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Old 11-25-2005, 11:55 AM   #1
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Satellite Radio???

I'm looking hard at satellite radio. I'm getting pretty unanimous opinions that Sirius is better than XM. Is this true?

I've been looking at the Sirius Sportster Replay. It saves 45 minutes of audio giving you the ability to pause and rewind. They've got a package that has the receiver and the complete car kit for about $150 at HHGregg. It also includes a remote. I know I'll want at least one car kit for the truck, but I'm unsure as to wheather or not I'll want a mobile cradle for the Airstream, or just get the Boombox. Will the boombox work in the house and in the Airstream so I don't have to buy two home cradles?

Is anyone out there already set up on Sirius? Do you like it? What cradle configurations do you find make the most sense?

Thanks as always for your input!
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Old 11-25-2005, 02:12 PM   #2
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I have an XM roady II that I use in my T.V. and A.S.. I ran a seperate antenna down the refer. vent. I move the reciver back and forth from TV to trailer. It worked great all the south to the Tropic of Cancer last March. I wanted to keep up with the news while I was in Mexico. I didn't miss one bit of the M. Jackson Trail
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Old 11-25-2005, 02:17 PM   #3
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We have sirius and have yet to set it up in the Airstream as we are still trying to figure out what to do in the front end, dinette, etc. But we have it in the house and use it in the cars.

We love it!
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Old 11-25-2005, 02:22 PM   #4
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I have used XM in at home and in both the T.V. and the Bambi now for some time. I did switch from the Skyfi to the MyFi portable system. It will transmit through your FM Stereo and has a built in antenna for when you go for walks etc. I'm not sure about the rates now, but when I started on XM, it was a little more expensive to buy the equipment but the monthly charges were less. Several members of my family are on XM and after the first unit, the monthly charge is about $8.00/month
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Old 11-25-2005, 02:34 PM   #5
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Ben -
I've had Sirius for 6 months, and like it better as time passes. I bought Sirius largely because of its 2 National Public Radio channels. Disappointingly, a lot of NPR news programming is not carried: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition are not currently available.
Despite this, the musical offerings are immense and draw from a remarkable library of new and old tunes. It's hard not to like very good music served up without commercials, and with an acceptable amount of DJ chatter.
I have a car kit in my truck and another in my trailer. I move the Sirius receiver between the two. It has a built in modulator which broadcasts FM to my stereos in each vehicle. This works quite well.
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Old 11-25-2005, 04:36 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grizzy
I did switch from the Skyfi to the MyFi portable system. It will transmit through your FM Stereo and has a built in antenna for when you go for walks etc.
I looked this up and I really like the idea of being able to walk around with the receiver and still have access. With me going in the Coast Guard, I'll be getting into a jogging routine to stay in shape.

With the car and home kits, is there an external antenna? Does the unit work indoors without a dock?

Thanks for you info, you may have me switching tracks to XM.
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Old 11-25-2005, 06:44 PM   #7
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I'm a Sirius fan. Traveling as I do it would be impossible to listen to the wide variety of music, news, NPR...etc. on a regular radio.
I listen to 3 jazz feeds, Radio Margaritaville, NPR, CNN... and am never in an area where I can't get a signal.
Lots of merits to both systems, check monthly vs. annual contract prices. I saved on the annual payment.
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Old 11-25-2005, 08:16 PM   #8
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Sirius!

I love my Sirius. Use it all the time. Highly recommend it.
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Old 11-26-2005, 04:12 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivetedude
I'm looking hard at satellite radio. I'm getting pretty unanimous opinions that Sirius is better than XM. Is this true?

I've been looking at the Sirius Sportster Replay. It saves 45 minutes of audio giving you the ability to pause and rewind. They've got a package that has the receiver and the complete car kit for about $150 at HHGregg. It also includes a remote. I know I'll want at least one car kit for the truck, but I'm unsure as to wheather or not I'll want a mobile cradle for the Airstream, or just get the Boombox. Will the boombox work in the house and in the Airstream so I don't have to buy two home cradles?

Is anyone out there already set up on Sirius? Do you like it? What cradle configurations do you find make the most sense?

Thanks as always for your input!
Started with one XM in the truck, bought the receiver for the stereo, the boom box for camp and another receiver for the car. We love XM, take it everywhere
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Old 11-26-2005, 05:14 AM   #10
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Exclamation

SIRIUS !!!!

If you don't buy the service ... buy the stock now & sell it after Xmas. You will then be able to afford both XM & SIRIUS services.

I have subscribed to SIRIUS since 2003 and could not do without it now. It is especially appreciated when traveling through the remote areas of our Country.
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Old 11-26-2005, 05:58 AM   #11
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I have an XM Roady 2, that we use in the house and car. Going to buy a 2nd Roady 2 as they are on sale for $24 now!!

XM uses 2 satellites in geosynchronous orbit at 115 degrees W and 85 degrees W over the equator, named "Rock" and "Roll". They launched a spare sat called "Rythmn" earlier this year, which I believe is at 115 W.

Sirius uses 2 sats that orbit in a figure 8 over the U.S. One sat is 4 seconds behind the other. This may cause reception problems for some in home users, as the sats are always moving.

