Landonre

I have a newer (2016) Lexus RC 350 F-Sport. The factory stereo has SiriusXM capability built in BUT that XM tuner does not support SiriusXM’s Xtra channels. I had a tuner in my previous car that did support these additional channels and I really liked one of those channels (Tiesto channel 340). Long story short, I decided to install a SiriousXM Onyx Plus tuner so I could receive ALL channels and also pick up a few other features not offered by the stereo in my Lexus.

The tuner install was very easy and uneventful except the plug on the sharkfin antenna cable which was used to plug into the stereo would not fit my new Onyx tuner. I temporarily used the antenna included with my new tuner by using its magnetic base to “stick” it to the speaker grill on the front dash which is centered right below the windshield. This setup worked OK, but I could definitely tell a difference in reception (more dropouts than when I used the stock stereo and sharkfin antenna). I then went on a quest to find an adapter which would let me plug the sharkfin antenna into my new SiriusXM tuner without losing the ability to put everything back the stock stereo when I sell the car in the future.

I “googled” for several days without finding an answer. I did see where and adapter was used in older Lexus cars (Vaistech antenna adapter (SFA12M)), but I could tell from the picture of the adapters ends that it would NOT find my sharkfin plug. I then ordered a couple of different adapters that looked like they might work, but was disappointed when they did not fit the sharkfin antenna plug. I finally started looking at images of all types of antenna adapters to try to find a match. I finally found one that worked. I ordered it on Amazon. The adapter is a 12 inch cable with a TS-9 MALE connector on one end (this end connects to the sharkfin antenna plug) and a SMB FEMALE connector on the other end (standard connector to SiriusXM tuners).

It did not fit when I first attempted to plug the TS-9 Male end into my sharkfin plug. I could tell this adapter should work, it was just a bit too small, so I put a small screwdriver in the notches on the TS-9 connector to spread them apart just a bit. I then was able to connect it to the sharkfin plug with a very good and snug fit. I now have my normal reception (just the typical rare dropouts) with the new tuner and am very happy.

I spent a lot of time (and a little more money than I expected) trying to find the right adapter to allow me to use the sharkfin antenna, so I thought I would leave this post and hopefully save someone else this trouble if they wanted to use a different SiriusXM tuner but still keep the Lexus sharkfin antenna.

I have attached a picture of the plug on the Lexus sharkfin antenna and a picture of the ends of adapter I used. The picture with my fingers is the sharkfin plug. The top connector in the second picture is the TS-9 male connection which connects to the lexus sharkfin plug and the bottom connector is what connects to the SiriusXM tuner.
You can see the notches in the top plug that allowed me to slightly spread them apart to allow the connector to fit.