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XM & Sirius Satellite Radio

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Comments

  • mtngalmtngal Member Posts: 1,911
    I'm glad to see that both services are thriving. It helps each one to have competition. I've been extremely happy with XM.
  • sb55sb55 Member Posts: 657
    XM came standard in my Acura TL, which I think is great, and I gladly signed up for 5 more years. Since I've listened to Stern for about 25 years, he is like an old, comfortable pair of jeans. I just bought a Sirius plug and play and now have both in my car and can move it into my home or office. No regrets, so far....

    2025 Toyota Crown Signia Hybrid, 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie 6.4 Hemi, 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT

  • maximafanmaximafan Member Posts: 592
    I've had XM satellite radio for two years now.
    I have the Roady setup. I can't say enough
    great things about it. I love it, although
    I never listen to any of the talkshows.
    There's just too much good music to listen to!
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    Yes, Bilgemouth is a factor in the dumbing down. The man is a legend... in his own mind.

    If, as you wrote, he is the reason that you subscribed to the Dog, that is a further example of his dumbing down influence.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Different strokes. Let's stick to the radio and not get on a Stern tangent please.

    Steve, Host
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    a Stern warning, perhaps? :)

    -Paul
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    Howard you have guessed that?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    lol, I'm Sirius you guys!

    Steve, Host
  • tidestertidester Member Posts: 10,059
    Did you know that Sirius is the name of a star and stern is German for star? :)

    But perhaps I should be steering this discussion back on topic.

    tidester, host
  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,350
    I got a new Accord just before Xmas, that came with XM built in (and 3 months free). I was thinking of getting it before, but now I am totally hooked. In about a month of driving, I haven't even set any FM presets!

    Now that I am spoiled, I couldn't imagine having to use a portable set up with Fm modulation. Much nicer to have it all integrated into the head unit, and the steering sheel controls.

    I'm just annoyed at Honda for not including it with the EX-L model of the Odyssey that we bought last year! I just don't feel like spending $800 for the van, especially because my wife could care less, and it is her daily driver.

    I will just use the ipod for travelling instead, since the DW won't listen to most of the good stuff on Xm anyway. I can just keep a lifetime supply of Billy joel and Elton John on the pod instead, for free.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,350
    also, if you are a baseball junky, XM is like crack. There are baseball talk shows going 24/7.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    also, if you are a baseball junky, XM is like crack. There are baseball talk shows going 24/7.

    Kind of like sports radio in Boston!! "Yeah, 3 Superbowls are nice, but how 'bout them Sox?"
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    Your message reads like you are touting the Dog because you want to run up the price of the stock you own.

    My subscription money is on the excellence of XM programming, and I have no finacial interest in stating that.
  • siriusradiosiriusradio Member Posts: 1
    I am successfully using an XM satellite antenna on a Sirius satellite radio thanks to this and other forums. Below I describe why and what I did.

    BACKGROUND
    I purchased a Sirius Sportster Replay ($149.99 from Crutchfield) for my car and it worked perfectly from the start. I then purchased a home kit to hook it up to my home theater system. The home kit comes with the docking station, power cord, stereo cables, built-in FM transmitter, FM antenna wire and indoor/outdoor satellite antenna. The problem was where to put the antenna to get satellite reception.

    My home theater system is far away from any windows or exterior walls where the antenna must be placed to get a satellite signal. I live in a condominium, so I am not allowed to drill a hole in any exterior walls through which to pass the antenna cable to the outside of the house. The only choice is to plug the antenna on a window sill and hope to receive the satellite signal through the window. I live in Chicago, IL and the Sportster instructions say the antenna should point straight up to get a satellite signal.

    I purchased a 50 ft. Terk antenna extension cable ($28.99 at Amazon) to get the antenna near one of four accessible windows. One window faces directly east but looks out onto a covered entryway. Two windows point directly east but are obstructed by small trees & shrubs. The third window faces directly south and is unobstructed. All four windows allowed for intermittent signal reception with no more than 30% signal strength. Furthermore, I signal reception would come and go intermittently and randomly. Sometimes I would get a signal for several hours in a row and then lose it for several hours. At other times, the signal would come and go every few seconds. There was no way to predict when I would have radio reception and it was very frustrating to have the audio signal start and stop randomly.

