My first sirrus was remote unit that I had running through the radio channel on the vehicle and Boom box style in the house. I worked ok in the car but if your trip was very long, you would get static and need to change the station. I then put in a flip screen navigation with sirrus receiver in it and it works trouble, static, free. It costs more to go direct with the receiver but if you spend alot of time listening, it's worth it.