A couple of forums for satellite radio:

http://www.xm411.com

http://www.siriusbackstage.com
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Old 11-26-2005, 07:22 AM   #12
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I've had XM for 2 years now, and couldn't live without it. Always have reception, good channels, lots of news, sports, music, etc... XM has every baseball game played covered on the sat radio. Sirrius has the NFL, but I'm always home to watch the NFL, so that isn't much of a selling point for me. I have a dock in my Dodge, one in the Volvo, and one in my work truck. Worth every penny.
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Old 11-26-2005, 10:09 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rivetedude
I looked this up and I really like the idea of being able to walk around with the receiver and still have access. With me going in the Coast Guard, I'll be getting into a jogging routine to stay in shape.

With the car and home kits, is there an external antenna? Does the unit work indoors without a dock?

Thanks for you info, you may have me switching tracks to XM.
The car and home kits do have external antennas. There is also a "cigar" shaped antenna you can use for better reception when your walking. Finally, there are places (http://www.myradiostore.us/?siteLaun...c1.mrsplus.com) where you can get every conceivable attachment.
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Old 11-26-2005, 10:49 AM   #14
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Dave

How did you mount the antenna on the Avalanche? I too have an 02 Avalance - I've seen them snake the wire through the rubber molding on the front window, but I'm concerned about leaks and I think it looks tacky.

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Old 11-26-2005, 11:41 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken J
Dave

How did you mount the antenna on the Avalanche? I too have an 02 Avalance - I've seen them snake the wire through the rubber molding on the front window, but I'm concerned about leaks and I think it looks tacky.

Ken
I ran the antenna wire under the dash to the passenger side of the truck. From there I just ran it across the door rubber and then up the side of the windshield under the windshield molding. Using the magnetic base of the antenna I just let it sit right next to the windshield molding about where the windshield meets the top of the truck. It was an easy installation and I've never had a problem with damaging the wire or with the antenna coming loose.
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Old 11-26-2005, 12:15 PM   #16
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DirecTV vs Dish?

Soooooooo.....I have learned quite a bit about satellite radio just from reading the posts on this thread! Is the main difference (other than the satellite configuration) just the programming? ...kinda like DirecTV vs Dish... I guess I don't get out enough...I have only found a few dead spots in my travels where NPR is non-existent and the choice of the remaining broadcast music stations was so dismal that I decided to pop in CD's for an hour or so. Maybe someone could enlighten me as to why you would want to pay for satellite radio....

Another question....do these satellite radios include CD players?
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Old 11-26-2005, 12:20 PM   #17
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It's pretty easy to install satellite radio antennas because the wires are so thin. We have our small XM antenna sitting in the gap between one of the front windows on the trailer and its stone guard. I fished the wire out around the screen in the window by just taking out two screws, then replacing them when the wire was through.

As for choosing between XM or Sirius, you need to go to their respective program guide web pages and see which has the best selection for you. As time goes on, they keep getting more and more alike. As far as I can tell, the only major differences are that Sirius has NFL, but XM has baseball. Sirius has Howard Stern, while XM has Oppie and Anthony (don't blame me for mentioning these guys, I'm just the messenger).

A few years ago, it was generally said that Sirius had a slight audio performance advantage, but none of the recent tests of receivers have born this out. Neither has CD sound quality (if you're a discriminating listener with a good ear), but both are better than ordinary casette tape or scratchy broadcast radio signals.

Some of the other recommendations are valid, but only in the short run. For example, some people will tell you one service is cheaper than another because they found a really great deal on a specific receiver. But in a week or two, a different one is sure to go on sale elsewhere for less, maybe for the other service. A year from now, whatever device you buy will work fine, but there will be something more powerful available for a whole lot less money.

So don't sweat it; just look at the program guides and see what receivers are cheaply available where you are. You migh also consider what kind of service is used by the manufacturer of you tow vehicle, or other cars you own. That way, when you get your next car or truck, you can keep all your satellite subscriptions on one bill.
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Old 11-26-2005, 03:46 PM   #18
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Warbler5,
We got satellite radio (Sirius) because where we live you will have to switch frequencies 3 time in a 40 mile drive and still may encounter dead spots. On longer drives, as you pass from one area to another there is no guarantee that you will be able to pick up the same program. I guess I should say that we mostly listen to NPR. Although it is nice to be able to choose the kind of music we want to hear wherever we are. We got it just before a long trip several years ago and haven't looked back. We have found that the one annoyance we have experienced is with the FM modulator. Sometimes we find ourselves in a broadcast rich environment and get interference on all the FM frequencies our modulator supports. In our Airstream Motorhome we have a stereo which has jack on the front so we plug in directly and have no interference.

We choose Sirius becuse it was the only service which carries NPR (although not all NPR programming, alas)
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Old 11-26-2005, 08:41 PM   #19
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Why pay for sat radio? Same reason we pay for sat TV. Programming. If you love listening to the same 10 songs played over and over again, or 10 minutes of commercials, laden with mindless disc jockey drivel, then sat radio is not for you.

Personally, I love the 70's channel on XM. Music is played on that channel we have not hear in years.
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Old 11-26-2005, 09:19 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pick
Why pay for sat radio? Same reason we pay for sat TV. Programming. If you love listening to the same 10 songs played over and over again, or 10 minutes of commercials, laden with mindless disc jockey drivel, then sat radio is not for you.

Personally, I love the 70's channel on XM. Music is played on that channel we have not hear in years.
When the "variety" in music began to disappear in my area, my husband installed stacked FM antennas on a 40-foot mast so that we could pull in stations from the San Francisco Bay Area. In the car, we listen to CD's and NPR almost exclusively.

I have had a few friends ask me if we knew anything about satellite radio, and I had to admit that I knew nothing.....this thread has started my education! I will be checking out Sirius...since NPR is included in their programming.
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