    I knew that Terk made a glass mounted antenna (models TRK-SR1, TRK-SR1X, XM11, all discontinued) for XM radios in which the antenna is mounted to the

    exterior of a vehicle. On the interior of the glass is mounted a mating piece which feeds power to the antenna and which receives the satellite signal from the antenna through the glass. No drilling through glass or metal is required. I surmised that if the XM antenna could receive a signal from Sirius' satellites, then I could mount the Terk antenna to an exterior window and hopefully get improved radio reception.

    I sought out other's experience by reading many comments on the topic on several web forums and blogs to find out if my idea could be done. The mix of reviews saying that it works and that it does not work were about 50/50. Those that claimed it work said that they had done it themselves. Those that said it did not work had not tried to do so but based their comments on technical grounds; XM and Sirius use different satellite frequencies and XM and Sirius antennas are tuned to receive only their respective satellite signals. In the end, I decided to give it a shot.

    ANTENNA INSTALLATION
    I purchased a used Terk TRK-SR1X glass mount antenna ($15.50 at Ebay, with new glass mounting kit). It has the old two-wire setup; one wire is for satellite reception, the other is for terrestrial repeater reception. Both connectors come with a plastic adapter to connect to older XM radios. I removed the plastic adapters. The wiring also has two wires for the 12 volt power required to power the antenna (with a fuse on the hot lead).

    I purchased an AC/DC adapter to convert house 110 volt AC to 12 volts DC ($7.99 at Fry's Outpost) and I purchased a male cigarette lighter plug ($1.89 at Fry's Outpost). I wired the lighter plug to the antenna power leads, connected the lighter plug to the AC/DC converter which I plugged into an electrical outlet. I plugged the satellite connector from the antenna into the antenna extension cable which was plugged into the Sirius radio. I temporarily mounted the antenna on a piece of glass (from a picture frame) using masking tape. When I powered up the Sirius radio, the green LED light on the antenna lit up indicating that it was successfully receiving power and detecting the satellite radio through the piece of glass.

    I then placed the temporarily mounted antenna in several locations at my four windows to determine if/where I would get the strongest satellite signal. It turns out that the southerly window had the best reception; the radio showed the signal strength to be a constant 70-80% !!!

    CONCLUSION
    At the time of this writing, I am in the midst of testing the signal reception by playing the Sirius radio for several hours for several days to confirm that I will not lose satellite reception as the three Sirius satellites travel over my location. Assuming that I have no further reception problems, I will permanently mount the exterior portion of the antenna on the outside of the window in question and mount it's interior mate on the inside of the window. I will then permanently route the wiring back to the home theater in the most attractive way possible.

    The moral of the story: I was able to successfully receive Sirius satellite programming using a Sirius radio and a Terk TRK-SR1X glass mount antenna.

    I hope this information helps anyone with similar problems in the same way that other posts helped me in this endeavor.

    Chicago, IL - January/2006">
  • maxwell3maxwell3 Member Posts: 10
    I love Hondas. (Have owned two...currently have 1997 CR-V)

    I love Sirius (Howard Stern)

    I don't like aftermarket Sirius receivers (do-it-yourself wiring and FM transmitters...yuk!)

    Honda, as many of you know, only offers factory installed XM

    Regrettably, my next car purchase (at the end of this year) will not be a Honda or Acura :(

    Anybody else basing their car purchase decision solely on lack of factory installed availability of either service? I've called Honda Customer Service to suggest they offer both XM and Sirius.
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    I too favor Hondas. I really appreciate the fact that I can use my own voice to control the audio system's station/channel selection, volume, CD and audio adjustments, climate control, navigation system, etc in only Hondas and Acuras. I also favor XM's programming because of its broader selection of programming than the Dog.

