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Please teach me about satellite radio.....

1559 Views 29 Replies 20 Participants Last post by Back2Kill, Dec 24, 2005

J-mizzle

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2005

Alright I am leaning towards getting Sirius satellite radio for my home so i can listen commercial free while i am taking care of work and am just utterly confused by the whole process.

1) What tuner/unit do you recommend?
2) Is there one that you can transfer between house, car, work etc???
3) Where did you buy?
4) Would you do it again?
5) How is the ease of hookup?
6) General cost of total setup?

Basically if you could just give me the low down I would greatly appreciate it.

Peace,
John

1 - 20 of 30 Posts

formica

· #2 · Dec 19, 2005

J-mizzle said:
Alright I am leaning towards getting Sirius satellite radio for my home so i can listen commercial free while i am taking care of work and am just utterly confused by the whole process.

1) What tuner/unit do you recommend?
2) Is there one that you can transfer between house, car, work etc???
3) Where did you buy?
4) Would you do it again?
5) How is the ease of hookup?
6) General cost of total setup?

Basically if you could just give me the low down I would greatly appreciate it.

Peace,
John

just checkout shoutcast.com internet radio. There are lots of great commerical free options out there in just about any genre you could imagine. It's free, all you need is a fast connection and a good set of speakers. We run an optical sound cable from the sound card into our home theater.
If you are wondering where to start with internet radio, (not knowing your tastes....) you might check out KEXP out of Seattle, commerical free radio courtesy Paul Allen and the Experience Music project; Radio Paradise, KCRW public radio out of Santa Monica, KYRS Thin Air Community Radio out of Spokane...some of these are npr affiliates, some are not.

formica

BundokBiker

· #3 · Dec 20, 2005

I'm an XM user

J-mizzle said:
Basically if you could just give me the low down I would greatly appreciate it.

only because the Honda Element I purchase came with an in car receiver and free service for 3 months... I got hooked. Damn them!

-works great in the few road trips i've been on (noCal, Utah, Ariz)

-you pay for service up front. 1yr, 2yr or 3yrs. the longer your contract the cheaper it becomes and you can quit at any time without penalty. you'll get a prorated refund.

-the satellite is geosync orbit over the equator, so if your line of site is blocked so is the signal. tunnels, under bridges, tall dense trees, mountains, etc can block the signal. the further north of the equator you are, the easier your signal can be blocked.

-coverage is suppose to be all of the continental US, but I haven't tested the signal outside of the coverage area.

-you can get a head phone compatible receiver (PDA size) that's portable to car or home. I don't own one so you'll have to research that item yourself.

-your subscription also includes internet access to the XM site. my wireless laptop moves with me around the house. my wife listens to the site from work, anywhere I can find an internet connection I should be able to login for music.

-My car unit was installed in the Honda factory and completely integrated with the Element so I didn't have to go through much effort. with a little googling you can find lots of reviews for products and services. use this as a comparison price for a combined personal/home/car unit with FM transmitter (no connection necessary). http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...6192-2877519?gclid=CNu2n4X9iYICFRo7Ggod-QoNBA

good luck and happy research.

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FloridaFish

· #4 · Dec 20, 2005

I've had XM for two years now and it's great. I have the old Delphi radio that you can use in the car or in a home stereo setup.

The initial cost is a little expensive because several types of units are needed, one for the stereo, one for the car, the actual radio unit, and if your car doesn't have a tape player an FM modulator unit is needed so you can play it on an FM station in your car.

I would definately suggest checking out the different kinds of music channels on Sirius and XM. There are differencesin the sports channels too, but I'm usually stuck on one or two stations. I would suggest XM just because I'm a punk fan and XM has punk channel called Fungus that is incredible. There's also an uncensored stand-up comedy channel that rules.

I would guess that both XM and Sirius have the same types of music for most genres, but there are a select few channels that can make all teh difference.

crashedandburned

· #5 · Dec 20, 2005

I record SSOOOOO much music off of Shoutcast.com.

I personally won't sign up for XM and honestly can't understand why people would want to pay for basically the privilage of listening to another radio. If I went all around the country for work like a truck driver, Maybe. Otherwise free radio suits me fine. In dead zones I just play cd's or just ponder life.

I do know that Howard Stern moving to XM really boosted sales for XM from what I read on CNN.COM

formica

· #6 · Dec 20, 2005

crashedandburned said:
I record SSOOOOO much music off of Shoutcast.com.

how do you record off shoutcast?
I love just checking out different genres.

JasonK

· #7 · Dec 20, 2005

Stern moved to Sirius not XM. If you are a Howard Stern fan (I'm not) then you will only get him on Sirius.

71Fish

· #8 · Dec 20, 2005

I have it 3 months free in the Silverado I just bought. I'm debating weather to renew after 3 months or not. I went all the way across SD to Minneapolis and always had music. Normally in SD there is little music. If I made the trip every week, I'd go for it.

FloridaFish

· #9 · Dec 20, 2005

crashedandburned said:
I record SSOOOOO much music off of Shoutcast.com.

I personally won't sign up for XM and honestly can't understand why people would want to pay for basically the privilage of listening to another radio. If I went all around the country for work like a truck driver, Maybe. Otherwise free radio suits me fine. In dead zones I just play cd's or just ponder life.

I do know that Howard Stern moving to XM really boosted sales for XM from what I read on CNN.COM

Free radio is basically ClearChannel radio. Clear Channel radio sux donkey balls. Therefore free radio sux.

