Sirus Satellite Radio In 2006 Prius

[suebeegrl]

I've read all of the posts for Siruis Satellite radio and need some clarity for the 2006 Prius. I have radio button "AM/Sat" which means that if I have the SIRIUS Starbase Satellite Radio Receiver installed, would the music play through the AM/Sat channel? Also, I would like to have this installed in the hidden compartment below the CD changer and view and select the stations on the Nav system screen. Can this be seamlessly done? I've asked the Circuit City installers and I get mixed answers. I've googled this and come up with this forum as the best place to find the answers. Is it better to have it installed at a Toyota Dealership? Would I still need to have a separate antenna installed even though I have the NAV satellite antenna? BTW - I don't want to wait for the XM factory install to come out in April since I prefer Sirus (and not because of Howard Stern). In summary, I'm looking at the Starbase Receiver because I want everything seamless and integrated - not plug and play. Am I asking too much at this point? I'm a computer techy but this is beyond me. Thanks for any insight and words of wisdom.

[Dripps]

check out www.priusxm.com He installs both and sells kits for both. Just had my xm radio installed and I'm very happy to have it part of my system.

[petteri]

I've read all of the posts for Siruis Satellite radio and need some clarity for the 2006 Prius. I have radio button "AM/Sat" which means that if I have the SIRIUS Starbase Satellite Radio Receiver installed, would the music play through the AM/Sat channel?

no.

Also, I would like to have this installed in the hidden compartment below the CD changer and view and select the stations on the Nav system screen. Can this be seamlessly done?

With the integrated Toyota branded Sirius tuner, yes.

Is it better to have it installed at a Toyota Dealership? Would I still need to have a separate antenna installed even though I have the NAV satellite antenna?

Yes, you will need a seperate satellite radio antenna. The installation is pretty easy and there are a few places that you can by the kit from

[quote]BTW - I don't want to wait for the XM factory install to come out in April since I prefer Sirus (and not because of Howard Stern). In summary, I'm looking at the Starbase Receiver because I want everything seamless and integrated - not plug and play.[\quote]

Now, this is the sticking point. I don't know if the 04/05 Sirius (or XM tuner for that matter) will work in a 06. Has anyone here tried? If not, and there is no Toyota branded Sirius tuner for the 06 then you'll be stuck with a PnP. Perhaps someone will make an adaptor that allows Sirius to be played on a XM ready Toyota radio.

Am I asking too much at this point? I'm a computer techy but this is beyond me. Thanks for any insight and words of wisdom.

That is what the forum is all about! Ask away!!!

[danoday]

One of the criticisms I've heard about the Prius Sirius interface that works with the multi-function display is that it only shows the first ten characters of the song and artist text. If you look at the Sirius Prius screen graphic on FactoryInteractive (located here), you'll notice that the song name and artist are both under 10 characters. It is my understanding that if an artist or title is over ten characters long, it will be truncated.

This has pretty much been the only thing stopping me from buying one. If someone has come up with a fix for this limitation, please announce it.

Dan

[danoday]

Oh, one more note. Adding another source to the factory audio system is pretty simple... you just plug it into the chain and register it. I've added the VAIS IPOD adapter, which emulates a minidisk player. After installation, the MD player came up in the sequence when I hit the MODE button. Apparently the SAT1, SAT2, and SAT3 devices work the same way... when you install the device (and it is compatible with the MFD), it registers and adds itself to the MODE sequence.

This likely won't work if you add a separate non-compatible Sirius device, like the Streamer. The only way to get that audio in is to use a separate device that allows line input (my VAIS IPOD adapter does this), or to plug the output from your device into the '06 delivered MP3 player input socket. Neither of these options will allow you to control the Streamer from the MFD screen... you'll still need to access it to change channels, etc.

Oh, you could use a small FM transmitter to rebroadcast the Streamer output to an unused FM frequency, but the sound quality isn't really that good. As well, if your commute takes you through different areas where the limited number of stations are already used, you might find yourself changing frequencies multiple times on a single trip. This can be frustrating (I know, used to have to do it while driving from my home in Lake Tahoe to Reno... the nearest large city!).

