Sirius SC-H1 Question

I think the light turns green when it has reception of the Sirius signal.
Have you called Sirius?

It's think supposed to be red when powered but not working and green but working. I don't think it has to be activated for the LED to come on at all.

I've gone through two of these and haven't been able to get either to power up. A guy in the Sirius Backstage Forums said he went through three before he got one that powered up. Like me, he was attempting to use his (though of course he has succeeded and I have not) with an Onkyo receiver. Some of the people on the Backstage forum recommended connecting the cables in a specific order--8-pin, then power, then antenna--to maximise chances of success.

I received my first apparent-dud sc-h1 as a freebie in April and then purchased my second at my local Circuit City last week. Needless to say, it's going back; annoyingly, however, they don't have any more in stock so I can't exchange it and try another. I'll be able to get a refund, of course, but trying another would be nice.

If this is a known problem with a documented fix, however, bring it on! I'd much rather solve the mystery than return my SC-H1 and have the saga drag on and on...

This is what the manual says on the support site about the original question.

Steady Red: Initial power-on indication.

Flashing Red: Indicates that the antenna is not connected to the Tuner.

Steady Amber: Indicates that the antenna is connected to the Tuner, but no signal is being received.

Steady Green: Indicates that the Tuner is functioning properly and receiving a signal.


I've been looking at getting one of these, but are they really that unreliable? Every where I've looked they seem to be out of stock, including Sirius' website, and I don't see many negative reviews; mind you I see hardly any positive ones either. To me that's usually an indicator that only the people who have bad luck and getting pissed off are taking the time to post a negative review where the happy ones just continue about their day.

My second question, concerning the Sportster 5, can it be plugged into and controlled by a Sirius ready receiver same as the home connect unit? I would rather have some kind of portability, but still be able to utilize the Neural 5.1 surround in my receiver.

The SP5 can be connected to a Sirius ready receiver with the addition of the SCHDOC1.

Just purchased the Sirius SC-H1 tuner to connect to my Onkyo TX-SR606 A/V Receiver. However I seemed to have mis-placed the instructions for connecting and using the tuner with my receiver. Is there anyone out there using this type of setup that can help me? TIA.

I would imagine the instructions for the 706 would probably apply. Here's a link to the setup instructions for it.
Sirius Setup Manual

I bought my SC-H1 six weeks ago from Radio Shack online (best price at that time). Set up to my Onkyo tx-SR606 went smooth. I like it a lot.

Been over a year and can't believe the SC-H1 receiver has not been upgraded or improved. From all the complaints I would have thought it would have been a prioriity but guess Sirius has other issues at the apex of their laundry list right now.

Got very poor reception from this product so I upgraded to the more stout outdoor receiver. Same issue, it goes through aquiring signal and then from excellent to good to poor and back again no matter where I put it. I thought it was the antenna but now I think it's the cheaply built SC-H1. There is another antenna out there, the Terk SIR6. I'm going to return the one I have and try it. If that doesn't work then I know it's the SC-H1 receiver.

What makes me scratch my head is that my car can pick up Sirius almost anywhere and has been for 4 years. The HC-H1 setup is stationary so it should not be an issue. I love sat radio but this problem is beating me down like John Candy is Stripes mud wrestling.