 full bars on the boom box. In my pick-up truck I average 2-3 bars while driving around in my local area ( Allentown,Bethlehem,Easton,Pennsylvania) but on my motorcycle I have a hard time keeping just one bar and at best once in awhile I may get 2 but I get a lot of drops (searching for signal) Anyone have any suggestions. Since the bike is my main vehicle during most of the year I sure could use some help here. I have tried moving the dock around to different sections of the handle bar. :(
04-19-2009, 11:15 AM
denb45

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Sounds like you live in an area where there is no SXM repeaters, I have the same problem in my area Albuquerque, NM, even tho, I've found a lone repeater in my area, it's not very good, for best reception, I have to drive north east, I get the best reception mostly 2 to 3 bars, but, when I look at the signal indicator on my Sportster 5, the SAT-signal is the only one I can get, under the Terrestrial signal indicator, it shows no bars...........I want to by a home dock, but I'm afraid if I do, I'd be wasting my money, since I don't have a clear-shot-of-the-sky, and no-windows that face north-east :confused:
04-19-2009, 11:28 AM
imromo24

kegger, you say your moving the radio itself around....are you using the external vehicle antennae? that is what you should be moving around...i don't have a sportster or a bike, just trying to help.
04-19-2009, 05:58 PM
kegger

When I say I am moving it around I am talking about the entire docking base. The docking base for a motorcycle comes with the external antenna with a 6" lead wire. It mounts on top of a pedestal directly behind the radio. So I am loosening the U bolt to slide the entire unit to different spots on the handlebar. The further out towards the hand grip also moves it further away from the fairing. The antenna is also pointing directly towards the sky at all times.
04-19-2009, 06:25 PM
Warren

Is there any way you could mount a standard magnetic antenna to the base? I used to drive a bike with full fairing and bags and the antenna could have worked well on the rear trunk. Perhaps something on the rear fender, around the headlight, or somewhere else in the clear would get the radio working properly. Could you post a picture of the base mount as well as your bike?
04-19-2009, 07:22 PM
denb45

Quote:

Originally Posted by kegger

When I say I am moving it around I am talking about the entire docking base. The docking base for a motorcycle comes with the external antenna with a 6" lead wire. It mounts on top of a pedestal directly behind the radio. So I am loosening the U bolt to slide the entire unit to different spots on the handlebar. The further out towards the hand grip also moves it further away from the fairing. The antenna is also pointing directly towards the sky at all times.

You might want to make sure that the antenna plug in pushed all the way in, also, your antenna wire could be broken or nicked, it happens a lot more than most think, you have to be very careful with that antenna wire, My sportster 5 is only about 2 months old, and I'm already on my 2nd antenna, the 1st one broke at the boot, so, it was hard to find out what was wrong until I took the boot off, and there it was.........