The Arkon Sirius XM Satellite Radio Lighter Socket Car Mount was one of the first mounts that I ever used for my old Delphi Roady Radio. In fact there’s a photo of the mount in my Hyundai Santa Fe. I think that photo is over ten years ago. It’s a good mount that lasted a long time and was reused when I moved over to Sirius and used a Sportster in my car. I then used it again when I upgraded to a Stratus.
The Hyundai was traded in a long while ago and the newer cars had Sirius XM built into them so I retired the mount. Although on a side note, the newer Sirius XM Radios have more functionality built into them than the ones that come with new cars and we wrote about that here. If you are a big Sirius XM fan and like a lot of presets as well as the ability to rewind and display album art, consider a swap.
This mount has been out for a long time and is still popular with satellite radio owners because it’s a pretty clever idea. Arkon even improved the mount over the years by adding a swivel feature to the tip. Using your car lighter or power socket as a the mount point, you can place your satellite radio near the current FM radio installed in your car. The mount has a power dongle where you plug the satellite radio into so you don’t lose the power capability of the power outlet. The radio is then mounted real close to the car’s factory installed radio.
Being close to the car’s currently installed FM radio has some nice advantages. First of all, it’s near where you would instinctively reach to change the station. Secondly, the proximity near the car’s radio allows you to run a short cable into your car’s audio in outlet to get a clear transmission to your vehicle’s speakers. It’s also close by so that you can transmit a clear FM signal using the modulator that’s built into the satellite radio.
The mount itself comes with two parts: the mount and a back plate. The mount itself has two 3″ sections with an adjustable joint in the middle. There is a swivel ball at the end with a single T adapter to permit angling towards the driver or passenger. I have found that power sockets within vehicles come in varying depths. The deeper the socket, the better the holding ability of the mount.
The mount attaches to the back of the cradle that comes with your Sirius XM car kit. Older XM cradles like those from the Delphi Skyfi or Roadmate have a slot on the back that will fit directly onto the single T adapter on the mount. Most Sirius cradles have a cradle that has four holes on the back. The Arkon mount includes a 4-hole mounting plate with screws that will fit the four holes on the back of the cradle. That mounting plate has a single slot that fits over the single T on the adapter.
The Arkon Sirius XM Satellite Radio Lighter Socket Car Mount is an excellent addition to your car if using an aftermarket satellite radio. As an added bonus the mount can also be used to hold a Garmin Nuvi when not used for a satellite radio. Just remove the single T adapter and you have the same ball size as a Garmin Nuvi mount.