Sirius/XM "Roady" with original GM truck radio

Wondering if adding the Sirius/XM "Roady" to an original GM squarebody 2700 truck radio is possible?
I had one in one of my S-10s years ago. Worked great.

Anyone have experience with the connection and difficulty of doing this?
I understand the subscription part.

This has nothing to do with what you want to do, but I know an electronics nerd that has free Sirius in all 3 of his cars. He buys the radio, subscribes, pulls the radio, cancels the subscription and waits a year. Apparently Sirius pings the unit-specific shut off signal for a year then moves on.

Sounded like fun, but I probably have more music than Sirius. Have a thumb drive with 5 different folders / genres, each with about 300-400 songs. Am willing to share. lol

Dont need no stinkin' Sirius.

Assuming that your radio is AM/FM, you can simply use the Roady's broadcast function to transmit to your radio. I usually use 88.300 with mine since that frequency normally doesn't have any interference in my local area. You can set transmit frequency in the Roady's menu. So, just find a an empty FM station and adjust accordingly.

If it is an AM only radio (sorry for not being fully familiar with the GM 2700 offering), then you can use a classic FM converter to interface with your factory radio and simply follow the above procedure.

Midnightmoon said:

Assuming that your radio is AM/FM, you can simply use the Roady's broadcast function to transmit to your radio. I usually use 88.300 with mine since that frequency normally doesn't have any interference in my local area. You can set transmit frequency in the Roady's menu. So, just find a an empty FM station and adjust accordingly.

If it is an AM only radio (sorry for not being fully familiar with the GM 2700 offering), then you can use a classic FM converter to interface with your factory radio and simply follow the above procedure.

Click to expand...

if he wanted to hardline to the thing, i think the best way to do that is with a tape variant of the radio, and essentially the Sirius would be utilizing that function

no idea in the slightest how to do it tho

PeteJr said:

Wondering if adding the Sirius/XM "Roady" to an original GM squarebody 2700 truck radio is possible?
I had one in one of my S-10s years ago. Worked great.

Anyone have experience with the connection and difficulty of doing this?
I understand the subscription part.

Click to expand...

the user manual says it'll play 'through' the fm receiver.
(inline with antenna)

i ran a 12 disc changer that had an inline antenna 'box' and i never had any trouble out of it.

the inline 'box' type of gadgets have far less issue with interference than gadgets that emit a signal relying on the vehicle antenna to 'pick up' out of the air.

good luck
'monkey

Doppleganger said:

This has nothing to do with what you want to do, but I know an electronics nerd that has free Sirius in all 3 of his cars. He buys the radio, subscribes, pulls the radio, cancels the subscription and waits a year. Apparently Sirius pings the unit-specific shut off signal for a year then moves on.

Sounded like fun, but I probably have more music than Sirius. Have a thumb drive with 5 different folders / genres, each with about 300-400 songs. Am willing to share. lol

Dont need no stinkin' Sirius.

Click to expand...

My dad found out that trick after he bought his Corvette. He got the first year free I believe and didn't renew it. But the car spent all the cold months in the steel barn, along with much of the time in the warmer months too. It never had signal to shut off the service and I believe it still works to this day.

Every body just shush!!!!!!! loose lips sink ships

Doppleganger said:

This has nothing to do with what you want to do, but I know an electronics nerd that has free Sirius in all 3 of his cars. He buys the radio, subscribes, pulls the radio, cancels the subscription and waits a year. Apparently Sirius pings the unit-specific shut off signal for a year then moves on.

Sounded like fun, but I probably have more music than Sirius. Have a thumb drive with 5 different folders / genres, each with about 300-400 songs. Am willing to share. lol

Dont need no stinkin' Sirius.

Click to expand...

I approve this message.

I have 1423 tracks on my SD card, all from my cd collection, and I still have about 25-30 cd's to transfer songs from.

Don't need no stinking sirius is right!...lol...

I installed an FM modulator from Crutchfield for under $30 in another car and it works well. It was easy to install and use. When you want to listen to XM, you just tune the radio to a specific station.

The only difference would be is if it would work as well with an old analog radio as compared to a newer digital radio as I have. Crutchfield support could answer that question...

Funny this article came up. I have a roadyxt that was in my 65 Suburban years ago and now want it in my 84 Sierra. I just need to get aFM Direct Adapter. Found one on Amazon so will get it and install it when I get the truck running again. I have an aftermarket AM/FM CD player in it.

84GMCSierra said:

Funny this article came up. I have a roadyxt that was in my 65 Suburban years ago and now want it in my 84 Sierra. I just need to get aFM Direct Adapter. Found one on Amazon so will get it and install it when I get the truck running again. I have an aftermarket AM/FM CD player in it.

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I have the cassette adapter but no cassette player. Here's the adapter kit. I messed up and left the adapter in the burb when I sold it. Ooops

84GMCSierra said:

I have the cassette adapter but no cassette player. Here's the adapter kit. I messed up and left the adapter in the burb when I sold it. Ooops

Click to expand...

It looks like any cassette adapter with a 3.5mm (maybe 2.5mm?) jack could work in place of the original?

The only 2 things about casette adapters:

1) A delco radio with auto-reverse DOES NOT LIKE these, it will keep attempting to reverse the tape, which obviously doesnt do anything.
2)
They are noisy, maybe name brand ones are better. Some delco radios had Dolphy noise reduction, and it helps immensely. But I only know of this feature on 95+ radios, not the 1980s. Maybe cadillacs had some?

Quick search shows up a 2din 1984-1985 cadillac radio with the feature:



Possibly worth trying to get a 2din delco in your square? I think people have done it, but i would imagine you need to make a custom rear brace/bracket and the bezel for the dash obviously would need to be hacked up to be that large.

Another ebay search found this:

So maybe a period correct radio will work if you found the right one? Just ideas. note the radio above says auto reverse https://www.ebay.com/itm/284926297695

All this talk of cassette adapters is bringing back some memories I had forgotten about. It was probably 1999 when I last used a cassette adapter. I used it in GM radios with the auto reverse... for some reason I remember there was a very easy way to cancel the auto reverse feature. I also remember a lot of noise, that varied with engine rpm.

PeteJr said:

Wondering if adding the Sirius/XM "Roady" to an original GM squarebody 2700 truck radio is possible?
I had one in one of my S-10s years ago. Worked great.

Anyone have experience with the connection and difficulty of doing this?
I understand the subscription part.

Click to expand...

Ron Sebastian said:

Another awesome accessory (BLUETOOTH)

Another great item for the 33 year old truck. This device plugs into the cigarette lighter spot and when you dial into a blank FM channel on your radio, it will bluetooth your smart phone through the speakers. Thats both Sirius XM music and hands free phone use for about $16. Plus it charges...

www.gmsquarebody.com

Click to expand...

THIS

THIS is how i keep stock radios in everything i own, AND listen to whatever i want, whenever