Satellite radio

[Hal Whelply]

Has anyone here purchased and installed (or ordered, on a new car) a
satellite radio system? Which is the way to go, Serius (sp?) or XM? (Which
is the VHS and which is the Betamax?!)

Thanks.

HW

 

[Jkpoulos7]

xm is great but reception can be spotty

 

[twotreks]

I have both, XM in the house and Sirius in the car. To me the sound is better on Sirius while XM has better content. But it is a matter of taste. My dad and I sent 350 miles into Canada to go fishing. We were way out in the boonies navigating down roads that could only be called roads in the academic sense, and all awhile had the satellite radio going! It was incredible. Compared to FM you really cannot go wrong with either choice. My Sirius comes in via a Kenwood head unit, so I don't have the extra tuner, I would recommend going that route as well.
Has anyone here purchased and installed (or ordered, on a new car) a
satellite radio system? Which is the way to go, Serius (sp?) or XM? (Which
is the VHS and which is the Betamax?!)

Thanks.

HW

 

[Walt Kienzle]

xm is great but reception can be spotty

Exactly the same can be said for Sirius. I had it in a rental car with
Sirius, and the signal would cut out if there were too many tree branches
above the car. On the whole, I thought it was pretty good, but not worth
the $10 to $13 per month that the subscription costs. My guess is that XM
is the "VHS" and Sirius is the "Beta" simply because Sirius charges more for
the monthly fee without any noticeable added benefit over XM. I'm not sure
how this will actually play out, because both brands have support from major
automobile and electronics companies.

Walt Kienzle

 

[Frank Logullo]

Has anyone here purchased and installed (or ordered, on a new car) a
satellite radio system? Which is the way to go, Serius (sp?) or XM? (Which
is the VHS and which is the Betamax?!)

My brother-in-law designed the XM antenna. Two years ago when we visited
him in Cleveland we drove to Akron and back twice with the unit on. I
thought it was great. It has, I believe, about 4 seconds signal buffer to
keep reception from fading for brief time under significant tree cover or
overpasses.
Frank

 

[Jack Gavin]

My brother-in-law designed the XM antenna. Two years ago when we
visited him in Cleveland we drove to Akron and back twice with the
unit on. I thought it was great. It has, I believe, about 4
seconds signal buffer to keep reception from fading for brief time
under significant tree cover or overpasses.
Frank

How does it re-acquire the "missing" 4 seconds of content?

It's not like a CD where the unit can "rewind" a bit. If it's not
re-transmitted, you can't re-recieve.

Maybe it *is* constantly re-transmitted with some delay on a secondary
channel, for all I know, but I'd think they'd have better uses for the
bandwidth.

 

[Frank Logullo]

How does it re-acquire the "missing" 4 seconds of content?

It's not like a CD where the unit can "rewind" a bit. If it's not
re-transmitted, you can't re-recieve.

Maybe it *is* constantly re-transmitted with some delay on a secondary
channel, for all I know, but I'd think they'd have better uses for the
bandwidth.

Good question. You got me there - I'm just a chemist. That was just
the way brother-in-law told it to me and I did not give it further
thought.
Frank

 

[Walt Kienzle]

How does it re-acquire the "missing" 4 seconds of content?

It's not like a CD where the unit can "rewind" a bit. If it's not
re-transmitted, you can't re-recieve.

Maybe it *is* constantly re-transmitted with some delay on a secondary
channel, for all I know, but I'd think they'd have better uses for the
bandwidth.

I heard that there was some kind of buffer - I didn't know it was 4 seconds.
The way it is usually implemented is that you hear the program with a 4
second delay if the signal is normal. When the signal is interrupted the, 4
seconds in the buffer is used up. If the signal is interrupted for less
than 4 seconds, you don't notice anything. If it is more than 4 seconds,
then you appear to get dead air. When the signal is re-established (some
sort of "acquiring signal" message indicating this appears on the display)
then it fills up the buffer again. Remember, this is all digital, so they
can send 4 seconds of programming in a fraction of a second.

Walt Kienzle

 

[Jack Gavin]

I heard that there was some kind of buffer - I didn't know it was 4
seconds. The way it is usually implemented is that you hear the
program with a 4 second delay if the signal is normal. When the
signal is interrupted the, 4 seconds in the buffer is used up. If
the signal is interrupted for less than 4 seconds, you don't notice
anything. If it is more than 4 seconds, then you appear to get dead
air. When the signal is re-established (some sort of "acquiring
signal" message indicating this appears on the display) then it fills
up the buffer again. Remember, this is all digital, so they can send
4 seconds of programming in a fraction of a second.

But the satellite does not know that the individual receiver needs a double
helping of the particular 4 seconds of content.

