Some of you, for one reason or another (mine's NPR and Howard Stern), may wish Honda had forged a deal with Sirius rather than XM, or that there was no deal at all so you could choose either.

I do realize that if the merger goes through, it could render the need for this modification moot. But for now, it's a nice solution.

So, the long awaited Directed HON-SC1 converter is finally out, and I had an opportunity to test it. Note that the HON-SC1 only allows a Sirius tuner to communicate with the Honda stereo, so you still need a tuner like the SC-C1 or the SCVDOC1, which allows you to use a plug and play unit that you can remove for use in the home or whatever.

I did a quick test. It's not fully installed because I'm still waiting on an adapter to allow me to use the stock XM antenna as a Sirius antenna (rather than installing an unsightly second antenna).

Anyway, once you remove the trunk lining on the right side of the trunk, you see the XM tuner mounted on a piece of sheet metal:


Here's the tuner unbolted from the body with the cables unplugged:


Test setup with the combined HON-SC1/SC-C1 hooked up the way the old XM tuner was connected:


Woo! Sirius! The tuner isn't activated, so all I can get right now is 184.


There you have it. Nice and easy. After this I reinstalled the XM tuner which only took a few minutes. Once the antenna adapter comes in, I'll install the Sirius tuner more permanently. I intend on mounting the equipment to a board so I can use the existing mounting holes that the XM tuner uses.

 

Cool!

 

That's great! I bet that product is going to sell very well.

 

I really hope for Honda's sake they release a HD Radio module. I got another offer in the mail from Honda to reactivate the XM radio in my car at a rate of $20.00 for 5 months service.

I hate these mailers because they all say Important Information about a feature in your new Honda vehicle. I think it is something like a recall letter or something that is actually important to me.

I can't remember if the US is going to force conversion to Digital radio like they are for television. But if they are, we are all going to have useless radios in our cars....

 

...and then maybe they will start another government program to help those who cannot afford the digital service.

 

Very nice! Any idea how this works with the non-nav unit?

I have only had a small taste of XM on a Expressjet flight but I was totally underwhelmed with "Lucy" the 90's grunge station. Lithium 24 on Sirius blows it away and I would love to convert the HCH to listen to that. Thanks for the post!

 

Do you need to have xm for this kit to work? Or can I just buy the kit and a sirius and easily get it going?

 

The adapter works just fine on a non-nav unit. People have installed it on non-nav units successfully.

You do NOT need XM already installed. I think that makes it more difficult to install, however, since you won't have a tuner in the trunk. Having the pre-existing tuner means you also have the cable that connects the head unit with the tuner. Without that cable already in place, you'll have to install the adapter/tuner package under the dashboard, and that's a much bigger disassembly process.
Here's the thread concerning the adapter at Sirius Backstage.

 

I wanna put an 8-track in mine. There some great deals on 8-track tapes at Goodwill

 

The whole process can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/duc1701...7604146216833/

Start with the first photo and keep clicking on the next. The captions describe the parts and actions needed.