Satellite ready?

I think "Satellite Ready" refers to the ability of the in-car controls to control the satellite radio.

If you buy a low-end plug-and-play Sirius radio ($30 or $40), the hardware cost for a radio, TOYSC1 and SCVDOC1 is under $200. None of the high-end Sirius radio features work when integrated with the car radio anyway.

If you're cheap and don't want MFD and steering wheel integration you can do it with the $40 Sirius radio and a $5 patch cable from Radio Shack.

 

I agree, however the Prius is (perhaps all toyotas?) less "sat ready" than other cars. Other cars I've owned they have all the wiring harnesses ready to be plugged into the Sirius/XM tuner. The sirius/XM tuner is typically free with the purchases of a year subscription. I have 4 vehicles. 3 have Sirius... the one that doesn't is my Prius because of the lack of true integration at the time of purchase. In fact my last 2 vehicles came with Sirius and a years subscription from the factory. I'll eventually pick up one of these third party kits to make it work in my Prius.

 

I'm with you Larry. That was my thought exactly. The addition of the built-in XM was pricey, but I went ahead and did it because I'm in my car A LOT and take frequent road trips and I just wanted my XM without all the extra wires and external crap.

But you know, marketers throw that "ready" word around a lot. A TV is "Cable ready" or "HD Ready", but you still have to get the cable box and HD receiver separately, or you've got nothing. So I've redefined the word "ready" to mean in my mind, get "ready" to spend more.

 

Well... The car IS satellite ready, just as a HDTV without a tuner is HD ready, or TVs back in the early 90s were "cable ready." This is a long-standing electronics industry term that refers to the ability of a device to work with additional hardware. The fact that additional money has to be spent is not relevant. I understand your frustration, but Toyota is simply following industry standard terminology. If the car were not "satellite ready," it would not be possible to control a satellite tuner with the factory head unit and MFD regardless of how much money one was willing to spend.

Now for the more productive part of my comment: Get the Directed Electronics TOY-SC1 and SC-C1 units, and you will have satellite radio with OEM controls for under $250. The installation is easy, and can be done under a tree, or by a local stereo shop for a reasonable fee.

Good luck, and enjoy.

 

I also 'misunderstood' the satellite ready designation attached to the Prius.
I found out just prior to signing on the dotted line that the vehicle was 'not really ready'! But I did not know how expensive 'not ready' was.
For me, this is just a thing that Toyota does. They do not equip their cars very well. Everything, but everything, is an add-on for extra money.
If my previous $18k VW could come with a 230 watt, AM/FM, CD, XM radio, why can't a $25k Prius.
At least the most expensive model could be equipped with a 'really ready' satellite radio.

Just a gripe I have about Toyota that I have always had.
Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love my Prius....the lack of XM is/was annoying however.

 

I had Sirius installed by the dealer.

The car is Satellite ready in the way of the following after installation:

You have three new selection besides the regular AM/FM/CD - now SAT1, SAT2 and SAT3. Each have 6 presets to program by just a hit of a button - gives you 18 preset Satellite stations.

You have full control of modes from the steering wheel and MFU.
You have channel selection and volume as well from the steering wheel and MFU.

Once installed it is seamless... really slick verses the old separate XM/Sirius radio receiver.

 

I've been confused in other threads. So you need both the TOY-SC1 and SC-C1? is one of them the interface and the other the actual tuner? In other words, if I were to buy both of these will I be at a point where I pull the serial number off of the tuner, call the 800# for Sirius and get activated? Or is there something else?

Also, I remember hearing in the past an issue with only 10 characters being displayed. Do the above part numbers have this "issue"?

Mike

 

The TOYSC1 is the interface, and the SCC is a permanently installed tuner. You could instead connect a SCVDOC1 to the TOYSC1. The SCVDOC1 is a docking station for a dock-and-play Sirius radio (e.g., Sportster, Stratus, Starmate), so you could move a single radio from the car into a Bookbox dock or a home stereo dock.

I have a Stratus radio so eventually I'll go the SCVDOC1/TOYSC1 route.

 

The toyota parts required for XM radio are as follows:
XM radio kit
PN-86180-0W031 $169.15

Satellite radio Xm fit kit
PN-546-47060 $85

My understanding is these are the parts that are required to install satellite in a 2008 Prius. This may also be the same parts for other years, I do not know that.

What I would expect after installing the above parts is what 'cobraz' has described. There are more than one SAT channels to set up your presets and then all you have to do is call XM and set up an account with the serial number of the XM radio.

The parts above are what I have been told by two Toyota dealerships and are what will give you the integrated use of your MFD and steering wheel controls. At least that is my understanding and likely what 'cobraz' had installed in his/her Prius.

I don't know if that is helpful to anyone but just to say what I found out. No wires, no extra little gadgets attached to the dashboard or otherwise.

 

You can get the TOYSC1 and SCC1 as a set for $147 here. I'm pretty sure it gives the same performance as the Toyota kit.

 

The only advantage the factory Sirius unit has is that the up/down buttons on the steering wheel change between presets. For the TOY-SC1, they go up/down one channel.

Other than that, the TOY-SC1 plus SCC1 or a dock is better in every way -- cheaper, better reception.

Although you could set up a Sirius account with just the SCC1, there's not really any reason to. You can't use it until installed with a TOY-SC1, and they'll have to resend the activation signal if it isn't on when you register it.

 

I just finished an install on XM. Highly satisfied with Factory Interactive. Here's a link to a thread and some pictures I took:
http://priuschat.com/forums/audio-electronics/50810-xm-radio-factory-interactive-w-pics.html