Hi all,

I just joined this group. I have a 2006 Prius, and I'm happy with the milage as I get about 43 mpg driving hard and fast on my 75 mile daily round trip commut to San Diego.

However, I recently got XM Satellite Radio, a plug -in-play that will work in the car as well as at home. I got normal reception when running it through the FM radio, but when I tried to plug it into the AUX jack located in the center console, while I got the music, I also got an annoying hiss, whine, and whistle type sound. The cabels are good, and there is no obvious error--the grounds are good. And that same audio output jack on the XM unit worked perfectly at home when plugged into my home stereo. So I figure something wierd is going on as an interaction between the Prius with all its complex electronic stuff and the XM unit.

The reason I wanted to go through the AUX jack is that the sound quality is better than going through the FM radio.

So, any ideas???

Please forgive me if the topic has been addressed in the past already. If so, please direct me to those posts


Thanks,

Paula

 

What type of power adapter are you using for your XM? Is it something that plugs into the cigarette adapter?

As a quick test, I would get a battery power supply for XM that does not plug in and is independent of the car or your house power. Then use the battery pack to see if the noise goes away.

To do it 'cheaply', get two, 6V lantern batteries and some alligator clip jumper cords. You can get these parts at any local Radio Shack and power the XM radio from the batteries wired in series to give 12 VDC. Then plug the XM into your existing AUX jacks and see if the noise has gone away OR is specific to the cigarette adapter.

I've read one reference to the XM adapter that suggests it has inefficient, active electronics. This could easily lead to a noise problem that on another power supply would not be a problem.

Alternatively, you might run an extension cord to the car and test the XM radio in the AUX jack using house power. Again, a different power interface and if the noise goes away, you've identified the problem.

Feel free to ask for clarification if any part of this seems strange.

Bob Wilson

 

My first thought is a possible problem with the AUX jack itself or the internal wiring running from it. I'd try another device like an MP3 player or portable tape or CD player to rule that out.

 

Hi to Bob and Jim,

Thanks. I will try an external 12v DC power supply to see if that helps. I'll report om the results, maybe this weekend.

With regard to the AUX plug itself, I have plugged my old Pioneer radio (Super Tuner III-D, which has MUCH better audio on FM than the Prius factory unit) into that same AUX plug with no problem, so probably the plug assembly itself is ok. Also I checked the grounds with my old ohm meter and it checked out normal.


Paula