View Full Version : xm radio???



d’76
12-31-2007, 02:47 PM
Well the little woman was good to me at christmas and I got a home and auto xm set. It sounds awesome in the house. In the truck it sounds ok. I have such limited knowledge in the auto radio part that I would like some input from others that have the portible xm radio and how they think it sounds in their vehicle?

Heres the link to the one that I have http://www.xmradio.com/roadyxt/index.xmc

It seems to work ok but there appears to be some interferance when I get to close to the radio with the wires.

This is an information seeking thread and would like for it to stay on topic please. Thanks

Haffy
12-31-2007, 04:48 PM
Where's Sudonim when you need him,he's the expert in this field,get it? Field.... Ok lame joke:rolleyes: But honestly Sudy is the one to ask about this I'm sure.

robt
12-31-2007, 09:43 PM
My XM was hard wired in the van so I did not have that issue. I am still waiting on the new unit that will be using FM for the new car to get here. I hope to get it tommorrow then I will know more about it.

Sorry

WhereRWe?
01-01-2008, 08:56 AM
Where's Sudonim when you need him,he's the expert in this field,get it? Field.... Ok lame joke:rolleyes: But honestly Sudy is the one to ask about this I'm sure.

I have Sirius, mainly because before I got it I asked Andy which he preferred.

He said he preferred Sirius because of the placement of the satellites - reception is better in this area for Sirius. LOL!

(But I have to admit that my Sirius receiver has since died, and I haven;t gotten around to replacing it yet.... :o :o )

Mainiac1957
01-01-2008, 09:05 AM
My new cache-mobile came with XM. Other than when it can't see the satellites it seems to work everywhere. With XM you get baseball and hockey, and with Sirius you get football. Lots of music with both I guess.

Sudonim
01-01-2008, 02:01 PM
Dave, Give me a call sometime and I'll look at it. Could be an issue that you can resolve by tuning the XM to a different freq.

firefighterjake
01-02-2008, 09:42 AM
Dave . . . I bought my wife an XM radio awhile back. I found that contrary to what Sudonim said (sorry Andy) that reception for XM is quite good here . . . but I've never done a head-to-head reception comparison with Sirius and XM while they're side-by-side. That said, I occasionally lose XM . . . particularly in downtown Bangor, under bridges, etc.

However, to address your question . . . assuming that the model you bought has the wireless connection feature . . . my wife has had similar issues. I resolved most of these issues by a) doing what Andy suggested and trying a different FM frequency to tune to and b) positioning the wires so that they were not crimped and were not near any of my bodyparts (I found that the wires bunched together caused some static and some static would be generated whenever my knee or hand got too close to the wires -- not enough to make the music unlistenable but enough of a hiss to cause it to be a distraction.

I suspect a hardwired XM radio set-up would improve the situation.

robt
01-03-2008, 03:17 PM
I just got mine in last night and I am having the same issues. The only solution in the kit was a clip that goes onto the antenna but that is going to be problomatic with the antenna on my car. Does anyone know if there would be an inline conector for the antenna that connects at the radio? I have been playing wiht the channels that it comes with but it is not giving perfect performance. Guess I will keep trying... :)

firefighterjake
01-03-2008, 03:43 PM
I just got mine in last night and I am having the same issues. The only solution in the kit was a clip that goes onto the antenna but that is going to be problomatic with the antenna on my car. Does anyone know if there would be an inline conector for the antenna that connects at the radio? I have been playing wiht the channels that it comes with but it is not giving perfect performance. Guess I will keep trying... :)

What is this clip you mention . . . my XM radio didn't come with any clip.

robt
01-03-2008, 10:49 PM
I could not find the one that I have but found on their website a xm direct kit. The one on the site conects to the back of the radio. The one I have here is a sphere that mounts on the antenna and goes inline to the satalite antenna. I am going to have to look around to see if I can find the other one. Let me know when you are coming down this way and I could probally let you try the one I have casue I do not see it working on my car cause the wire on my antenna would have this haning 3" above the roof and I do not like that idea.

belchar
01-04-2008, 04:34 PM
I've been an XM Subscriber for 5 or 6 years. I've seen this type of interference particularly if you're trying to listen via the FM Modulator. I'd suggest either a different frequency (should be in your menu options) or using a cassette adapter (I do this) for better fidelity.

