Satellite radios

General Discussion about almost anything Teardrop or camping related

Postby DANL » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:01 pm

Here's another Sirius type receiver to look at.

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http://tivoliaudio.com/product.php?productid=175&cat=&page=1

Tivoli makes fantastic radios. The sound is unbelievable for the size. I have a Model One in my bedroom and a Model two with Subwoofer in the Den. All of the desktop models have 12v in jacks also.

I'm not quite eady for Sirius myself 'cause most of my travel is around Minnesota and we have topnotch public radio and repeaters all over the state.
The tiny trailer in the avatar is designed to carry our recumbents and sometimes sleep in. We LOVE having a kitchen in the woods and a place for most of our gear.
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Postby fasttimes » Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:54 am

Dennis T wrote::thinking: with all this talk about XM radio I was wondering about Sirius Satellite Radio?
I just picked up a Sirius system.

XM has smaller receivers than Sirius (well, at least some of them are smaller). Sirius equipment is less expensive than XM.

XM service looks cheaper at $10/mo, but they have several extra-cost channels and services that raise the cost to $19/mo for everything, where Sirius includes everything for $13/mo.

Both services offer discounts for multiple receivers, with Sirius offing the deeper discounts. XM does not offer any of these discounts on the extra-cost channels. Both services also offer contract (1/2/3/4/5 year) terms, but Sirius is alone in offering lifetime subscriptions for a flat fee $500.

XM has Baseball (but only one feed for each game) and NASCAR, Sirius has NFL and NHL (two feeds for each game so you get your team's own announcer.)

Morning shows: Opie & Anthony are on XM for $1.99/mo, Howard Stern will be on Sirius 1/2006 free.

XM plays more b-side type music, Sirius plays more hits type music.

XM uses 2 satellites in equatorial orbits and more prone to being blocked by land obstructions, Sirius uses a superior configuration of 3 sats in a "figure-8" obit high over North America that are much less likely to be blocked by obstructions.

Currently, XM has 2.4M subscribers, Sirius has 900K.

A good forum for sat radio is http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/ (for some reason, it's down as I type this message)

ED: added NASCAR to XM's credits.
Last edited by fasttimes on Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Eric Adams » Fri Dec 10, 2004 7:55 am

I hear that Sirius is losing money at the moment. Inside reports say they literally throw it at the celebritys they have host shows but the lil people might go for weeks without pay...something fishy there. :roll:

They do have Monsters in the Morning as a Morning show...probably a few more... 8)
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Postby fasttimes » Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:02 pm

Eric Adams wrote:I hear that Sirius is losing money at the moment. Inside reports say they literally throw it at the celebritys they have host shows but the lil people might go for weeks without pay...something fishy there. :roll:

They do have Monsters in the Morning as a Morning show...probably a few more... 8)
Actually, both XM and Sirius are losing money. XM is losing a bit more right now, and has a lower cash reserve. :o

Neither of these companies are going anywhere. Even if they both go bankrupt, they will be purchased by other companies that will carry on the service. :P
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Postby Eric Adams » Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:27 pm

fasttimes wrote:
Eric Adams wrote:I hear that Sirius is losing money at the moment. Inside reports say they literally throw it at the celebritys they have host shows but the lil people might go for weeks without pay...something fishy there. :roll:

They do have Monsters in the Morning as a Morning show...probably a few more... 8)
Actually, both XM and Sirius are losing money. XM is losing a bit more right now, and has a lower cash reserve. :o

Neither of these companies are going anywhere. Even if they both go bankrupt, they will be purchased by other companies that will carry on the service. :P


XM has a lower reserve??

"Currently, XM has 2.4M subscribers, Sirius has 900K"

You'd think with a larger subscriber pool they'd have more capital?? :thinking:
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Postby vantexan » Sat Dec 11, 2004 2:22 pm

I'd probably be very happy with either but I'm leaning toward Sirius because they carry the NFL and also National Public Radio. XM just came out with a truly portable take anywhere radio about the size of a transistor radio. Sirius will have a similar model in about a year. Most major car companies are now offering one or the other as an option so I think they'll both be profitable eventually. XM launched first and advertised heavily but Sirius may eventually catch them due to shrewd programming choices. However I wish Howard Stern wasn't in their line-up. Hate to think any of my money is going to him!

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Postby fasttimes » Sat Dec 11, 2004 3:32 pm

Eric Adams wrote:XM has a lower reserve??

"Currently, XM has 2.4M subscribers, Sirius has 900K"

You'd think with a larger subscriber pool they'd have more capital?? :thinking:
Sirius has had several additional stock offerings that raised additional cash, plus an infusion of cash by a big investor group. But that still doesn't explain why XM also lost more money than Sirius last quarter. That one I don't understand. :? In any case, it's only a matter of time before both will be out of the red ink.
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Postby WarPony » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:35 pm

Well, here it is 2006 and I bought a Sirius satellite reciever (Xact Visor model) today from Walmart. I bought three months of service from their website and hooked it up to my car. I really like it!! You can either clip it onto the sunvisor, stick it on the dash or use the suction cups and attach it to the windshield.

I've been REALLY disappointed in the crap that the rock bands have been turning out for a couple of years now so I made the plunge. I figure, why pay $15+ for a CD that I might listen to twice after I find out how crappy it is and buy what I WANT to listen to.
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Postby Ira » Sun Feb 12, 2006 5:00 pm

Welcome to the party, Pony:

I bought mine in December (well, my wife did for me for Christmas), and I originally bought it SOLELY for Howard Stern.

