I got an xm satellite radio installed  last weekend in my trunk.  Drove up to Daytona from miami, listening to the Nascar channel and the top 20 channel, it was cool. 300 miles drive, not a single drop out.  And the song selections are much better than the garbage FM stations plays.  I've been enjoying the radio so much, I'm not listening to the am/fm anymore.

And I'm saving whole bunch of money since I don't need to buy whole bunch of CDs anymore.

Just curious anyone here also got a satellite radio?  If you have a long drive to work or traveling on the road, I would recommand you to get one.  60 channels of commerical free music and 40 channels of news and sports.  

I love the Nascar channel!

i guess people on the board don't drive???

My wife has it in one of her cars, usually when we are driving though, we are talking to each other and not listening to the radio, sorry.

No Idea as to monthly cost.  Less than cable, more than a gallon of milk?

I saw an ad for XM that said $10 a month.

I'm not sure I'm ready to PAY for radio, but it does sound kinda kewl.

Maybe when I ownn a truck thats worth more than the XM radio I'd install in it, I'll get one. Radio, that is.

[:D]

9.99/month.  I paid a year up front.
As far as commerical goes, the channel I listen to don't have any commericals, at least I didn't hear any.  I like 80's songs, and I don't want to get all the CDs or search the web for freebies that I need a 60/months DSL in order to download to my MP3 player.   So this is the cheapest way for me to get it.

I used to say noway I'm paying for radio, but after I got it, I wouldn't say the same again.  I haven't touched my AM/FM button once since I got XM. If you don't like it, sell it on ebay, 9.99/month is only 1 CD price!

I like it. And since I drive about 30mins everyday to work, this is the best thing I have in my car.  I don't have to listen to the crapy DJs on the local staions anymore.

Do you pay for cable TV or satellite TV?

I'm a talk radio junkie / burnout.

Rush, and some of the local talent.

Does XM have talk radio???

[url]http://www.xmradio.com/programming/programming_category.jsp?category=Talk%20%26%20Variety[/url]

Somewhat off topic but I have noticed Direct TV has a number of 'radio stations' as part of their programming - no commercials , just uninterrupted music.

You could hook up a CD recorder to that and record a bunch of CDs? I wonder if thats considered 'fair use'[rolleyes]

If you really don't like commercials you can go with Sirius.  It costs a couple dollars more per month and is commercial free.  Also it should have fewer dead zones since it uses 3 satellites in eliptical orbit instead of 2 geosynchronous like XM uses.  XM's 2 geosynchronous satellites have the same 'southern exposure' requirements as a satellite mini-dish.

Yah, they have some talk radio.  They gonna have playboy channel coming in sept.  The talk channel I listen to is the comedy channels, that is uncensored, pretty funny stuff, the good thing about satellite radio is nothing is censored, they can say whatever they want.  

Hoplo:

That's not exactly.  XM has some 3000 repeater sites over the country, so you won't be affected by the earth rotation on the satellite.
Also sirus uses 3 satellite, but the 3rd one is only kicked in when you lose signal on one of the satellite, so basically there's a delay in signal switching.  XM uses the strongest signal either from satellite or the repeater, so you won't notice the signal switching, at least, not delayed as much as sirus.

If I lived anywhere near Pittsfield, Il., I'd definately have one!

hielo,

Might you be able to ask your wife how well the reception is within the tall buildings of the liberal cesspool known as Manhattan? I'm interested in getting XM. Thanks in advance...

christle:

you can ask people on this website about NY, as far as I know, they have three repeater sites in Manhattan.

[url]www.clubxm.com[/url]

Troy:
You don't get 24 hrs uncut comedy on the broadcast radio, do you?  You don't get to listen Nascar races or Fox sports 24  hours with broadcast radio, do you? What about a 24hours audio book station? Not mentioning those annoying commercials and DJs telling you what you should listen.  XM has a channel that the listners can make the playlist.  And I heard XM gonna let u download the music via USB connection next year with some new hardware.  For 10bucks a month, you get it all.

alright they have a fox news feed [:D] now i just might save up and get it.

XMs 30 chans with commercials average 6 minutes of commercials PER hour of music.

Ahh progress.

They said the same thing about cable tv in the early 80's.
It was said that bottled water would never take off.
Designer coffee will never sell cause no one would pay $2+ for a cup.
10cents was just too much for a stamp. The post office has gone too far.
We have the Second Ammendment, they wouldn't dare restrict guns.
Elizabeth Taylor couldn't possibly marry again.



