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Old 07-09-2015, 11:25 AM   #21
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While I generally don't have problems with reception in the south (with the usual exception of mountains blocking the line of sight to the satellites), here in Alaska it is pretty near useless. Today I'm in a campground that is basically a parking lot in an open field & I a'm getting a signal that switches between 1 & 2 bars - lots of drop outs.

I still find the service worth the $9.00 per month when traveling in the many areas of the southwest not covered by cell service.
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Old 07-09-2015, 11:30 AM   #22
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We've had Sirius XM for 3 1/2 years in our tow car, but recently cancelled it. Reason #1 - only two stations were remotely interesting to us, one a news channel that is unfortunately about 50% commercials, and the other a channel with old-time radio shows. Reason #2 - every year at renewal time they try to double the rate and charge you automatically, so you have to call them to avoid the price hike. As others wrote here, if you call they suddenly come up with a major discount to keep you subscribing. We don't like dealing with a company with such a shady pricing policy.
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Old 07-09-2015, 11:46 AM   #23
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Our new vehicles came with Sirius XM, but we have since let it expire. I prefer local stations and where there is nothing locally, I listen to canned music. I also found that although there was numerous XM stations, I liked very few of them, and those I did like seemed to have a play list that was 10 songs long.
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Old 07-09-2015, 11:57 AM   #24
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Same as having 200+ channels of cable TV; only about 1% worth paying for. I've opted to load up my MP3 player and use it instead of continuing my XM subscription.
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Old 07-09-2015, 12:04 PM   #25
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We had the trial period in both our vehicles, but rarely used it. We do like NPR/CBC, and there was a show with old radio detective serials that I enjoyed. But it is easier to download some podcasts, check out some audio books, and just plug the iPhone in, which has all our music -- enough to listen for several days without repeating.

R Bryan, if you liked FM radio, you probably would have loved the clear channel AM stations that could be heard in the late 60s / early 70s. Even up in North Dakota I could get the Wolfman, some radio drama, and Hell Fire & Brimstone preachers, especially after midnight when other stations signed off. Stayed up many a late night listening to those stations on my big sister's transistor radio.

In other news Phil Austin, who played Nick Danger with the Fire Sign Theater, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Betty Jo Bialosky was seen at the funeral, but everyone called her Nancy.
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Old 07-09-2015, 12:07 PM   #26
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Our year old Jeep came with Sirius XM and a one year subscription, and with no CD player, but it did have an input jack, Bluetooth, and an SD card slot. We used Sirius XM on a long trip last year and found it useful while driving across Nevada, but not worth the price for the rest of the year. I loaded an SD card with our favorite music, and it plays for hours without repeats, so that is our choice going forward.
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Old 07-09-2015, 12:40 PM   #27
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R Bryan, if you liked FM radio, you probably would have loved the clear channel AM stations that could be heard in the late 60s / early 70s. Even up in North Dakota I could get the Wolfman, some radio drama, and Hell Fire & Brimstone preachers, especially after midnight when other stations signed off. Stayed up many a late night listening to those stations on my big sister's transistor radio.

