Sirius antenna not detected explanation and fix

[apollo1980]

Watch this video. It's 6 minutes long, but at the end, the radio ends up working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs9SPH0tOOM

[SiriusBuzz]

That makes sense. Hopefully it helps some people around here with antenna issues. Thanks for sharing.

[SiriuslyLong]

Consider antennas a disposable. Have extra. One time I week wacked the wire - tore it right in half. It's not like you can go down to the corner store and pick one up.

[memsroberts]

That makes sense. Hopefully it helps some people around here with antenna issues. Thanks for sharing.

A temporary but very easy fix follows. It entails (2) parts:

1) Take the head unit and hold tighly in one hand. With a leather punch or some similiar strong pointed object push outward softly on the copper outer contacts of the ANT connection. Basically just ever so slightly push the copper contacts outward slightly. This will allow them to make better contact with the base mount.

2) Take 2 strands of 18-22 gauge wire cut to 1/4" in length. Curve them both into a very slight "S" shape curve. Now take needle nose pliars and one at a time push the strands of wire into the hole in the head unit. What this will do is basically create a spring contact between the end of the ANT bore (hole in the head unit ) and the pin ANT contact of the base unit.

If you leave the unit installed this will last for several months. I have done it (2) times on my head unit and each time it has lasted about 6 months.

I am looking into replacing that small ANT connection if I can find the part but no success as of yet.

[melarizona]

Dear Sirs,

I am new to this site so please forgive me if my etiquette is not correct. I have 5 Sirius Satelite receivers in various vehicles and homes and have had the same issue on 4 of them. I have tried all of the solutions that I have found online but only one solution have I found to be permanent and work on all 4 units. The issue that I have had on all 4 units and can be visually confirmed is that the physical solder joint between the ANT connection at the connector of the head unit and the internal PWB is cracked and causing intermittent connection depending on temperature and pressure. This issue has been reported on other sites and I have found that this crack is present on all 4 of my units. I have fixed one unit and it now works flawlessly. I will be fixing the others over the next few days. Just wanted to let others know that although this may not be the solution for every unit, for me it has been 4 out of 4.

[wapiti59]

OK. I have read tons of posts on this issue, and none of them offer a permanent fix, so I'm taking this bull by the horns. Many posts I have read indicate that this problem is caused by some very poor engineering in regards to how the antenna connects from the dock to the head unit (Onyx plus). I've had it with this error message constantly interrupting me, so here's what I plan to do: On IFixIt.com, I found a tool that allows you to open the Onyx case without damage. I am going to open the unit, and using a very small antenna cable, I'm going to solder directly to the antenna connections on the mother board, and run that outside the case. The end of that cable will have a connector allowing me to connect it directly to the antenna cable, bypassing the poorly engineered doc connector entirely. Once I have it done, I will post links to the parts, and instructions to complete it. One proviso - In order to do this fix, you will need to have a fine tipped soldering iron, good soldering skills and the ability to modify the case slightly to allow the cable to come out of it. I take no responsibility for what happens if for any reason doing this messes up your unit.