MountGuys Blog

August 31, 2009

XM and Sirius Satellite Radio Mounts

Filed under: Other Mounts & Accessories — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — mountguys @ 11:01 pm

Ever wonder how a company started that specializes in electronics mounts?  The first mount we ever sold was a seat bolt mount for a Delphi Skyfi XM Radio.  Tired of having our personal radio plop onto the floor because the sticky tape didn’t hold, we found a mount that attached to the back of the Skyfi cradle that also attached to the car seat bolt.  We were so impressed with ourselves, we put one on eBay.  That was a long time ago.  We now sell thousands of mounts every year for everything from XM radios to Garmin GPS units and even cold drinks!

Satellite Radio has come a long way since we sold our first mount.  There are millions of subscribers and some pretty cool music and personalities on XM and Sirius.  Remarkably though, the mounts are as bad today as they were years ago when our radio plopped onto the floor.

Today, there are a variety of mounting solutions available for your car, motorcycle, bike or boat.  All have one thing in common:  they need a car kit to attach to.  A lot of customers are hoping otherwise, but the car kit and accompanying cradle, antenna and power are needed to attach to any mount.  Most XM Radios have a slot on the back and the mounts have a T that fits into the groove.  Most Sirius Radios have a 4-hole mounting pattern on the back of the cradle (called an AMPS mounting pattern).  So you need to ensure that the mount that you purchase can accomodate the pattern on the back of the cradle.

The most popular mount for satellite radios remains the car seat bolt mount.  The attaches to the bolt on your seat bolt.  A lot of people ask us if our mount will fit their car model.  Our answer is always the same:  if the seat bolt is exposed these ought to fit fine.  But just in case the bolt isn’t exposed, we include hardware to attach it right to the floor.  These are the sturdiest mounts we sell for satellite radios.  It sits at the perfect height for you to switch stations and see the display.

Attachment is a quick 5 minute exercise.

Attachment is a quick 5 minute exercise.

XM / Sirius Radio using our floor mount

XM / Sirius Radio using our floor mount

The second most popular mount for XM and Sirius radio is the cup holder mount.  These mounts fit the back of your cradle just like the floor mount.  Depending upon where your cup holder is located, these may sit an even better location than the floor mount.  These are the easiest to install.  The bottom is expandable so that it can contour to almost any size cup holder.  We find these work in all vehicles except those with pullout cup holders.

The next most popular is the vent mount.  We sell a lot of these for GPS units too.  As long as your vent mounts are horizontal, these should fit fine.  We find they fit most cars except Pontiacs and some Lexus models which have either circular or vertical vents slats.  Satellite radios aren’t very heavy so don’t worry about damaging your vents.  And the temperature of the air coming our of your vents won’t damage your radio either.

All of our satellite radio mounts come with both XM and Sirius attachments to fit the vast majority of radio car kits.  And by the way, if you like that old style mount that sticks to your car dash, we have them too!

Our Sportster in a cup holder of a Hyundai Santa Fe

Our Sportster in a cup holder of a Hyundai Santa Fe

Our vent mount with a Sirius Radio

Our vent mount with a Sirius Sportster Radio

August 30, 2009

The Sun and the GPS Live Happily Together with Anti Glare Shields

Filed under: GPS Mounts and Accessories — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — mountguys @ 9:36 pm

We receive a lot of questions about glare on GPS units.  Especially when used on the windshield or motorcycle.  While we aren’t aware of any GPS units that use an anti glare surface, we wonder why they don’t.  For some reason it seems like the glare on TomTom GPS units are the worst.  At least, that’s what our sales tell us as we sell more glare shields for that brand than any other.  Garmin also has a similar issue.  Magellan GPS units seems to be the best at preventing glare.  Not sure if that’s by design.

There are two different types of GPS anti glare shields.  One clips on the unit.  It surrounds the display (not the entire GPS, just the display).  The second uses velcro to attach to your GPS and a fabric hood surrounds the entire GPS.

Which one do we recommend?  Well that’s up to you.  The clip-on is a cleaner look, and when removed, there’s no velcro left on your GPS.  However, the fabric type gives better coverage as it surrounds the GPS including the sides and gives superior glare control.  We seem to sell more of the first type (if that helps).

These are available for most GPS units.  95% of all GPS units sold are either 3.5 or 4.3 inch screens and we have anti glare shields for both.  We also carry anti glare shields for Fishfinders as well.

The fabric type surrounds the sides and provides excellent protection.

The fabric GPS glare shield surrounds the sides and provides excellent protection.

The clip-on type of GPS glare shield.  Note these surround the display only (not the entire GPS).  These attach and remove easily.

The clip-on GPS glare shield. Note these surround the display only (not the entire GPS). These attach and remove easily.

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