Dan

[petteri]

Just a quick note, the current Toyota branded Sirius tuner will work in the 2006 Prius. Now nobody seems to know if a newer version, that allows for more song info, (as is the case for XM) will be arriving shortly or not...

[tjbrooks]

This pretty much confirms what you've been told here, but just in case.....

I got the Sirius tuner installed for free with my 2006 Prius. The invoice cost was ~$280 for hardware and installation. The only visible equipment is the antenna, which was placed above my rear view mirror on the passenger side. You will need one too, as I'm guessing the NAV antenna is GPS only. The Toyota Sirius tuner basically adds three (or four, I forget) modes to your AM/SAT button. It cycles like this AM/SAT1/SAT2/SAT3. My button actually says only "AM", but I just have a lowly Package 3. The 10 character limitation sucks, but at least is better than no artist info at all.

In choosing between Sirius and XM, I found two decision-making differences:

1) Sports: For exclusives, XM has MLB, Sirius has NFL. I don't like either, but Sirius also has English Premiership, which probably only I care about. Both have NHL.
2) Talk: Sirius has more, albeit without the bigger names (IMHO)

I think XM might have a bit more for Rock music, but it could be that they just describe their channels better. Of course Sirius was free and available now, so the choice was obvious irregardless of offerings. On the other hand, a year ago I got to see "Rhythym" and "Blues", the next two XM satellites on the production floor. That was amazing. Almost enough to build brand loyalty.

I'm done rambling. Good luck.

[xxfwmxx]

Where did you get this installed and how was it free? I asked my dealer about it and they said it couldnt be done till later this year.

Originally posted by tjbrooks@Jan 25 2006, 12:53 PM
This pretty much confirms what you've been told here, but just in case.....

I got the Sirius tuner installed for free with my 2006 Prius.  The invoice cost was ~$280 for hardware and installation.  The only visible equipment is the antenna, which was placed above my rear view mirror on the passenger side.  You will need one too, as I'm guessing the NAV antenna is GPS only.  The Toyota Sirius tuner basically adds three (or four, I forget) modes to your AM/SAT button.  It cycles like this AM/SAT1/SAT2/SAT3.  My button actually says only "AM", but I just have a lowly Package 3.  The 10 character limitation sucks, but at least is better than no artist info at all.

In choosing between Sirius and XM, I found two decision-making differences:

1) Sports: For exclusives, XM has MLB, Sirius has NFL.  I don't like either, but Sirius also has English Premiership, which probably only I care about.  Both have NHL.
2) Talk: Sirius has more, albeit without the bigger names (IMHO)

I think XM might have a bit more for Rock music, but it could be that they just describe their channels better.  Of course Sirius was free and available now, so the choice was obvious irregardless of offerings.  On the other hand, a year ago I got to see "Rhythym" and "Blues", the next two XM satellites on the production floor.  That was amazing.  Almost enough to build brand loyalty. 

I'm done rambling.  Good luck.

[snapback]197075[/snapback]

[jsf]

One additional difference: Both XM and Sirius have approx 21 areas for traffic and weather, but on XM each market has its own channel. A while back I looked at a Sirius brochure and 2 markets share each channel. To me this a big advantage for XM. The LA traffic info is long enough; I would not like to have to listen to the San Diego traffic to hear the entire loop.

[petteri]

Originally posted by jsf@Jan 25 2006, 12:26 PM
One additional difference: Both XM and Sirius have approx 21 areas for traffic and weather, but on XM each market has its own channel.  A while back I looked at a Sirius brochure and 2 markets share each channel.  To me this a big advantage for XM.  The LA traffic info is long enough; I would not like to have to listen to the San Diego traffic to hear the entire loop.

[snapback]197109[/snapback]

True, but New York and L.A. each get a dedicated channel. Both Sirius and XM now also offer traffic data services. Nothing to tie into the Prius NAV system yet though.