gcronk3
TYF Newbie
There are two antennas on the roof. What does each do?
2005 Denali Antenna question
- Thread starter gcronk3
- Start date
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adventurenali92
Full Access Member
The oval shaped base with the upright antenna, over the driver side, is the onstar antenna. The square shaped antenna over the passenger side of the roof is the XM satellite radio antenna.
theangrynortherne
Member
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- Nov 30, 2019
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Anybody ever tried to switch to the all in one antenna that the 06+ has? My ocd self has an 05 and I love every aspect of it except for that stupid antenna if I could switch I would in a heartbeat.
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Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
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gcronk3
TYF Newbie
I found the cable for XM so I had to get an extension because naturally it was too short
adventurenali92
Full Access Member
On the 2006 and up models like mine, the little shark fin as I call it, over the drivers side is just the onstar antenna. It still has a separate XM antenna but it’s hidden I believe in the rear left side of the truck.
theangrynortherne
Member
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- Nov 30, 2019
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Really no ***** that is good to know I had no idea! I guess what it is is the shark fin just cleans up the profile a bit. Like gets rid of two crappy looking antenna for 1 smooth one even if they did hide half of it. Seems like it should have been that way all along. Thanks for the info
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adventurenali92
Full Access Member
You could switch to a shark fin antenna if you can get your hands on one. It’s not a simple swap but it’s doable, drop the front portion of the headliner and the antenna is bolted through the roof with a small nut and then the wiring pigtail for the power cable. I pulled one from a junkyard truck, color matched it with paint to match my truck and then swapped it on. You could swap the shark fin on, and then take the XM antenna off and hide it somewhere in the truck, and then plug that hole. I’ve seen it done before.
Fun tidbit, if you have an aftermarket headhunt with XM capabilities, you do not have run an extra antenna if you have the stock one. Behind the glovebox is the stock XM box with the stock antenna wire. If you unplug it and break the connector off it will plug into an aftermarket box and you can run the better and hard installed factory antenna. Works great IMO.
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gcronk3
TYF Newbie
I have the antenna that came with my XM unit and it don't work for $hit. I figured I would try the on that cam on Denali.
I have random connection issues (it'll always happen with satellite radio connections) under like bridges and stuff but I get better reception with the stock antenna in this truck than I did with the same receiver in a different vehicle using the antenna that came with the receiver. The reception I get with the aftermarket receiver and stock antenna is on par or better than the factory xm radio that came in my 2016 fusion.