Seriously though the quality and mix of music is well worth a few bucks a month.

aixelsyd

· #10 · Dec 20, 2005 (Edited)

Go for Sirius

I just got the Sirius Sportster R reciever. It has a built in FM modulater, pause, forward and rewind. It is called a plug and play unit. It comes with a base and antenna for the car and you can buy a base for the house or a boombox for anywhere. Just lift the reciever out of the base bring it in and plug it back in. The only wire to be concerned with is the antenna, not a big deal, power will come from your cigarette lighter, the house base will use a regular wall socket. Check out Circuit city for all the options, different recievers They use to have a $50 rebate for this unit going. I highly reccomend it.

J-mizzle

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 20, 2005

Thanks guys,

Thats exactly what i was looking for I'll be swooping up the Sirius at circuit city.

Thanks,
john

Harold

· #12 · Dec 20, 2005

I just got XM with the Roady2 unit. Best Buy has 'em for $25. Out of the box, it comes with the car kit (the unit has a built-in FM modulator). My wife got me the home kit, also, which comes with a home antenna, power adapter, stand, and cable to attach it to the home theater. You can even get a portable kit for it.

I'm more than happy with it. Howard Stern is a 'tard, so getting Sirius for that is a waste. Also don't need the NFL channels b/c XM has ESPN channels. I'm really digging the variety of music I have access to. It's sure going to spice up long road trips, of which I usually take a few every year.

RJend

· #13 · Dec 20, 2005

I've been using the XM Roady for a couple of years and wouldnt travel without it. Easy to transfer between car, house, camper or boat. Works by transmitting through any FM radio and is easy to set up. I purchased mine at a truck stop while on the road, plugged the Roady into the car, called an 800 #, and had service before leaving the fuel stop. XM is now available to take with you on the trail with one of their portable units for <$150. Check it out at http://www.xmfanstore.com/

crashedandburned

· #14 · Dec 20, 2005 (Edited)

formica: Winamp Streamripper. Records it in MP# format in a folder on your desktop. It's a plugin you should be able to find. If you can't PM me and I'll e-mail you copy of it if I can. Not sure if that will go over e-mail. As long as your not some sort of super music junkie who can tell the .000000000000001% quality difference in music formats, this works great. You'll have to also use an MP3 cutter to remove some DJ banter, but a little time and you have a good MP3. I have a "trial version" that I use from download.com.

FloridaFish: Clear channel works just fine for me. Besides, when I go back home I like listening to some of the more obscure stations. I'd rather save my $142/yr for a 1 yr or $600/5yr subscription for bike parts and listen to regular radio for free. Just something else they want me to subscribe to that I don't really need. My 2 cents.

Al.

· #15 · Dec 20, 2005

Check this site for deals on XM units. http://www.edealinfo.com/

Circuit city has the XM car kit + receiver for $50, with a $50 rebate, and free activation.

I have had XM for about a month now, and have not listened to local Atlanta radio since. It's worth the 12 bucks a month, for me and my 40 minute commute anyways.

formica

· #16 · Dec 20, 2005

crashedandburned said:
formica: Winamp Streamripper. Records it in MP# format in a folder on your desktop. It's a plugin you should be able to find. If you can't PM me and I'll e-mail you copy of it if I can. Not sure if that will go over e-mail. As long as your not some sort of super music junkie who can tell the .000000000000001% quality difference in music formats, this works great. You'll have to also use an MP3 cutter to remove some DJ banter, but a little time and you have a good MP3. I have a "trial version" that I use from download.com.

lol, that's great, thanks! As for the quality of the stream, nope, not too picky. Some of the coolest music comes in low bit rate streams. I've really been exploring a lot of different "world" music lately - little stations out of Africa and the Mideaast. Nothing like a little African Happy Music to brighten up the day.

J-mizzle

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 20, 2005

Sweet...

Thanks, RJEND that's exactlly what i wanted to know. Hook up seems easy and i went down today to purchase and got Sirius. Sorry to all the Howard haters but, i love the show.

Peace,
John

DaveX

· #18 · Dec 20, 2005

J-mizzle said:
Thanks, RJEND that's exactlly what i wanted to know. Hook up seems easy and i went down today to purchase and got Sirius. Sorry to all the Howard haters but, i love the show.

Peace,
John

If you're at all a music fan you're gonna love it Howard or not. Sirius has super music programming, I could listen to Left of Center and Alternatve Nation all Day. Every time I hear a band like Sigur Ros or My Morning Jacket on Sirius I think to myself, "You'd never hear that on regular radio!"

SpinWheelz

· #19 · Dec 20, 2005

Yesterday, I decided to pull the trigger on a Sirius radio. I placed an order at noon. Today, by noon, I not only had the radio in hand, I had it installed and activated.

Why can't bike operations work like this?

This is the package that I got:
http://shop.sirius.com/edealinv/ser...9&catParentID=7875&scId=7875&oldParentID=7870

One receiver with car and home kit all in one package for a mere $40. I'm pretty sure you're not going to find a better deal anywhere else on this planet.

tkrutis

· #20 · Dec 20, 2005

Serius is great,I was getting it for Howard but found the rest of it to be so much better than regular radio.I rarely find myself listening to FM anymore.No comercials,uncut music,comedy channels,local traffic and weather,all kinds of talk.I wanted to hate it just because I didnt want another monthly bill,add it to the heap.How could you not like high pitch Eric crapping in a bucket for 24 hrs for a total weight.

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