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Touched base with the Caprice PPV community on Facebook about getting access to the underside of the roof and...
The shark-fin XM antenna I've selected to plug one roof hole will likely not do anything when plugged into the radio because it's expecting something from a black-box that's supposed to reside between the antenna and the radio and connected to the car's CAN bus.
While it's possible that this box's functionality is built into the radio, it's improbable because the source of the radio is an Australian car. They don't have XM.
If it works it's because the radio interprets the XM signal as a digital radio input.
As I say, unlikely without a converter box in between.
The GPS antenna, though, is more likely to work as advertised. Even if it doesn't, the antenna they included with the radio will.
All of this angst got me wondering...
Do I need XM?
New radio gets the AM/FM that I've been listening to for a while.
The CD player will play a CD burned with hours of songs.
There is a hard drive in there that will store up to 15 CD-A formatted discs.
There is a USB port that I can plug a memory stick into and play mp3 and wma music from.
I can also use the USB port for an iPod. I have a lot of music on my ancient 80gb iPod.
There is a 3.5mm auxiliary input port that lets me play music from anything with a headphone jack. Including that iPod or my phone.
There's Bluetooth connectivity that lets me play music from my phone's internal storage or streamed from the internet... including XM if I upgrade my phone to one of the unlimited plans.
So... do I need Sirius/XM in The Beast?
Probably not worth the trouble.
When the deluxe factory deck* in my Grand Caravan died, I went with a cheap no-disc unit from Pioneer (IE, a name slapped on some random electronics) - AM/FM/USB/VikingWave... uhm, BlueTooth. And unless the BT has fribbled off for some reason (mostly happened with my older tablet), the radio doesn't get used. (USB compatibility requires FAT32, so LOL making a drive strictly for that use.)
ReplyDelete* AM/FM/CD/cassette wooo
I kinda cheat, though because I have no cell; the tablet packs a terabyte microSD so I have a ridonkulous load of media available.
There is no aftermarket option. None. This is because GM followed Ford's lead, screaming "HOLD MY BEER!" and hid the actual radio deep in the dash and run the HVAC through it. Then the buttons for the radio and HVAC are on a separate part with the display...
DeleteThankfully there's a high-end option from Oz, otherwise... Boombox on the cargo shelf!