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XM & Sirius Satellite Radio

1618 messages,  Last post on Nov 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM

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#8 of 1618 oh ok by swinga7 Jan 29, 2002 (10:12 am)
thanks for clearing that up. Now i'm interested in satellite radio again
#9 of 1618 by cyranno99 Jan 31, 2002 (2:51 pm)
yeah.. I talked about it too much in News&Views
#11 of 1618 by steve_ HOST Mar 28, 2002 (5:06 pm)
Is any Town Hall member who has purchased a satellite radio interested in talking to the press? Anyone interested should email Jeannine Fallon at jfallonedmunds.com prior to next Thursday, 4/4. Thanks a bunch! Steve Host SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
#12 of 1618 by oldsman01 Mar 31, 2002 (1:13 pm)
I purchased the Sony "plug n play" XM unit last November and also purchased the home kit so I can use it in the house. The unit itself with the RF modulator was $399 and the home kit was $149. I just recently installed it in my Olds Intrigue after enjoying it at home since I got it. Thus far, I've found reception to be pretty good. Whats funny is it works flawlessly in parking garages and driving under large bridges in the city, but it does lose signal for a moment when driving under a bridge out in a more rural area. Sound quality going through the rf modulator is surprisingly good, although a strong FM station that is picking up good does sound better. I also found this to be true when I have the unit hooked up to my home receiver. What makes XM worth every penny is the programming!! Commercial radio has just gone to the dogs in the past few years and just this past week, a local jazz station which I liked just changed format. That seems to be commonplace everywhere as everything radio does is focus group driven and most of the time the stuff being played comes from a bird in the sky. Lets face it folks, the days of calling your local dj and requesting songs are just about over. Anyway, back to XM. I do wish all of their channels were commercial free, but at least their commercial time is MUCH less than FM and the commercials are typically not as bad as those screaming car dealer ads heard on the local channels. I can't wait to take a long road trip and put XM to the test. If your considering XM and you love music, go for it.
#13 of 1618 Signal loss by jgmilberg Mar 31, 2002 (10:38 pm)
You lose signal under bridges and overpasses in the rural area because they don't have the repeaters that the big cities do. That is why you have 2 leads from the antenna, one receives the signal from the satellites, and the other gets it from the terrestrial based repeater towers. With skyscrapers, and other tall objects that have the potential to block the signal from the satellites they mount receivers on top of the buildings and rebroadcast the signal in a regular FM frequency that can get through the buildings and such. What antenna did you choose for the car/house?   How do you like the lack of commercials?!!! I find myself going crazy at work listening to the radio because of them now. It's like a whole new radio out there, and in all reality if I had to pay the regular radio stations 10 bucks a month to stop all the commercials I would! But then I wouldn't get rid of the programming changes and other stuff that makes regular radio a pain.   I just installed the Pioneer unit, with the Terk SR2 roof mount antenna in my Yukon XL, and I really love it. I am trying to figure out where I feel like driving to just so I don't have to change the stations. I figure in less than 10 years the FM dial will be gone and XM or Sirrus will replace it completely. I can't believe the sound quality even though the FM modulator, it's simply amazing!
#14 of 1618 by timadams Apr 01, 2002 (7:50 am)
Is using an FM modulator the only way to listen? It seems silly to receive a clean digital signal and then listen through an RF modulator.   Regarding loss of signal under bridges, what about driving through woods where there is a tree canopy over the road? I would imagine you would lose the signal there, right?
#15 of 1618 by oldsman01 Apr 01, 2002 (4:21 pm)
I'm using the supplied antenna both in the car and at home(one came with the home kit as well). The one on the car is sitting on the trunk lid and has a huge magnet at the base. I considered the terk glass mount, but local stores did not have them in stock and I just didn't want to pay $79 to $99 for it. My car is black and so is the antenna so it doesn't really stick out and isn't even all that noticeable. I've seen similar looking antennas on BMWs and MBs for their navigation systems. I absolutely love the commercial free programming. It's awesome being able to actually listen to MUSIC for a change rather than commercial after commercial. In fact, I haven't loaded a cd into the player in over a week. Pre XM, I always kept some cds in the car with me because it would never fail, I'd be in a traffic jam coming home from work and EVERY station I had preset would have commercials!   Signal loss is minimal. Bridges seem to be the only area. Tree foliage is just now coming out so we'll see in a month or so, but right now trees have not been a problem with signal. Another thing I love about XM is that unless you are not receiving signal at all, there is no static, "motorboats", or other reception noise that is commonplace with FM. So many times I would be sitting in traffic and would "creep" forward nearly touching the car in front of me just because I happened to stop in a line of static. Don't tell the folks at XM this, but I'd probably pay more than $10 a month, I enjoy the service that much.
#16 of 1618 timadams by oldsman01 Apr 01, 2002 (4:24 pm)
Unless your headunit has rca inputs(very few do) or is set up for XM or external components, the rf modulator is pretty much the way you have to go. I understand your point completely and was skeptical myself, but was very impressed with the sound quality using the RF modulator. And RF modulators are probably just temporary as more and more cars are going to start coming with XM. I hear GM is going to offer it on about 18 different models in 2003. Ford, Chrysler, Saab, and others have also been mentioned as offering XM(or Sirius) within the next couple of years.
#17 of 1618 timadams-options by jgmilberg Apr 03, 2002 (2:44 am)
Right now you have 3 options on how to get XM Radio into the car.   1. Factory installed, it will be available from GM on quite a few 2003 models.   2. Aftermarket head unit replacement, first you have to get an XM ready head unit from Pioneer or Sony, then you still have to get the receiver box and antenna.   3. FM modulated, which is basically the receiver the antenna and the box to hook into the antenna.

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