Kurt

d’76
01-04-2008, 06:10 PM
I've been an XM Subscriber for 5 or 6 years. I've seen this type of interference particularly if you're trying to listen via the FM Modulator. I'd suggest either a different frequency (should be in your menu options) or using a cassette adapter (I do this) for better fidelity.

Kurt

Thanks all, I have been toying with a few things.

I messed with changing frequencies (not much help)

I talked with the guys at Best buy... (Not much help either) they told me they could hard wire it for around 100 bucks

I talked with Andy and he mentioned that as bad as I was discribing it that it didnt sound like just interfrence. He mentioned that it sounded like a bad ground in the 12 volt connector. I tried using the other 12 volt connector and that helped alot. I will try a few other things that he suggested then its going to get wired right into the truck.

Thanks everyone. Now, off to camp for the weekend to shovel roofs.

attroll
01-05-2008, 05:36 AM
Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. What is so great about satellite radio?

Cache Maine
01-05-2008, 08:18 AM
Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. What is so great about satellite radio?

I said the same exact thing....and then we rented a car that had one installed. We purchased one within days. There is a lot of variety on it that you can always find something interesting. The radio seems to play the same stuff, over and over and over. My Siruis....I can choose from the 70's, 80's, 90's, comedy, talk, etc, by pressing one of the little buttons. I admit, I don't even use it to its full advantage. You can also dial it in on the internet and listens at work too (if your employer allows that.)

Another big factor for us was the in car audio from Nascar. It sounds like a radio station around here on race day, we have so many things going!

Hope this helps! Remind one of us that has it the next time we are down and we'll give you a ride and show you what it can do.

dubord207
01-05-2008, 09:57 AM
I think XM dropped Nascar and Sirius has it now. My Chevy came with this and it works great although a large and high stand of trees or a cliff westerly of line of travel will result in poor reception. Change of subject: Would it be possible to have a thread here where people logging winter caches would also report them here? I need a "cache fix" as Di and I just bagged a bundle of 'em iin Florida and want slap on the snowshoes and get a bunch more. Problem is I have looked at the entire Central Maine cache list and there seems to be very few finds in the last two weeks. I know the snow is somewhat of an issue, the "snow friendly" icon can be of help, but I'd prefer chase a few that have recent logs. Any suggestions or comments?

attroll
01-05-2008, 03:29 PM
How much does it cost monthly for satellite radio?

dubord207
01-05-2008, 03:48 PM
XM is $9.95 per month.

thecyr
01-05-2008, 04:02 PM
XM & Sirius had to reduce the FM modulator in their units, so some of the Roady XT is weaker than an older Roady 2. The solution XM has is a Sure-connect, which basically is wire that runs to your antenna.

I currently have a Roady XT and switch freqs depending which area I am. Last summer while vacationing in Maine, I had to play around a lot to find a freq that I can set without having another FM jumping on top of my XM signal.

Anyway, I'll be starting my 4th year with XM and I love it, the choice available is great in my neck of the woods and while traveling. Also got it setup at work and home, so I can listen to it anywhere..

WhereRWe?
01-05-2008, 08:22 PM
Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. What is so great about satellite radio?

Sheesh! The main thing is, if you like a certain channel, you KNOW you can get it wherever you are. If you travel a lot like we do, you don't have to worry about losing the station you're listening to every hour or so.

And you don't have to just take whatever broadcast station you can receive where you're at. If you like a channel with a certain type of music or whatever, you can get it any where - even in Canada. (Yeah - I know - you don't go to Canada! LOL!)

d’76
01-06-2008, 02:24 PM
I like xm because we get radio stations at camp. I have a camp in Millinocket and where we are you may get a station or two on a good day. This weekend we had all the xm stations and It was great. And the other thing is xm allows up to 5 radios on an account. My research turned up 12.95 a month with additional radios at about 6.95 a month. I had my dad add this radio to his account since it will be primarly used at camp.