Ahhh progress [:D]  

Is Rush Limbaugh on the satellite radio? What happend to the TV show. Really liked the one on Jocelyn Elders.

LOL...

$10 per month to have your vehicle linked to a satellite? I wonder if the XM radio has a built-in GPS that lets the satellite know where you are? Hmmm?

BTW...I think those satellites are in geosynchronous orbit, that is, they do not circle the Earth, but stay in one spot.

Spend your money on a 12" subwoofer and 600 watt amp instead.  You will NOT be disappointed.

For u all think it's dumb to pay for radio, and it must be the same as FM radios, just try it for a month, then tell me what you think.  Just get a headunit, if you don't want the service, just unsubscribe it, you still get your CD player, your MP3 player that comes with the headunit.  

That's what people said about satellite TV, it ain't no better than cable.  yah, sure!!! NOT!

We are up in Pine City now (about four hours north of Manhattan), but she travels down their a few times a month, and so far has yet to complain about being musicless.  I will ask her later today about the specifics  of manhattan usage and let you know.

The XM satellites are geosynchronous, so by definition they do not move reletive to the Earth.  The FM repeaters are so that you can still get a signal when there's a mountain or a building or a large truck to the south that blocks the satellite signal.  Sirius also uses FM repeaters to cover shadows, and their satellites are more directly overhead so there is less chance of the signal being blocked.



No, the third satellite doesn't kick in at all.  Their 3 satellites are in elliptical orbits so there are times when one or two of the satellites are not 'visible' to the receiver.  Sirius also uses ground based repeaters and, like XM, the receiver selects the best available signal.

And there should never be a delay for signal switching because both XM and Sirius have several seconds worth of buffer stored in the receiver to cover intermiitant interuptions.  If you are getting breaks in your signal it means that you were in a dead zone for longer than the buffer had stored the signal.

I'll buy one as soon as they have Alex Jones on 24 hours per day.

I looked up some of the programs I wouldn't mind listening to like Art Bell, and they are played only when the regular shows are on at night. It would be nice to have a "Art Bell channel" or a Rush Limbaugh channel where the shows are repeated throughout the day so that you can listen to it when you're in the car.

Alternatively, it would be nice to have a radio that recorded shows on a little hard drive or compact flash card while you were out - like a Tivo or Dishplayer for your car radio.

peterAR:

if you are a subscriber, you can always voice your opinion, that's why xm will change its lineup after 8/26 due to user feedbacks.  User opinion counts there, and they will do whatever you ask if you are a paying customer.  

[b][u]The XM satellites are geosynchronous, so by definition they do not move reletive to the Earth. The FM repeaters are so that you can still get a signal when there's a mountain or a building or a large truck to the south that blocks the satellite signal. Sirius also uses FM repeaters to cover shadows, and their satellites are more directly overhead so there is less chance of the signal being blocked.[/u][/b]

In theory, yes, but due to the earth self rotation and its relative position to the sun, the earth's magnetic fields  are varying at different time. For RF signals, due to the sun activity and moon activity and earth magnetic field, the signal are more or less affected, not much if you are covered under both satellite, however, if you are on the edge of the coverage, you will notice it.  These are not FM repeaters, these repeaters'signals are in the higher bandwidth than FM.  And the difference between sirius and xm is sirius repeaters kick in when there's lost coverage by the satellite, xm's repeater kicks in when it's the stronger signal of the two.  So with sirius, if you still have one of the two satellites, your hardware will still use that signal, doesn't matter the signal strength.

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[u][b]Also sirus uses 3 satellite, but the 3rd one is only kicked in when you lose signal on one of the satellite, so basically there's a delay in signal switching. XM uses the strongest signal either from satellite or the repeater, so you won't notice the signal switching, at least, not delayed as much as sirus.[/u][/b]
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[b][u]No, the third satellite doesn't kick in at all. Their 3 satellites are in elliptical orbits so there are times when one or two of the satellites are not 'visible' to the receiver. Sirius also uses ground based repeaters and, like XM, the receiver selects the best available signal.

And there should never be a delay for signal switching because both XM and Sirius have several seconds worth of buffer stored in the receiver to cover intermiitant interuptions. If you are getting breaks in your signal it means that you were in a dead zone for longer than the buffer had stored the signal. [/u][/b]

Again, sirius' repeaters are not kicked in if there's a satellite coverage, unless they changed their system recently.  The buffer is about 10seconds max.  If you are behind a building or on a strengh of road that is blocked by trees,you will lose signal.  However, if you have more repeaters on the ground, you will find the next available signal more frequent and faster, works like your cell phone system.

