Author Topic: Satellite Radio (Read 1660 times)

Sandman · « **on:** November 20, 2003, 03:22:59 PM »

I went on travel this week and the rental car had XM satellite radio built in.

I was fairly impressed. It's a cool system.

One of the guys at work just went with the Sirius system.

Anyone have any experience with this? Comparisons between Sirius and XM?

Also, I've been browsing Crutchfield and looking at in-dash receivers. It appears that they both use an add-on tuner and additional antenna. Not sure which is the best "deal".

Anyway... it's been interesting so far. If you have any experience with this sort of stuff, I'm all ears.

FUNKED1 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:25:18 PM »

I pretty much only listen to AM radio and get a kick out of tuning the local stations as I drive across the country.

For music, I use an MP3 player with about 8000 tracks in it. I put it in "shuffle" mode and I get my own radio station.

Sandman · « **Reply #2 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:26:50 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by FUNKED1
I pretty much only listen to AM radio and get a kick out of tuning the local stations as I drive across the country.

For music, I use an MP3 player with about 8000 tracks in it. I put it in "shuffle" mode and I get my own radio station.

Well... that's the cool thing... quite a few of the CD/MP3 players are also wired to control satellite radio tuners.

vorticon · « **Reply #3 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:27:59 PM »

doesnt the term satellite make the term radio unneeded??? or does the satellite some how transmit radio signals to your receiver...

Jack55 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:39:25 PM »

I read somewhere that it can have reception problems where there are overhead obstructions like near tall buildings and overhead tree branches, etc. Basicly, direct line of sight to the satellite is required. Is this really a problem?

SOB · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:42:34 PM »

Is is cool enough to be worth $10/month?

Sandman · « **Reply #6 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:50:02 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SOB
Is is cool enough to be worth $10/month?

Absolutely!

Sandman · « **Reply #7 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:51:04 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Jack55
I read somewhere that it can have reception problems where there are overhead obstructions like near tall buildings and overhead tree branches, etc. Basicly, direct line of sight to the satellite is required. Is this really a problem?

The only time the radio cut out was underneath an overpass in town. On the freeway, at speed, it never cut out.

Sandman · « **Reply #8 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:51:39 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by vorticon
doesnt the term satellite make the term radio unneeded??? or does the satellite some how transmit radio signals to your receiver...

Exactly... the radio transmitter is in space.

medicboy · « **Reply #9 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:54:53 PM »

I drove a friends truck through the salinas valley, he had XM I believe. I played with that thing for hours, definatly worth the $10/month.

LePaul · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:55:59 PM »

Id pondered going satellite radio too...my new car radio can accept it, just need the sat antenna, decoder and subscription

XM is up and running, Sirius took a while to get up to speed. No idea which is better, or what differences they offer.

Consumer Reports?

vorticon · « **Reply #11 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:56:19 PM »

cool but if its just a radio transmitter in space then why can they make you pay 10$ a month...its not like you can selectivly block radio signals at the transmitter side...is the quality fairly good (to be honest i cant tell the difference between a properly tuned FM channel and a cd...)

SOB · « **Reply #12 on:** November 20, 2003, 03:57:01 PM »

So why's it worth the $10? I'm interested too. No commercials? Does it have irritating DJs or just nonstop music?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #13 on:** November 20, 2003, 04:08:47 PM »

Judging by the questions being asked in this thread, I think they need to find another ad agency, as the current martketing aint cutting it.

vorticon · « **Reply #14 on:** November 20, 2003, 04:12:07 PM »

*shrug* im canadian and dont bother with ads...