Yes Leon, I was a regular AM radio junkie growing up. Radio's heyday was the late 60s to 70s as far as I'm concerned. And I have fond memories of listening to Wolfman Jack on a white Panasonic doughnut radio. There are still some ok stations, but the move to big radio corporations and consolidation has pretty much ruined radio for me. Nothing but commercials and repetitive 30 song playlists.
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Old 07-09-2015, 12:45 PM   #28
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Used to listen to WLS Chicago as a kid in Whitewood, Sask.
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Old 07-09-2015, 01:06 PM   #29
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I like it. I'm a Howard Stern fan and a CBC fan and anything 'talk radio'. Sirius radio does push the commercial free radio slogan, and that is total BS. All in all, I'll keep it.
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Old 07-09-2015, 02:26 PM   #30
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I loose reception thru the hills.When I have tried to use it I,got no reception.Cellphone did,which amazed me.Recently in MB.I spoke with a rep.I fiquired that they had gps location of my unit,turns out they don't always.4 hrs talking with a rep.to get a tow truck.When contract comes do they can pack it where the sun don't shine
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Old 07-09-2015, 02:44 PM   #31
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Who are you referring to? Sirius? Onstar?
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Old 07-09-2015, 03:09 PM   #32
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Well it's a GMC truck with On Star & Sirius xm radio...both are not ,worth reupping a contract.IMO
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Old 07-09-2015, 04:56 PM   #33
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Yes Leon, I was a regular AM radio junkie growing up. Radio's heyday was the late 60s to 70s as far as I'm concerned. And I have fond memories of listening to Wolfman Jack on a white Panasonic doughnut radio. There are still some ok stations, but the move to big radio corporations and consolidation has pretty much ruined radio for me. Nothing but commercials and repetitive 30 song playlists.
Great memories of the Wolfman! I went to college in Flagstaff, and we'd pick him up from Del Rio regularly, as well as a great AM station out of Oklahoma City, which we'd get at night on a "bounce". My VW didn't even have an FM band back in those days.
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Old 07-09-2015, 06:20 PM   #34
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Ever notice that am stations east all start with a "W" and west of the Mississippi start with a "K" except for first radio- KDKA in Pittsburgh. That bounce brought me KOMA from Oklahoma and WLS from Chicago and WKBW from Buffalo, NY plus WABC I believe from Boston that had a night show about Venus Flytap from which that character on tv series was called Venus. And yes I occasionally got Wolfman Jack from XERS. My favorites were on my crystal radio grounded to the radiators in the house with an antenna up on the roof.
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Old 07-09-2015, 06:58 PM   #35
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Yes Leon, I was a regular AM radio junkie growing up. Radio's heyday was the late 60s to 70s as far as I'm concerned. And I have fond memories of listening to Wolfman Jack on a white Panasonic doughnut radio. There are still some ok stations, but the move to big radio corporations and consolidation has pretty much ruined radio for me. Nothing but commercials and repetitive 30 song playlists.
You can still find the erstwhile indie stations around, playing everything BUT the canned stuff, and with real, live DJs. Out here near Santa Cruz, in Freedom, we have KPIG, 107.5 FM, that defies definition. It's now streamed on the web, so is available most anywhere. It's the successor station to KFAT, which was another truly classic and totally irreverent icon of broadcasting. You never heard any Barry Manilow.
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Old 07-09-2015, 09:40 PM   #36
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I just completed a six month promo for $5 a month. To continue they want $17 a month for the limited plan and $26 a month for the plan with the sports and games. It was worth $5 a month to me but not $17 and definitely not $26 a month for the package I would like. I cancelled it and will keep an ear out for when they run the promos and open the top plan up to every radio for a week or two for free. So far they've done that twice this year.
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Old 07-10-2015, 12:50 AM   #37
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If you can get internet through the car or on an internet receiver, mine is through AT&T hotspot, you can tune into Pandora which is free if you don't mind an occasional advertisement. You can pick your genre called radio stations and get a good variety of music. For example one of my stations is Hank Williams Jr. I get some of Hank's music and lots of other C & W similar to his music. There is some repetition but not as much as XM. A subscription is about $4.00 per month.
How much data do you use per month listening to radio via your hotspot? I might be tempted to try this since I don't seem to use up my 20GB data allotment from Verizon each month; I usually have about five gigabytes left over. I have no experience streaming anything so I have no idea how much bandwidth it takes for audio.
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Old 07-10-2015, 01:31 AM   #38
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We love it! I have a unit that plays throughout speakers in our home and we can unplug it and put it into a portable unit which we have purchased for our Escape. I have one in my car and my husband is getting one for the Tacoma (along with GPS) so we can listen to it while on the road. We frequent the Sierra Nevadas and have no problem listening to stations throughout the various passes.

We listen to a variety of stations: Grateful Dead, Coffee House, 60's and 70's music, jazz, reggae, and non music channels which include POTUS, NPR, BBC and more. Once in a while we will listen to special sporting events. Joel Osteen has his own station and when Oprah had a station, I loved listening to her and her guests. There is a huge variety so just change the stations if you don't like it. Although there are some commercials, they are few compared to AM/FM; XM talk radio has more than the music stations probably because the hosts need a break.

Others are correct, if you listen to one station, you will hear the same songs over again, so we change the station. Long time ago I listened to books, but I'm not sure if I could locate that station again.

If you are considering getting XM, try a portable unit and playing it wherever you go---in your car, your home, or your trailer! Speakers have come a long way so we opted not to get the installed speakers in our soon-to-be-hatched trailer.
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Old 07-10-2015, 01:46 AM   #39
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Far be it from me to disagree, but here goes.

My biggest gripe with Sirius is not the subscription price, or the reception, or even the variety of channels -- its the sound quality. Horribly compressed, lacking in dynamic range, no punch, no clarity. I have low quality 128kbps mp3s that sound way better. Nothing ruins my enjoyment of music more than a great song compressed to the point that it sounds like a muffled tin can.

Lossy digital music is now the norm, but unfortunately, we now have an entire generation who grew up on it, and have never really heard music the way it was meant to be. Give me CDs or FLAC files any day over muffled and compressed satellite radio. Even my worn out LPs sound better.
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Old 07-10-2015, 08:07 AM   #40
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Lossy digital music is now the norm, but unfortunately, we now have an entire generation who grew up on it, and have never really heard music the way it was meant to be.
This is definitely true. I love sitting back and listening to music from a CD, played on a good stereo with quality speakers or headphones. The fine, clean nuances you recieve take the music to a whole new level.

That said, I bet the majority of the music I listen to its MP3s, either in the vehicle, or on a good portable stereo. The convenience usually wins out.
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