Sirius / XM -- how do you like it?

[techfan]

We have been so many places lately where there was little or no reception that we are Siriusly considering subscribing. Although we take music with us we want news and current events and have had trouble getting those. We will wait to subscribe in February for the next big trip but feel the cost will be worth it to us.

[MyronL]

I am Serious-ly too old school I guess.. I wouldn't pay for it.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by techfan

We have been so many places lately where there was little or no reception that we are Siriusly considering subscribing. Although we take music with us we want news and current events and have had trouble getting those. We will wait to subscribe in February for the next big trip but feel the cost will be worth it to us.

One point to note - if you like to camp in the mountains, you will discover that you need a fairly clear view of the south sky to pick up anything. Even tree cover can block the signal. The further north you go the worst the problem. When I was in Alaska, I rarely was able to pick up any XM stations unless camped in an open field with no mountains to the south...

[tractors1]

Another option for remote places is shortwave for news. Listened to the BBC a lot in Asia.....

http://www.amazon.com/Kaito-world-Re...cm_wl_huc_item

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by ice-breaker

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.

We also found that the satellite radio was constantly cutting in and out on some roads in the mountains where the valley walls were high and steep.

[J Mac]

I like the Sirius XM Radio for the talk stations as well as music. The claim that they are commercial free though is total BS.

[NuthatchBC]

If you live in Canada and are considering getting satellite radio, be sure to get Sirius, NOT XM. XM is the Canadian portion of the SiriusXM product and Sirius comes from the US.

When we purchased out Toyota Tacoma, we got a free one-month trial of XM. We rarely had any decent reception and the audio quality sucked. Needles to say, we didn't subscribe. The service tech at our Toyota dealer told us that Sirius, not XM, had much better reception and to give that a try. We went for a trial subscription and were very pleased.

We did some research and found out that the XM and Sirius are broadcast from two different satellites, XM being directed more at eastern Canada, southern Ontario in particular, and Sirius being more centered over the continental US. We have traveled from southern Florida to northern BC and have never had any reception issues except things like dense tree cover or being behind mountains.

Our two main complaints with Sirius are that they seem to have very short playlists for the '60s and '70 stations and that they only have one classical music station that plays mainly piano or violin music (we prefer orchestral selections).

So, when subscribing, stay away from SiriusXM.ca and go with SiriusXM.com. You'll be glad you did.

Doug

[mitsui]

Originally Posted by NuthatchBC

If you live in Canada and are considering getting satellite radio, be sure to get Sirius, NOT XM. XM is the Canadian portion of the SiriusXM product and Sirius comes from the US.

When we purchased out Toyota Tacoma, we got a free one-month trial of XM. We rarely had any decent reception and the audio quality sucked. Needles to say, we didn't subscribe. The service tech at our Toyota dealer told us that Sirius, not XM, had much better reception and to give that a try. We went for a trial subscription and were very pleased.

We did some research and found out that the XM and Sirius are broadcast from two different satellites, XM being directed more at eastern Canada, southern Ontario in particular, and Sirius being more centered over the continental US. We have traveled from southern Florida to northern BC and have never had any reception issues except things like dense tree cover or being behind mountains.

Our two main complaints with Sirius are that they seem to have very short playlists for the '60s and '70 stations and that they only have one classical music station that plays mainly piano or violin music (we prefer orchestral selections).

So, when subscribing, stay away from SiriusXM.ca and go with SiriusXM.com. You'll be glad you did.

Doug

Doug were you able to use the same radio in your Tacoma when you signed up for Sirius? I thought you were stuck with whatever came with the vehicle.

Jim

[NuthatchBC]

Originally Posted by mitsui

Doug were you able to use the same radio in your Tacoma when you signed up for Sirius? I thought you were stuck with whatever came with the vehicle.

Jim

When we signed up for the free Sirius trial period, we also got a "free" receiver, cigarette lighter adapter and antenna. We didn't have to use the onboard truck radio. It was a good thing, too because the truck's antenna is located in the middle of the truck roof. When we have the canoe on it effectively blocks out the reception. I mounted the antenna on the outside of our roof rack and now it's all good .


Also, Sirius isn't available on the truck radio, just XM.