It may be that they routinely double-send *all* of the content (with a
delay), which I noted as a (bandwidth-intensive) possibility, but otherwise
the receiver would be out of luck since it missed its one-and-only
opportunity to get a signal for that 4 seconds of content.

 

[Bill Radio]

Jack,
If you lose satellite signal, and get it back within 4 seconds, you will
lose that amount of time in content, but the radio will continue to play.
It will sound like a skip. Then, as the buffer fills up, the audio
that`arrives at the speakers is s t r e t c h e d to allow the buffer time
get a little farther ahead. If signal is lost for a longer period of time,
the receiver is silenced, then begins to play immediately upon signal
acquisition and the 'stretch' then takes almost a minute to allow the buffer
to fill.

Signal problems are more noticable in an urban environment. In rural areas,
the service shines. When you cross a double-deck bridge, choose the upper
deck.

Bill Radio
http://www.mountainwireless.com

 

[Fred Flintstone]

I put a Delphi XM unit in my Volvo. The biggest problem is making the
installation look good. The car kit they sell leaves you with a cigarette
lighter adapter, a cassette player adapter for sound input and a stick-on
mount for the HU. It looks pretty bad. I bought the FM modulator which
really helps clean it all up.

The biggest difference between XM and Sirius used to be that Sirius, at $13
a month, is commercail-free. Beginning March 1, XM will be commercial-free
as well and its only $10 a month. Sound quality is CD or better with both
units. I would make my decision based on two things:

- Programming. Its different. Pick the one that suits your tastes best.
- HUs and installation. Find a HU that you like and will fit in a
convenient spot in your car. The regular audio HUs that state they are
satellite ready are really just set up as controllers. You still need to
buy a satellite tuner to go with it (and find a place to mount it. In this
case, it could be hidden).

That being said, XM ROCKS!

John

 

[Alan Pollard]

Has anyone here purchased and installed (or ordered, on a new car) a

satellite radio system? Which is the way to go, Serius (sp?) or XM? (Which
is the VHS and which is the Betamax?!)

Have Sirius in my 03 Legacy SE - love it. Primary reason was I wanted
an alternative to AM talk radio, but also love the commercial free
music (XM is apparently going that way). It also has exclusive sports
deals with NFL, NBA, NHL...although the only sport I'm interested in
that they broadcast is English soccer on the BBC

If you want advocates of the two systems, go to:
http://www.xmfan.com
http://www.siriusbackstage.com

Don't know if really it's a VHS/Betamax split - the conventional view
is that Sirius is Beta - it costs more and was later to market. But
imho its programming is way better, and it's 100% Clear Channel free

 

[Jack Gavin]

Jack,
If you lose satellite signal, and get it back within 4 seconds, you
will lose that amount of time in content, but the radio will continue
to play. It will sound like a skip. Then, as the buffer fills up,
the audio that`arrives at the speakers is s t r e t c h e d to allow
the buffer time get a little farther ahead. If signal is lost for a
longer period of time, the receiver is silenced, then begins to play
immediately upon signal acquisition and the 'stretch' then takes
almost a minute to allow the buffer to fill.

Ah, that clears it up. Thanks.

 

[uglymoney]

I put a Delphi XM unit in my Volvo. The biggest problem is making the
installation look good. The car kit they sell leaves you with a cigarette
lighter adapter, a cassette player adapter for sound input and a stick-on
mount for the HU. It looks pretty bad. I bought the FM modulator which
really helps clean it all up.

The biggest difference between XM and Sirius used to be that Sirius, at $13
a month, is commercail-free. Beginning March 1, XM will be commercial-free
as well and its only $10 a month.

Ooops. You mean beginning March 1st.

Sound quality is CD or better with both
units. I would make my decision based on two things:

- Programming. Its different. Pick the one that suits your tastes best.
- HUs and installation. Find a HU that you like and will fit in a
convenient spot in your car. The regular audio HUs that state they are
satellite ready are really just set up as controllers. You still need to
buy a satellite tuner to go with it (and find a place to mount it. In this
case, it could be hidden).

That being said, XM ROCKS!

Oh yeah it kicks ass. I was listening to it right now on my radio at
home. I have the portable unit. Comes with a remote and can go from
car to home.

It kicks ass. Disco all the time? No problemo. CNBC? Oh yeah.
80's gotcha. I just love.

I've sold about 10 to my friends (or sold them for xm).

Gotta go, I wanna be a cowboy just came on...

Yeah haaahahahah!

nate

 

[uglymoney]

Ooops. You mean beginning March 1st.

oops. oops. Feb 1st!

Godamnit.

 

[John M.]

as well and its only $10 a month. Sound quality is CD or better with both
units. I would make my decision based on two things:

<snip>

Sat radio is in no way shape or form 'CD quality or better'. It is
compressed for obvious reasons.
Having said that, the sound, to me, is acceptable and very good.
John