SMB Satellite Antenna Cable

[giancola]

Hi,

After reading through all the posts about what cable to buy for connecting the OEM satellite cable, which is located under the passenger seat, to a satellite tuner/radio, below is what I just ordered.

Keep in mind that the end of the cable with the SMB male(jack) connects under the seat. The other end will depend on the satellite tuner/radio that you are installing. I am installing a Sirius Inv Sat tuner. The 90 degree plug end will look better connected to the Sat tuner.

You can order "The MINI Cooper Cable" at this link:
http://www.cdint.com/catalog/model/SB9SBJ-174LN-5
Or, Call or email Joyce with your order. I attached my order details.
Plug(female) 90 degree SMB to Jack(male) SMB, RG174 low noise, 5 foot $29.90
Headquarters - USA (Engineering, sales, and custom assembly)
CD International Technology, Inc.
473 Sapena Court, Suite 24
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
Toll Free: +1-866-38-cdint (+1-866-382-3468)
Tel: +1-408-986-0725
Fax: +1-408-986-0921
Email: cdint@cdint.com (Joyce helped me out)

[oldopelguy]

I don't think that cable is going to work for you. One end of that is SMA, which is not the same as SMB. For most radios and GPS units you need SMB, and the wire in the car is SMB, so your cable needs to be SMB on both ends. Unfortunately, your cable needs to be SMB male on one end and SMB female on the other, an extension cord, and that particular company doesn't seem to sell cables with both types of SMB ends, just cables with the same SMB polarity on both ends.

Let us know if it works, though.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by giancola

Hi,

After reading through all the posts about what cable to buy for connecting the OEM satellite cable, which is located under the passenger seat, to a satellite tuner/radio, below is what I just ordered.

Keep in mind that the end of the cable with the SMB male(jack) connects under the seat. The other end will depend on the satellite tuner/radio that you are installing. I am installing a Sirius Inv Sat tuner. The 90 degree plug end will look better connected to the Sat tuner.

http://www.cdint.com/catalog/category/Cables
Plug(female) 90 degree SMB to Jack(male) SMB, RG174 low noise, 5 foot $29.90
Headquarters - USA (Engineering, sales, and custom assembly)
CD International Technology, Inc.
473 Sapena Court, Suite 24
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
Toll Free: +1-866-38-cdint (+1-866-382-3468)
Tel: +1-408-986-0725
Fax: +1-408-986-0921
Email: cdint@cdint.com (Joyce helped me out)

Can you send me a picture of the cable you are referring to your MINI? We have plenty of SMB connectors in stock, we can build you an adapter if needed.

[giancola]

oldopelguy is right. I had posted the wrong information

I have fixed the original post to indicate what I "really" ordered. The company actually does carry this cable. You must email or call Joyce to order as the cable does not appear on the website.

Here it is again...

http://www.cdint.com/catalog/category/Cables
Plug(female) 90 degree SMB to Jack(male) SMB, RG174 low noise, 5 foot $29.90
Headquarters - USA (Engineering, sales, and custom assembly)
CD International Technology, Inc.
473 Sapena Court, Suite 24
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
Toll Free: +1-866-38-cdint (+1-866-382-3468)
Tel: +1-408-986-0725
Fax: +1-408-986-0921
Email: cdint@cdint.com (Joyce helped me out)

Thanks to oldopelguy for pointing this out.

[tbonecopper]

giancola... can you post the actual URL (web address) to what you ordered? I can't get the right combination.

[giancola]

Hi tbonecopper, I had to call the company to order the cable I wanted. I talked with the receptionist (Joyce) and also her boss (think it was Steve). They processed the order with my credit card over the phone and sent me the cable the next day. It should be delivered in the next day or so. I'll send a post when I receive it. What I ordered
Plug(female) 90 degree SMB to Jack(male) SMB, RG174 low noise, 5 foot $29.90
If you refer to me, Scott, I'm sure Joyce will remember, since it's only been a couple of days.

[tbonecopper]

sweeet thanks mate..

tom over @ eas... I'll get your reply soon I'm gathering images to give you a visual example

[giancola]

Just to let everyone know. This cable was perfect!

[sunshine22]

I just ordered one too. They remembered your past order and sent me the same one. Cost is about $40 with tax and postage.

[VelvetFoot]

Will this plug into an XM radio too?

[giancola]

Depends. If your XM radio has a connection for the "Plug(female) 90 degree SMB" end of the cable, then yes. Check the specs on your xm sat tuner.

[VelvetFoot]

Thanks. I've been reading that this approach might not perform as well as the included XM antenna.