Might not have to worry about it much longer...
[url]www.usatoday.com/money/media/2002-08-15-satellite-radio_x.htm[/url

Fixed the link, everyone interested in this needs to read that before laying down the bucks.

Sure waved me off!  Thanks for the info.

  [img]http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/thumbs.gif[/img]

I'd go with XM.  XM outsells Sirius 10 to 1.   People are buying the service and units up.  You'll be able to use it at home, in your vehicle, and most likely a true portable version.  Check with local dealers and ask how sales are doing.  They've always met or exceeded their projections as a company. Once XM gets their financial backing soon, I believe the stock will take off again.

I bought at $10 and sold at $18 less than a year ago.  Kicked myself for not investing earlier.  Now the stock is around $3, a bargain.  I bought again and am waiting for their backing plus the fact that Sirius, their only competitor, might be in trouble.    

Yep, the financials of the companies does have a big effect on who to select.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.  GM and a couple of other auto companies and a truck company or two (Freightliner?) have a lot of money in XM.  That's why you can get XM in a Caddilac but not Sirius.

Sirius has had a lot of investment from Ford, Daimler-Chrysler and a couple of other auto/truck companies.

If Sirius goes under, will you be able to get satellite radio in a Mercedes?


At any rate, while Sirius does have IMO a better technical model, but they took too long getting to market and XM simply has a better name.  XM sounds like a natural extension of the AM and FM that we are all used to seeing on our radios so it had no trouble becoming the generic name for satellite radio.  

Sirius was ready for production use around the same time as XM except for their FM repeater network.  The year long delay getting the repeaters in place has really cost them and could be what puts them under.

That USA today article is just BS.  Although they are both burning cash like the california fire, they will get new investment coming in and make them last 2 or 3 more years before we know this business model will work or not. But I do think only one will survive.

USA today said the samething about DVD and VHS players couple years ago...  VHS is here to stay because you can't record on DVD. Dah....

Sirius has more problem than just the network, their chipsets has problems that they can't mass produce them, that's why you only see limited supplies on sirius radios

I doubt that it is bullshit. When a comnpany uses words like "burning cash" instead of "re-investing in our future" it makes me think they are not going to be around for too much longer.
And with the economic trouble post 9/11 I doubt that anyone is willing to give up their hard earned cash just to see their investment "burning up".

They are offering a service that is really a bullshit service.  If it were two-four years ago I would think that they would have a viable product. I am not saying that there may be sometime in the near future for a service like this.  

Oh yea, if anyone really wants to they can buy a DVD recorder. You might want to read up on this:
"A DVD Player that Records
Finally, you can get the best of both worlds with a Philips DVD Recorder. Philips offers you all of the convenience and ease of a VCR combined with the amazing technology of DVD. The Philips DVD Recorder allows you to record from your television or transfer video from your camcorder or VCR to DVD discs."
[url]http://www.dvdrecorder.philips.com/[/url]

I've installed at least 30 Sirius receivers so far, I like the idea of satellite radio, but especially in a use nobody here has mentioned yet- [b]IN BOATS![/b] Satellite radio is one of the best things to happen to boat radio in a long time. Most people at the lakes around here can't pick up squat for reception with FM, Barely anyone listens to AM, but the Sirius signal comes in loud and clear.

I helped design and build one of the Sirius demo cars(MBZ), and had a big issue with them because of it. While we were waiting and waiting for payment, it came to my attention that they had removed my shop's logo from the install, and were claiming to have built it themselves...[:(!]
I like the Sirius sevice better than the XM, but I've got a feeling XM will end up being more successful.

yap, cars, boats, small airplanes, if you live somewhere in north dakota, i doubt you ever have more entrainment than 100 channels of different variety of music, talk shows, sports shows on the local FM, AM.

If you are fishing off shores, try to download some music or play your boring CD again and again.

Yep, satellite radio is becoming popular with the trucking community.  There's also enough bandwith to expand the system in the future to other areas of communications.

BTW, if you took heed of this tip only less than a month ago you would of doubled your money by now.  XM Radio is hovering around $6 a share today.

Shares should really take off when they announce their funding.

[url]http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XMSR&d=v1[/url]