Doug

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by NuthatchBC

If you live in Canada and are considering getting satellite radio, be sure to get Sirius, NOT XM. XM is the Canadian portion of the SiriusXM product and Sirius comes from the US.

... The service tech at our Toyota dealer told us that Sirius, not XM, had much better reception and to give that a try. We went for a trial subscription and were very pleased.

We did some research and found out that the XM and Sirius are broadcast from two different satellites, XM being directed more at eastern Canada, southern Ontario in particular, and Sirius being more centered over the continental US. We have traveled from southern Florida to northern BC and have never had any reception issues except things like dense tree cover or being behind mountains.

It's not quite that simple, but Sirius should be better in Canada (which is ironic, since XM was originally for Canada).

XM actually has two satellites, positioned to the east and west in geostationary orbits, so they always appear to be the same two places in the sky, just like TV satellites... so like TV, the angle from up here is quite close to the horizon and it would be easy to lose signal in a valley (especially one running east-west). Although they are in different locations, both transmit patterns that cover the whole width of the continent.

Sirius has three satellites running in an interesting "tundra" orbit so that they're always moving relative to us on the surface, but there's always one of them over North America... so even up here one at a time is relatively straight up and reception is likely.

The XM versus Sirius difference isn't really about east versus west; the Sirius advantage is important to us who are further north, and no so important to those who are south.

The first part of SiriusXM Satellite Radio (info for techies) is a pretty good description with an excellent moving graphic illustration of the satellite orbit differences.

[BCnomad]

Originally Posted by BCnomad

The xm 2.0 service has better sound (for xm) but few have it.

I was flipping through the channel lineup to reorganize my presets, and they have added some more choices into the 300's. Since the last time I looked at least.


The internet channels seem to have expanded as well, but I don't pay attention to those.

I know they are always playing with the line up, but more choice is great.

[WLYBGR]

Since they upgraded,because they said it was outdated .It took 3 wks of fighting with them,over poor reception[worse].Even with there added wifi application ,it was horrid.Dumped them...

[Steve Clark]

Debbie recently found this wonderful channel. Coincidentally it is named ESCAPE 69. Easy instrumentals and vocals of the popular melodies from the past 60 years. Very enjoyable music to drive by!

[gbaglo]

I cancelled my Sirius subscription in Oct. and will restart it in May. I don't use it at home.

[cpaharley2008]

I have over 500 songs on my phone because I refuse to pay for satellite in 3 cars while driving one at a time.

[NCBill]

We like Sirrus radio, but we are news and financial station junkies. For music, I prefer my own stuff.

To get a good deal, it's like dealing with the cable TV folks. We sign up for the six month intro rate, something like $30 for the six months. Then after six months, you have to call them up again, otherwise the rate jumps a lot. We've been doing this every six months for several years.

[Rossue]

Thanks for the reminder; my first promo rate expires soon

[Donna D.]

I downloaded the "ballot" for the Oscars... and thought "who are these people?" and "what ARE these movies?" As I sit here watching a rerun on television from 2008. THESE are my tribe. I suddenly feel like my "Mother." GAD. Still loving' music that I can sing along too because I know the lyrics. YMMV

[ATHiker]

XM is not the best quality (some stations are compressed more than others) and its not inexpensive. However, we really like it and have been subscribers for a number of years. You should be able to negotiate with XM for a yearly subscription of $100. Every year I get a bill for $200 for the subscription. I call and them them I want to cancel and they offer a special rate of $100. Small price to have a variety of music and news and not have to listen to the screaming furniture salesman.

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by ATHiker

XM is not the best quality (some stations are compressed more than others) and its not inexpensive. However, we really like it and have been subscribers for a number of years. You should be able to negotiate with XM for a yearly subscription of $100. Every year I get a bill for $200 for the subscription. I call and them them I want to cancel and they offer a special rate of $100. Small price to have a variety of music and news and not have to listen to the screaming furniture salesman.

do something similar...pay by USPS money order annually for a bit over $100..with no contact info other than an email address and no means to automatically renew since they have no charge method on file it allows what seems like a little negotiating power...ignore their emails until they get the price right..can live with or without it but it is nice in a vehicle...