[spfdhed]

Well, I think that you get 2 opinions: yes, it works well, and no, it doesn't work as well (as the supplied XM stick-on)-but in all cases that I have seen discussed, it did work. No scientific study exists. But, I used the supplied xm antenna with my sporstcaster for a couple of months (it was on the dash and worked well), and then switched to the factory antenna via the smb connector. Still works just as well (maybe better-I can pull in signals in my garage). My suggestion is try it and see. I got the connecting wire on ebay for 9.95 and then got a right angle connector on ebay as well for ~$5 (not much room in the cubby area for a straight connection to the XM sportscaster).

[DyeLooper]

Originally Posted by spfdhed

Well, I think that you get 2 opinions: yes, it works well, and no, it doesn't work as well (as the supplied XM stick-on)-but in all cases that I have seen discussed, it did work. No scientific study exists. But, I used the supplied xm antenna with my sporstcaster for a couple of months (it was on the dash and worked well), and then switched to the factory antenna via the smb connector. Still works just as well (maybe better-I can pull in signals in my garage). My suggestion is try it and see. I got the connecting wire on ebay for 9.95 and then got a right angle connector on ebay as well for ~$5 (not much room in the cubby area for a straight connection to the XM sportscaster).

Ditto!!

[VelvetFoot]

Thanks. I have a Sportscaster right now in my 07 Mazda 3s. It matches the red lighting nicely and it's size allows it to fit in the covered ash tray with, but I'm not crazy about the channel selector vs, say, a Roady where you can enter any of 10 channels with one push. Anyway, I experimented with the location of the magnetic antenna by looking at the signal strength meter on the Sportscaster and found that outside was definitely better than inside even though it would behave similarly on my daily commute. It's those times when you need the strength where it would pay. I'm thinking using that signal strength meter would be best and compare it to the magnetic antenna located on the roof.

I had to use a 90 degree connetor as well for the sound output.

Is there any issue with engine noise through the aux input? There is with my Mazda and I had to get an isolation transformer.

[dlroto]

the cable from the link above totally worked for me, it works flawlessly with the sporster 5

[tedbone72P]

Anyone have any pics of how or where they mounted their unit.

I ran the generic sat antenna and hooked up through the aux input.

[DyeLooper]

check my gallery for pics

[InterMurph]

I ordered the cable from Joyce (who asked, "this is for a Mini Cooper, right?), installed it in my 2008 MCS, and it works great.

It's too soon to tell for sure, but it sure seems like the Mini's antenna works much better than the magnet-on-the-roof antenna that came with my car install kit.

Next: getting it professionally mounted and wired to the Aux input. Then the flaky FM transmitter on my S50 radio won't drive me insane any more!

Update: the Mini's built-in antenna works much better than my magnet-on-the-roof antenna. In the last mile of my commute, I drive for about a mile on a road that has many overhanging trees. With my old antenna, the signal would cut in and out constantly. With the Mini's built-in antenna, I had no cut-outs at all!

[rob_gendreau]

So what would you need to connect to the car kit cradle for a Sirius Stiletto 2 to the factory installed antenna cable? I think the Stiletto cradle uses a SMA connector (the car kit's magnetic dot antenna connects via a push on ninety degree plug, male I think, and I also think it's the same magnetic antenna used with many other Sirius kits). BTW, is the factory antenna installed on all minis in 2008?

[VelvetFoot]

I just ordered one for my Roady.
I'll people know how it works.
I think the Roady has a signal strength meter as well for before and after comparison.

[rob_gendreau]

Just wanted to add my experience for those connecting the antenna.

I’ve got a 2008 MC. Under the passenger seat is a hole in the carpet for the wiring for the ejection, er passenger, seat. It’s for the sensor for your passengers heinie, so that when you put groceries there it reminds you to buckle them in

You have to kind of pry the opening up a bit and peer inside towards the back. It helps if you’ve got a flashlight with an optical fiber at the end, but any kind of light shining in there will help. You should see the purple-ended antenna lead. I used a bent coat hanger to fish it out.

To connect it, you need a female SMB to male SMB extension cable to get it to your dock or whatever. I ordered mine from http://www.cdint.com; those folks rock! They even list it as the “mini cooper cable.” They are so helpful they emailed me to make sure I had ordered the right cable (I got a different type for my ham radio antenna). It came in a few days.

Then you only need to figure out where to put the radio (I’ve having a hard figuring out where to put mine...I’m probably gonna have to rip out the passenger seat and install a home electronics cabinet for all this crap. Good thing I don’t need the cigarette lighter to actually light cigarettes!).

And thanks to the genius who figured out this in the first place!!

Rob

[k6rtm]

Hijacking the thread --

Do you know where the GPS antenna ends up? Behind the center console?

From what I can tell, all the R56 cars have FM, sat radio, and GPS antennas standard.

[VelvetFoot]

I got mine in the mail. Have to do some chores around the house first though. Big question for me is if it'll work with XM.

[VelvetFoot]

I tried it and it didn't work for me.
Using the 'antenna aiming' feature on the Roady, I got 4 bars on Satellite with the magnetic mount and 1 bar with the cable.
Anybody want to buy a cable?