mrbogusbaxter

I have been reading the if's ands, maybe's, do's and don'ts regarding the XM to SIRIUS HON SC-C1 for ACURA. I would like to say anyone sitting on the fence, DO IT!

I installed the HON SC-C1 yesterday in my 08 TSX (w/NAV) and it is absolutely AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME. There is no removing radios, no unscrewing anything. Two snaps of two cables from XM to SIRIUS tuner, located in your trunk, position new device and your done!

It sounds amazing, EVEYTHING works perfect. the text, tuning and info actually blows away the XM info panel. if youre a SIRIUS fan, its a must.
You can EASILY use your factory antenna if you choose.

I have posted the few ridiculously easy steps to install it yourself. It takes less than 10 minutes. Circuit CIty is running a sale on the UNIVERSAL TUNER for $29.99
(the other half of the part need) The entire package cost $80.00 after all.
Plus its GREAT to hear HOWARD STERN again and enjoy driving.

Passing the info on for those whose...

Reach

Wow! It looks great!!! Any negatives to its performance / operation?

(Original post edited to embed images.)

PhiSigBrotha

im still waiting for a review on the sc-c1 with the y adapter and usaspec attached. someone on this forum was waiting for the y adapter to be delivered a couple weeks ago.


luther

AcuraX2

That was me. I actually got the y adapter sent to me but, never got around to installing it. I decided to go back with all aftermarket gear. I was successful however in using both the HON-SC1 and the USA Spec together. As long as I made sure that the USA Spec adapter was in use every time I turned the key off, it would always work when I turned the car back on. I am not saying this would work for everyone but, it did work for me like this. Both units worked fully and every time I powered up the car.

They are both for sale in the classifieds too.

mrbogusbaxter

So far I have now had the unit about one week and honestly, the only MINOR maybe puff of air from me would be the leveling of each station, but I do know that is the broadcasting. Some channels are loud but not powerful loud.

As for the data that displays, it is nearly perfect. I haven' t seen one glitch, or even a station not be updated upon playing a song. The initial settings of the HON SC-C1 are set for the text to scroll which sort of bugged me but there are two switches on the unit itself that you could flip off. So far so good, using the factory installed XM antenna and all seems to work like a champ.

One thing I forgot to mention previously is that you MUST disconnect fully the XM tuner, other XM & SIRIUS come in together over each other. Shutting off the signal will not do.

and YIKES appologies about the posting of pictures into the columns here, i could of sworn I set it up via links. uggh.

Reach

mrbogusbaxter, I changed your links to embedded images. My apologies if that is not what you would have liked, but that is usually how we try to setup pic threads here. Thank you for the post though!

jay427

Wow....awesome. I'm on the fence as a lifetime Sirius subscriber. I currently have a Stiletto mounted but can't really stand it. I have a few questions:

1. Being a lifetime subscriber, I can transfer my subscription to another unit. Would this be considered another unit? I can only do this 4 times and it costs $75 each time, which kind of stinks.

2. Can you pause the radio? I really like this feature, but I am assuming that you can't do it.

Thanks!

Jottle

Since xm bought/merged? with sirius, won't we be getting sirius stations soon anyways?

Reach

No time soon, thats for sure. Its not even on the roadmap yet.

mrbogusbaxter

not a problem at all. Initially I changed the links and settings and it looked like it revised ...at least until one day later

all good indeed

mrbogusbaxter

If you want to save the $75.00, when you call SIRIUS, approach them as your SIRIUS radio BROKE, and the factory replaced it with a new one. If they ask about RADIO TYPE, just let them know the factory was out of stock on your radio and offered you a choice of replacements. SIRIUS does not charge to transfer RADIOS if they are broken, or replaced by the manufacturer.

As for PAUSE, no, no fun features like that. Just plain out TUNE IN with ALL text, song, artist info working full pitch!

mrbogusbaxter

SIRIUS merging of stations will so far down the road yet.
Still awaiting one more approval, and then the usual XM SIRIUS layoffs, and then the reduction of duplicate channels. Expect a lot of channels to go.

Hoping they dont touch SIRIUS rock ala HAIR NATION, LITHIUM 90's

OneLoveAmaru

What positions did you place the dip switches on the HON-SC1? I have a 2005 TSX with Navi, about to install and not sure what I should use for dip switch positions. Thanks.

mallettgt

I just installed this in my 07 TSX w/ Navi tonight and it's amazing! I had absolutely zero car stereo experience prior to the install but found it incredibly easy.

The trickiest part was removing the lining from the trunk. My best suggestion is to buy some extra black snaps (available at any auto parts store), and just start pulling away. I would image others would oppose to this suggestion, but that's what I did.

To answer about the dip switches, I left mine in the default setting (i.e. Scrolling off and 16 characters).

A few other tips that might be handy:

1) Don't bother stripping the XM antenna wire. I simply stripped the Sirius wire and stuck it up into the XM connector. I put some electrical tape around it to be secure but it works like a charm.

2) I mounted mine onto the old XM tuner using automotive strength double sided tape and some zip ties.

So far I'm very happy. There are a couple issues that I noticed though. First, the voice command to change channels (e.g. "Change to XM channel 10") does not work. Second, during the first 30 minutes of operation, it wouldn't update the Song title whenever I changed channels. It would simply list the last channel's song. This has since stopped and I imagine it was just due to the initial indexing.

