Relationships are tough. Trying to meld two lives together can in some ways be hazardous to your health. The mixing of personalities can be hard at times. You meet someone and you’re on your best behavior, while trying not to put up a front at the same time. During the early stages of a relationship you’re simply trying to wrap your head around the other person, and find out who they are inside here (Banging on chest). Are they a Stage 5 Clinger? Do they have BPD, OCD, or ADHD? Do they have more baggage than a Samsonite factory? Evidently, I’m not so good in the relationship department, but I recently found true love over the airways. Find out how after the jump…

I hate talk radio. I’m just putting that out there since it’s the basis of this love connection. During my morning commute it was normal for me to continuously flip channels in order to hear actual music. No one hates channel surfing more than I, and I don’t have a million CDs to choose from, either. I don’t have time to make mix CDs. Furthermore, I have an MP3 player and an iPod, but the iPod stays plugged in at home in my new Kicker iKick, and I use the MP3 player at the gym so I’m pretty much tired of the music on both of those. I certainly don’t have time to sit around and load more music onto either of them, either.

 I was pretty much stuck until the newly-engaged Michael ‘Geezer’ Kangiser and Niki Valdez sent me their unused Sirius satellite radio unit (I said…Unit! LOL). Just like a new relationship, I still had to figure out what made the Sirius unit tick, and how it worked. This was my first foray into satellite radio so I had plenty of questions with no answers. My first snag came when my Cobra kept blowing the fuse for the cigarette lighter. One post on the Corral later I found out the power seat is on the same circuit. My power seat doesn’t even work so I unplugged it, and my fuse issues went away.

With the fuse issue solved, I had to figure out where to mount the unit and where to put the antenna. Unable to find a suitable mount, I settle on a Best Buy half-off gimmick. The mount’s package had been opened and returned so I was able to purchase it for $15. The low entry price would allow me to come to grips with the fact it may not work in my Cobra, but I needed something. Holding the unit in my hand looked pretty ghetto. Wow, that sentence didn’t sound right at all.
 
Anyway, the mount was good enough for government work. I’ll keep my eyes open for something better, but until then this mount is working fine. Since my ’94 Cobra doesn’t have a console-placed cup holder like later models, I have the mount wedged in between the parking brake handle and the passenger seat. There is the cup holder that slides out from the console tray, but its location makes it next to impossible to use, or see while driving.

For the antenna, our 5.0&SF Project 3g GT had its satellite radio antenna in the rear package tray. Since it worked in that car, I’m trying that location since I don’t want the unsightly antenna to clutter my Cobra’s exterior. I may have to make a concession to that idea because on country roads I lose signal quite often. It’s especially bad in the morning leading to, and leaving my kids’ school on the way to work. If I can find a clever exterior spot for the antenna I might try it to see if reception improves.
 
One roadblock I came to with the Sirius, and this was only because I was unfamiliar with the system, was how to make it work with my Cobra’s Kenwood head unit, which is Sirius ready. I had the head unit on an existing FM channel, which resulted in a lot of interference. I thought I would need a FM transmitter, but a call to Crutchfield’s tech advisors solved my problem. I found the Sirius Sportster R featured a built-in transmitter, and all I needed to do was find a vacant FM channel on my Cobra’s head unit, and go into the Sportster and set it up on the same vacant channel. Viola, my interference problems, they are now solved.
 
Now I am enjoying Sirius’ almost endless array of music channels. I must say my favorite channel is Hair Nation since that is the music I was drawn to during my mid-to-late teens. Listening to bands like Motley Crue, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Skid Row, and The Four Horsemen take me back to my mini-mullet days during those impressionable days. However, I’m also drawn to the latest metal listening to Liquid Metal, but Hip-Hop Nation is also a regular stop as well. That channel fulfills my need for Jay-Z, The Game, Nelly, T.I., and Lil Wayne, just to name a few.

In short, since my Sirius has been fully-operational, it’s been goodbye MJ and Bubba, hello Nine Inch Nails and Alicia Keys. I am so in love with my Sirius radio that you better be a pretty important figure in my life for me to answer the phone while driving. Otherwise, you go to voice mail. Sorry Charlie, I’ll call you back.