Oh did I mention the big reason I like xm.... It is commercial free for the most part. I have noticed that radio appears to be more commericials then music.

darterkitfox
01-06-2008, 06:29 PM
Isn't having your favorite music what a CD is for?

d’76
01-06-2008, 07:12 PM
Isn't having your favorite music what a CD is for?


What if I brought a Dave MAtthews disk and decided I wanted to listen to nine inch nails or tool. Maybe I am unpredictible and sometimes I want christian rock then followed up with an Andrew Dice Clay comedy show. :)

firefighterjake
01-06-2008, 08:15 PM
Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. What is so great about satellite radio?

If you're the type of person who thinks four or five channels of TV viewing is fine and you're willing to put up with the 10 minutes or so of ads to watch a 50 minute show then you probably wouldn't find satellite radio all that exciting or worth the money.

However, if you're the type of person who purchases cable or satellite TV and then constantly TIVOs shows or flips from channel to channel whenever you see a repeat is airing or the show bores you then you might like satellite radio.

Satellite radio . . . zero to no commercials (most of the commercial stations seem to be either broadcast earth-bound radio stations in metropolitan areas that are being "rebroadcast" on the satellite or comedy or talk stations) . . . the ability to listen to a wide range of music depending on your mood or taste (sometimes I opt to "go back in time" and listen to those high school hits from the '80s, sometimes I like to listen to a little Irish folk, othertimes I may listen to some comedy routine or some punk rock music when I get tired of listening to my normal genre -- alternative rock) . . . listen to music virtually anywhere with little to no static, hissing, popping, etc. (no worrying about getting out of range of the earth-bound transmitting tower) . . . hearing music you just won't hear anywhere else short of buying a CD or downloading the music (I have a friend who listens to bluegrass on his satellite radio and personally I love it whenever I hear an old alternative rock song from my college radio station days as I just don't hear them any more on local stations).

Of course the pay-off with satellite radio is you have to pay to play whereas regular radio stations are "free" because they have advertisers.

WhereRWe?
01-07-2008, 09:25 AM
However, if you're the type of person who purchases cable or satellite TV and then constantly TIVOs shows or flips from channel to channel whenever you see a repeat is airing or the show bores you then you might like satellite radio.


Sheesh! When were you in my house? LOL!

We hardy ever watch anything without "TIVO-ing" it.

(And if your sat radio receiver is permanently mounted in the car, you can get many of the channels over the internet).

firefighterjake
01-07-2008, 11:34 AM
Sheesh! When were you in my house? LOL!

We hardy ever watch anything without "TIVO-ing" it.

(And if your sat radio receiver is permanently mounted in the car, you can get many of the channels over the internet).

Nope . . . just reflecting on my own usage . . . and I'm definitely with you on the TIVO-ing deal . . . sometimes I flip the TV on, go to my saved shows, see nothing is there and figure nothing is on TV . . . I kind of sometimes forget to look to see if there is anything else on.

robt
01-07-2008, 02:31 PM
I ended up useingthe fm direct clip on mine but I still love it. Nice having alot of good music at my fingertips and not having to take what I have. If I had to buy CD's I would spend alot more to get what I have. That and my music choice changes very quickly so I never know what I may want to listen too.

WhereRWe?
01-07-2008, 08:50 PM
Nope . . . just reflecting on my own usage . . . and I'm definitely with you on the TIVO-ing deal . . . sometimes I flip the TV on, go to my saved shows, see nothing is there and figure nothing is on TV . . . I kind of sometimes forget to look to see if there is anything else on.

I've managed to get my Series 1 Tivo on my wireless network, and I love sitting here at the computer deciding what programs to Tivo. I know I can also go to the TV Guide web site and pick programs from their site and have Tivo record them, but haven't managed to do it yet. Not sure what I'm doing wrong...