    You asked, (is) "Anybody else basing their car purchase decision solely on lack of factory installed availability of either service?" I wonder why folks would be "basing their car purchase decision solely on" one extemely overpaid egotistical guy's radio program.
  • bpaubpau Member Posts: 20
    Could some please clarify what exactly "satellite radio prep" means? I have a 2006 A6, is it possible to add satellite radio to the exsiting system? I have a diversity antenna and MMI. If adding is doable what should I need since I have the pre-wiring? I do not want anything mounted to the dashboard!
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    The Audi's MMI can accept either XM OR Sirius. If you look in the trunk, passenger side, you'll see a cover. Inside that is where the nav and other MMI-related electronics sit. It is simply a matter of adding a Sirius or XM tuner back there. Once added, the tuner will interface with MMI.

    That is how it was described to me and from what I have seen in test drives, it integrates well.

    BTW, the NAV antenna is not in that diversity antenna. :)

    -Paul
  • bpaubpau Member Posts: 20
    Thanks for the info. Now I just need to decide if I'm really raedy for this. I still have a problem paying to listen to the radio. I'm really not in my car long through out the day. :confuse:
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    I felt wierd at first too, but I pay for clear pictures for satellite TV or cable, so why not for clear radio?

    I pay for insurance that I hope to never use, so I don't feel bad paying a few bucks each month for a good radio. My commute to work used to be one hour up in the Mojave Desert in soCal. No good radio stations except 95.5 KLOS in LA. Satellite gave me lots of options. Moving across the country I was able to get clear reception and tune in my ball games w/o searching for a weak AM signal.

    Driving around town now, 15 minutes, I still enjoy clear radio WITHOUT the local commercials. And I still enjoy it on long trips or when I take my Jeep offroading.

    -Paul
  • sb55sb55 Member Posts: 657
    Like Paul in the post above, the fee is just part of the cost of life in this century. Who had cable, or a cell phone, or a PC, or internet 20 years ago? There was no Edmunds.com then!! The new technology is just part of life. I don't mind paying, in fact I have Sirius and XM. After you sample it, if you like it and want it, pay for more than month to month and you can get good discounts.

    2025 Toyota Crown Signia Hybrid, 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie 6.4 Hemi, 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT

  • bpaubpau Member Posts: 20
    I know Paul and sb but I just need to think a minute... muddle through. I HATE commercials. When you listen to regular radio you hear more commercials and talking than music! Sometimes I don't mind the talking if the topic is not something idiotic (rare). I'm leaning more towards getting it,otherwise I wouldn't be asking questions :D Thanks
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    bpau,

    Be aware that you will not hear commercials on satellite radio MUSIC channels. However, be prepared for occasional promos on many of the TALK channels.
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    This is true. You will hear occasional ads touting other channels or more usually, the one you're on (for music anyway). News channels, sports, etc will have commercials.

    But you won't hear that annoying, "BUY YOUR NEXT CAR FOR NO MONEY DOWN AND $5.00 PAYMENTS FOR THE NEXT 5000 YEARS! creditapprovalrequiredofferdoesnotapplytoallandsomemaynotbeacepted."

    -Paul
  • mtngalmtngal Member Posts: 1,911
    It's been interesting recently to be listening to the hockey games on XM. Most of the time we listen to music stations, (which are not all the same). During work hours I listen to an XM station (my old Roady is attached to a Bose radio in my office) that is all music. Going home we listen to a music station that has sort-of variety shows (I like Whisperin' Bill Anderson's Visit with the Legends show where he interviews music stars and plays their music - it's been fun to learn about the history behind songs). The hockey games occasionally have commmericals from the home radio broadcast (though they are getting less and less, with XM replacing them with ads touting their other channels). It's very odd to be listening to a commercial about some store in Detroit when you are driving the Los Angeles freeways!