I think you have the same unit I do--it's a little oblong unit that will also record, TiVo style, 40 minutes of programming. And can you believe that since December, I have been unable to find the home adapter kit for this, the AC adapter and home antenna? Yes, that's how many radios Sirrius is now selling after Stern.

So to answer some other questions here, the units we both have are totally portable, only one subscrition necessary.

If you're talking about having two services at the same time, like cable, two subscriptions are necessary.

The "losing money" thing isn't a main issue for the consumer, unless you're buying stock. Both companies have had to spend large sums of money to launch their own satellites. It's not like they use OTHER satellites--they each utilize their own.

Sirius music programming is recognized to be far and above anything XM offers. Sirius also carries simulcast CNN, Fox News Channel (eech), C-Span, and other "real" news programming, including European news organizations.

XM is a huge, bloated organization without a real plan-- Sirius is aggressive, contemporary, and willing to take chances.

Sirius recently completed deals with two major auto manufacturers AND dealerships, some of which had previously only offered XM. You can now take a lot of those sales away from XM--because now that you're given a choice, many will choose Sirius.

And as far as reception goes, Tom--forget about going through tunnels. But under trees and such? No big deal. The unit requires a few seconds to acquire the signal, but once it's locked in, no problem.
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Postby WarPony » Sun Feb 12, 2006 5:23 pm

Ira wrote:I think you have the same unit I do


Nope, you have the hotrod model. A customer of ours had that one in his pickup and that's what got me interested in finally choosing to buy one. The XM has more goodies to go with it but since it has "Delphi" on it I am a little gunshy of it. That whole company is in the toilet.

Not really much of a Stearn fan these days but more of a Bob & Tom kind of guy. I wish they would get on the satellite wagon. I'm more of a metalhead by nature so I bought this for the music. If you want to talk about a musical "black hole", take a car ride West out to Denver on I-70. Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado is pure hell!! I'd rather roll the window down and listen to the wind blow than put up with country and religion stations. Southern Missouri is about the same way.
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Postby Larry Messaros » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:04 pm

Dennis T wrote::thinking: with all this talk about XM radio I was wondering about Sirius Satellite Radio? Does anyone have this system? How do you like it? I know when we travel to go camping or go to events it's a lot of time in the car. I hate when a song you like fades out and then have to look for a new station. My new car has a satalite ready radio installed so I am weighing the option of getting it connected. Thanks for the help.
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I have had mine in my work truck for a couple of years. It works great. I got it when Sirius had just come out. The only downside to it was it was hardwired and it was a day job to install (at least for me! ie need wire connectors, go to auto shop, need spacers, darn, back to auto shop, kids broke something, fix it :lol: ). It's also too difficult to move to another vehicle easlily.

Mine worked great even in the deepest canyons and I was always impressed with the reception. Really the only time it would go out is when I went into a tunnel. Mine only cached for about 4 seconds so any longer and I would lose reception.

The new players are very compact and just plug into a cigarette lighter and the only thing left is the antenna install. The other great feature is you can buy additional car kits and house kits so you can move it around without having multiple accounts. Both XM and Sirius have these features now. The Sirius unit below can store 44 minutes of music so you can pause/rewind/fast forward for even more flexibility.

Here's an example of a Sirius
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Postby TomS » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:03 pm

Personally, I don't think you'll go wrong with either Siruis or XM. Both companies are signing up subscribers like crazy. Sirius has Howard Stern. XM hardware is cheaper. XM Roady2 Radios are dirt cheap, like < $30.

I've had XM since November. I love it. I don't listen to terrestrial radio any more. I mostly listen to the Blues channel. XM also offers the major news outlets, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, Fox, etc. They also have comedy, weather and traffic channels for hte major markets. Since I got my XM, my son and future son-in law have gotten them too.

In the long term we're all better off if there are 2 healthy companies in that market competing for our business.
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Sirius

Postby CPASPARKS » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:29 pm

I have been a subscriber to AOL since there has been AOL. The AOL service has AOL Radio with a large selection of XM Radio stations. So, when I decided to get my satellite radio for my jeep, I went with Sirius just so I could have a variety different from being in my office or at home on the computer. Also, I thought I wanted it to listen to Howard Stern.
Sirius has a large selection of music that I think anyone could find something that they liked. I have yet to listen to Stern.
From the time I got the Sirius package from the retail store to having it installed and listening to it was less than 30 minutes. The magnetic antenna is easy to plunk outside of your vehicle and run the wire into the cabin, plug it into the receiver and plug the receiver into a cigarette lighter, tune to the recommended FM channel on your car radio, call to register, give them a credit card for payment and in a few minutes you are ready to listen.
Plenty of music, news, talk, sports and financial channels. Good investment for people like me who are on the road a lot or camp in very remote locations and like to know what the weather is going to do.
I highly recommend it. My unit is the Sirius Star Replay. A little bit of velcro to install receiver.
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Postby Hardin Valley Magic » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:39 pm

kevin thats pretty cool that it has a built in fm modulator. Too bad i have an older XM that was bought when they first came out and it requires the use of a cassette player and a wire running to the unit.
Other than that I am very pleased. I used it when I drove O.T.R. and was very seldom with out signal. The usual places, tunnels or in deep valleys in the mountains.
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Postby Leon » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:14 am

I have the XM Roady II and have used the FM modulator by leaving the unit in the car on and tuning a prtable radio in the teardrop to the Roady's output. It worls great and I don't have to move the thing out of the car.
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