I got a brand new Sirius Stiletto 100 (1/2 price on their web site) and car install kit.

I opened up the area under the passenger seat and found the Mini's built-in Sirius antenna cable. I ordered a cable, plugged it into the Stiletto, and it works fantastic; much better than the magnet-on-the-roof antenna ever did.

Here's my problem: when I turn the car off, the antenna stops working! The Stiletto says something like "Antenna not detected", then "going to sleep in 15 seconds...", then it sleeps.

Apparently, the built-in Sirius antenna needs power. The magnet-on-the-roof antenna never had this problem.

Has anybody ever made the built-in antenna work while the car was turned off?

Thanks.

 

I have the same set up. Did you wire your s100 into the fuse 24 (i think) where it comes on when the door opens? What you might be seeing is the dock not having power but the s100 running on battery power.

Mine works without fail it will even record off the sirius radio untill the interior powers down.

 

I haven't wired the Stiletto yet; I'm bringing it in next week to have it done professionally.

I asked the guy to wire it to a fuse that is always on, so that I can record Howard Stern while I am at work, so I can listen to it on the way home. It sounds like as long as the dock has power, it will record, which sounds great.

Thanks!

 

I'm being dense here, but what do you mean by "record"? Does the sirius radio have a recorder built in - ie, TIVO style? I was not aware of that. I am getting Sirius in my (soon to be delivered new MINI). Thanks.

Tony

 

Yes, many Sirius radios have the ability to record shows. My new Stiletto 100 says it can record up to 10 hours.

But not all radios have this feature, and my dealer told me that the Mini Sirius radio does not have it.

If you discover that it does, then I really really really want to hear about it!

 

Murph, so its just using the cig adapter right now?

if that is the case, then i bet the dock power is going off when you turn the car off.

Do the blue backlights on the dock go off when the signal is lost?

 

Yes, it's plugged into the cigarette adapter now, and the dock definitely loses power when I turn the engine off.

I am going to have it hard-wired in a couple of weeks, to a fuse that remains on when the car is off. I will have to remember to turn off the radio when I'm done with it, but I have been doing that for 2+ years anyway.

My old car (Audi A6) had a cigarette adapter that was always powered, so every time I got home, I had to remember to unplug the radio. I never forgot.

 

The external antennas definitely require power to the dock for your Stiletto. Same with home docks. My Ford van has always on power plugs and I’ve done what you mentioned (not Stern but Steve Earl’s Outlaw Country show). Let us know what circuit is always hot.

BTW, for those interested in Sirius they’re still doing a sale I believe on the older Stilettos. The car install is a bit of a hassle, but Stilettos are really the way to go: my Stiletto 2 can record hours and hours of shows, and you have a button you press and it records the current song being played for later enjoyment. And you can throw in a SD Micro chip and have 8G of MP3s from your home collection as well.

Rob

 

I just bought the Stiletto 100 for $125, and it included the car kit. I believe the Stiletto 2, the latest model, is still undiscounted at about $300.

Stay away from the S50, which was the first "mobile" radio. Nothing but trouble, and they have abandoned development on it. I'm sure you can get them cheap on eBay, but you will regret it.