    Every time I drive between LA and Vegas (little radio reception) I thank my brother-in-law who kept telling me how good XM really was. I can listen to the same station all the way or choose to listen to a book, an old radio station, music, news or whatever the mood strikes me. Much better than static.
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    You mean you don't like those "Highway stations of the inland empire" hehehe

    -Paul
  • mikejb2001mikejb2001 Member Posts: 3
    I recently purchased a 2006 Mercury Mariner Premier in December and didn't get the Sirius SAT radio option. However, I was wondering if anyone knows the installation costs to have it installed at a local dealership. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
  • mtngalmtngal Member Posts: 1,911
    "You're driving through Highway Country!" and endless commercials for Vegas casinos. No traffic reports until you are stuck in a huge back-up. If I'm going to be stuck in the middle of the desert I'd like to relax to some nice music without commercials telling me what I'm missing.
  • fdthirdfdthird Member Posts: 352
    I think you will find more and more commercial messages on the non-music channels...someone has to pay for Howard Stern!

    As to the value of Sat Radio...we love it! We have two Sirius Plug and Play units that we move between cars. I even bought a spare deck and antenna and take it with us when we fly to a destination and rent a car.

    Love it around town but even more so on trips. Driving from LI up to Mass to take my daughter back to school or down to our place on the Jersey Shore or even on the West Coast, it's great to be able to listen to one channel anywhere. Local radio has become the pits and frankly you do get tired listening to CDs all the time and love the variety. Also, we use the traffic and weather channel a lot when we are heading back into the NYC area.

    In the scope of things, the yearly contract is not that much...piss away a lot more money than that!
  • rhoymerhoyme Member Posts: 10
    Just purchased an '06 Toyota RAV4 and would like to install XM. The dealer told me Toyota doesn't do a factory or dealer install, and referred me to a local electronics store. Does anyone have any specific XM model recommendations, and install do's and don'ts? Thanks!
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    and really love it in my Jeep. Alpine's heads are universal and ready for either XM or Sirius, so you can pick between either.

    -Paul
  • sb55sb55 Member Posts: 657
    What do you want to install? You can either get a built in unit, or put in a "portable" style that you can move from car to car or car to house. I have a built in in my Acura, but also have a MYFI portable that I can use anywhere. XM is coming out with a new portable next month, so you may want to wait if that's the direction you want to go.
    I'm surprised that the dealer doesn't install the XM. I thought that Toyota was linked to XM (not Sirius) and usually dealers are glad to install ANY accessory (and charge a high markup).

    2025 Toyota Crown Signia Hybrid, 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie 6.4 Hemi, 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT

  • ontopontop Member Posts: 279
    I have a built in in my Acura

    I too have an Acura, an 06 TL. It comes with 3 months free XM service, which of course, I love. I hear if you don't renew the first few days after the initial trial period you end up getting a much better deal by waiting for a 'reoffer'. Any insight as to this ploy?

    Not sure I could do w/o XM for long tho, and I know my daughters would kill me to let it lapse, but I also have an 05 Odyssey that I want to add to the plan , and maybe an office or home receiver too, so any price break would be welcomed and accepted.

    I totally recommend XM if you couldn't tell.
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    saves you money once you add more than one receiver. :) So does paying for more than a month at a time. :)

    -Paul
  • duke15duke15 Member Posts: 161
    Does anyone have an Rx-8 with the factory Sirius option? If so, what is your opinion? I am considering it in the RX-8 that I am ordering. I tend to not like after market products, I like everything to be stock. I have a 3-4 hour drive to my in-laws with horrible radio reception, and I would like to listen to NFL/Sports news/games, and have more music options.
    thanks
  • rhoymerhoyme Member Posts: 10
    I currently have an XM Sky-Fi that is portable and I swap out between my Explorer Sport-Trac and my home stereo system. XM charges me $12.95/month, but they have a family plan for $6.95/month for each receiver after the first one. I don't really need to have a portable receiver for my new RAV4. Any recommendations as to what type of "permanent receiver" and antenna mount to purchase and have installed? Again, my local Toyota dealer told me he doesn't sell or install XM (strange...)and referred me to a local electronics store. Thought I should have a clue before I go there, though. Thanks!
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    rhoyme,

