Interface XM receiver with XM ready head-unit

[shmokes]

My in-laws gave my wife and me an XM reciever with a year of service for Christmas.  It's one of those car kits that can be undocked from the car and plugged into a home stereo (sold separately, presumably).

It's a nice device, but my 2006 Honda Civic came standard with an XM ready head unit.  It's pretty clunky to have this thing mounted to the dash somewhere with cords dangling all over the place for cigarette lighter, etc., when the stock stereo is capable of XM integration which would look much nicer and then channels could be changed on the steering wheel mounted controls and the far superior car stereo screen could be used for navigation.

The XM option from Honda is outrageously expensive, though.  It's like $400 or something (in spite of the fact that the XM ready stereo is already in the car).  Does anybody know if it would be possible to interface this new XM receiver I got into a standard XM ready stereo? 

[ChadTower]

No idea, but if the XM capability is just there and disabled, I'd be really surprised if you can't find a forum that shows you how to enable the XM functionality yourself or send it someplace that will do it for you.

Other than that, odds are high that you'd have to just use whatever external inputs the stereo has and make the best of the wire situation.

[shmokes]

The XM functionality is there, but it needs the XM receiver to get the signal.   I'm hoping that just any old XM receiver will work rather than having to pay $400 for one (which I won't do).

[D_Zoot]

Does anybody know if it would be possible to interface this new XM receiver I got into a standard XM ready stereo? 

When a stereo is made "XM ready" all that generally means is that the unit contains supporting hardware to communicate with an external receiver.  "XM ready" systems do not contain the receiver, decoder and D/A converters, all of that hardware is contained in a remote box, the head only serves as a control and amp.

The problem is that there are no "standard" communication protocols or connections between a control head and XM receiver, so different manufacturers implement this in their own way. 

In a nutshell it's not possible to intergrate the Delphi reveiver with a Honda head in the same way as a factory setup.

But, you aren't stuck with wires everywhere.  There are installation kits available to hardwire the cradle to vehicle power and to send audio to the radio via the antenna coax or aux input (if the head is equipped).  This is how I installed mine, so no ciggie ligter plug or tape adapters in my truck. 

BTW, I really dig my sat radio, haven't listened to regular radio in two years! You should enjoy it as well.

D