[froman]

I bought the 20' satellite radio antenna extension from MyRadioStore.us last month, to run my XM MyFi until there is an adapter to run XM on the stock radio (if ever ) It worked great for a few weeks, but now when I turn the MyFi on I get no signal, and "ANTENNA" shows up at the top of the display, like there is no antenna connected. I checked the connection in the trunk, it is plugged in firmly. I took off the little adapter cable that lets me plug in directly to the MyFi w/o the cradle, and plugged the cable into the cradle, still nothing, I checked to see if the extension cable is getting pinched somewhere, looks fine. What am I missing? Can these cables fail? Thanks.

[rlc]

Originally Posted by froman

I bought the 20' satellite radio antenna extension from MyRadioStore.us last month, to run my XM MyFi until there is an adapter to run XM on the stock radio (if ever ) It worked great for a few weeks, but now when I turn the MyFi on I get no signal, and "ANTENNA" shows up at the top of the display, like there is no antenna connected. I checked the connection in the trunk, it is plugged in firmly. I took off the little adapter cable that lets me plug in directly to the MyFi w/o the cradle, and plugged the cable into the cradle, still nothing, I checked to see if the extension cable is getting pinched somewhere, looks fine. What am I missing? Can these cables fail? Thanks.

I use the XM Sportscaster in the sunglass tray. I had the same thing happen with my system and it turned out to be the antenna input on the Sportscaster that was fried. Yours is the first I've heard of anyone else having a problem so I figured it was isolated. I am wondering if the electrical output from the shark fin is incompatible with XM receivers, since a couple of installers told me that Sirius and XM uses different antennas and were surprised that my XM worked with the sharkfin. I replaced the receiver under warranty and have not had another occurrence yet. The only thing I've done different with the replacement receiver is leave the power off until the car is running (i.e. no auto powerup), thinking that a power surge at startup may have damaged the antenna input. That's just a guess, though. The MyFi is a lot more expensive than the $45 Sportcaster so hopefully your MyFi is OK and it is an antenna lead problem.

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by rlc

I use the XM Sportscaster in the sunglass tray. I had the same thing happen with my system and it turned out to be the antenna input on the Sportscaster that was fried. Yours is the first I've heard of anyone else having a problem so I figured it was isolated. I am wondering if the electrical output from the shark fin is incompatible with XM receivers, since a couple of installers told me that Sirius and XM uses different antennas and were surprised that my XM worked with the sharkfin. I replaced the receiver under warranty and have not had another occurrence yet. The only thing I've done different with the replacement receiver is leave the power off until the car is running (i.e. no auto powerup), thinking that a power surge at startup may have damaged the antenna input. That's just a guess, though. The MyFi is a lot more expensive than the $45 Sportcaster so hopefully your MyFi is OK and it is an antenna lead problem.

I'm experiencing the same problem with the same exact XM receiver!!! It worked for 3 days and then I got this "No Signal" thing. How did you find out that it was a bad antenna input? I bought the unit from ebay and don't know if the manufacturer would honor the warranty, so I bought another unit from ebay for $15 (unit only).

Your theory reminds me that the XM receiver actually came with two magnetic filter things. They have a proper name for it but I don't remember what it is. The instruction says it is important to put them on the antenna and the power cables (closest to the receiver) to ensure proper function of the unit. I didn't put them on because I didn't have enough space in the sunglasses holder. I wonder if this filter was intented to prevent this type of damage/failure.

p.s. - I'm also using the sharkfin as my antenna.