    Go to this link and scroll down to Toyota to see that they offer XM OEM installations for several 2006 models but not for the RAV4:

    http://www.xmradio.com/cars/

    However, according to this link, you should probably be able to replace your stock radio with a new "permanent" head unit receiver and antenna from Alpine, Pioneer or Sony:

    http://www.xmradio.com/catalog/head_units.jsp
  • pittsypittsy Member Posts: 15
    I just picked up an A3 with the factory Sat ready radio. I was looking at the TERK (Audiovox) XM add-on and trying to find out if this is compatible with the Audi radios. Any feedback is appreciated.
  • rudy2000rudy2000 Member Posts: 32
    Anyone concerned about the 250+ satellites floating in space, many of them space junk? Do you think satellite radio will ever be profitable? If the prices doubles, will you still subscribe? Do you have a favorite station? Mine is XM101 The Joint. Keep it burning.
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    Satellites aren't the problem.

    It's the little nuts and bolts, gloves, paint chips, etc floating around that are the problem. :)

    Hitting a nut or a bolt at those speeds is just as deadly as hitting a dead satellite, and a heck of a lot harder to see.

    -Paul
  • deminindeminin Member Posts: 214
    All you hip-hoppers and rappers out there might want to rethink your choice of auto radio entertainment. If you check the financial news lately, you will see that XM is going through some real bad financial times. There is at least a 50/50 chance that they may fold...leaving you with all your XM toys and subscriber fees that aren't worth squat. The best scenerio is that XM may be bought out by Sirius...if Sirius can afford it. I would strongly suggest that before you invest any time and money into this stuff, you do some careful investigation of what the future holds for these toys. If XM does work out its troubles, the format will probably change to include endless commercials similiar to regular radio.
  • erickplerickpl Member Posts: 2,735
    And Sirius probably wouldn't be too far behind.

    -Paul
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    deminin,

    Please provide an authoritative link to support your stated contention that "There is at least a 50/50 chance that they may fold..." Or is this pure speculation on your part?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    The Motley Fool blames the numbers on the bidding war for on-air talent (Stern, Oprah, etc.) and indicates that marketing costs will continue be high while they are fighting Sirius for a hefty subscriber base.

    Plus, aside from HP's good numbers, it seems to be a slow news day on the market. I don't own either stock but if you like satellite radio, today may be a good day to be contrarian and buy some. Just don't yell at me if a bird falls out of orbit and they go banko. :blush:

    Steve, Host
  • mlm4mlm4 Member Posts: 401
    I wouldn't doubt the possibility of bankruptcy but I doubt they would fold. Someone will step in and take over. The two FCC licenses are too valuable for someone not to.
  • deminindeminin Member Posts: 214
    Visit either the CNBC or XM websites....that should get you started. Do a Google or Yahoo search on XM, and you should find the latest news. If XM makes their annual report available on-line, that might be some interesting reading.
  • blaneblane Member Posts: 2,017
    deminin,

    I've read plenty about the subject. But nowhere could I find anything to back up your posted contention that "There is at least a 50/50 chance that they may fold...". If you have a specific link, please post it.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    ...and today Sirius announced that it's fourth quarter losses were greater than those a year ago. It added 1.1 million net subscribers in the quarter giving them 3.3 million and XM added 898,000 to give them 5.93 million. On the positive side, the cost of each new subscriber for Sirius dropped from $124 to $113 whereas XM raised spending per new subscriber from $104 to $141.

    In any case, Sirius lost $311.4 million and XM lost $268.3 million in the 4th quarter alone. IMHO, it's going to be a long time before anyone is declared the winner in this market.
  • carnaughtcarnaught Member Posts: 3,576
    The firat thing they should do is get rid of Stern and save several hundred million dollars. I've listened and it really sucks not to mention all of the commercials.
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