Finally, the thing I miss the most about using a normal Sirius tuner is the artist/song alert and the 10 pre-sets in one location. All that really matters though is that I have Jam On in my TSX!

jay427

Jam_On Rules

jhc44

Just installed this in my '08 TSX. Thanks much to mrbogusbaxter for all of the great pics. My TSX doesn't have the nav system, but the install was identical (XM receiver in the same exact place). Thanks also to mallettgt for the tip about just stripping the Sirius antenna and shoving it into the XM connector. Leaving the existing XM system intact, just in case, is definitely a good thing.

GREAT job guys. I was on the fence until I saw this thread and realized how easy the whole setup was.

One tip that I read on another thread that I wish I saw beforehand was to play with the dip switches before mounting the box and closing everything up. Without the nav system, I figured that the scrolling feature would come in very handy. As it turns out, it sucks. The unit is set up to automatically switch between artist and whatever other line you are set up to display (generally song title in my case). When a artist or song comes on with more than 16 characters in the title, the scrolling feature makes the display go somewhat crazy, switching very fast. I reset the switch after the fact to turn it off, which was a pain because I already had the box mounted.

What I'm impressed with:

Almost everything about this product. They did a very good job with it. The scrolling thing is annoying, but it can be turned off. The automatic switching between artist and title on the single line display of my radio is also a great feature. I love the fact that the CH+/- buttons on the steering wheel scroll through the actual channels, rather than the presets. It annoyed me when playing around with XM at first that you could not access a channel that wasn't a preset directly from the steering wheel (I have had the car for less than a month and am already very used to the controls on the wheel), and Directed seems to have gotten that one right. The fine folks at Acura/Honda should have consulted with these guys when designing the interface for their stock systems.

I'm also very pleasantly surprised with the compatibility of the XM and Sirius antennas. I was under the impression that I would lose signal strength by not using a Sirius antenna, and I have found that to not be the case in the slightest. Strip the antenna down like regular coax, shove it into the XM connector, a little tape, just to be sure, and presto. GREAT signal strength.

The price! Both pieces cost me $115 shipped (DogStar radios has the best price as of today). WELL worth it for such an easy and seamless integration. This would have been a bargain at double the price.

What I'm not impressed with:

Nothing more than a few minor glitches with the display. The scrolling, as I mentioned, would be a nice thing to have if it worked properly. I can do without it. I also have found that when a new song comes on that is more than 16 characters in the title, sometimes the display will continue to show the last song's title instead. Again, not a big deal. The system plays perfectly. Don't know if Directed would ever create new firmware or run the risk of automatically downloading it to their boxes. Probably not worth it.

Just wanted to add my two cents, share my experience, and in case anyone else is reading this that is somewhat on the fence, DO IT. Sirius RULES. Even if the merger goes through and Howard is available on XM, the existing XM receivers will still keep the XM music channels which are totally inferior to Sirius (at least that's what I've read).

Thanks again!

lohma

I just installed both in my 2006 TSX and it works fine, however the volume is very low. I have to turn it up to 40 (top volume) while on CD/AM/FM/Aux the most I ever turn to is 20-22. I did use the factory XM attenna as JHC44 did and the reception is fine, however the volume is low. Any suggestions?

lohma

Well, you can disregard the above post by me. I figured out the problem. I did not have the cord that connects the HON-SC1 to the receiver plugged in snuggly. Once I figured that out, everything worked fine. Thanks for the tip on splicing the sirius attenna wire and connecting it to the factory XM attenna. I like that approach so if I ever sell the car and want to connect the XM back, all I have to do is plug it in.

Great product that works fantastic. I'd recommend it to any Sirius fan.

OneLoveAmaru

How loud does it get now? I can crank mine to 40, it's semi-loud but not as loud as the original XM or as loud as the cd player. Any suggestions? I will double check my connections first.

lohma

OneLoveAmaru...when I was having the problem, the volume was very low. Once i tightened the connections, volume was back to normal. It is not as loud as the CD player, however neither was the XM unit when I had that installed.

back2vegas

I have a quick question about the functionality of this product. I have an 08 TSX with navi. Every time I go to buy it, I end up reading something that says it does not work if I have the technology package. From what I understand the TSX comes with 2 options, navigation or no navigation. I'm assuming the navigation suggests I have the technology package. Is there any chance I'm wasting my money because it's not going to work?

Also, if i get this can I just dump the XM or is that required for the Sirius to work?

back2vegas

Ok wait, I think I have this figured out now. The translator doesn't work without this universal adapter? So I need to buy both. Is this right?

OneLoveAmaru

You need the Honda/Acura Adapter AND The Universal Adapter. I have the entire package if you want it. I hooked my XM back up since my favorite stations are on there now. Also, it doesn't matter if you have Navi or Non-Navi. Also, there is no technology package offered with the TSX's until the '09s. At least they didn't call it the technology package. Anyways, for the package I'd really like $50 for it and I'll Priority Mail it to you. Let me know.
TO answer your questions, it WILL work in your '08 and yes you can dump the XM. You can't use XM if you hook this up.