Can someone here explain satellite radio to me? XM? Sirius?

[bicentennial_baby]

I'm thinking about it for the car...But, I know nothing about it. Help!

:hi:

[KitchenWitch]

1. I have XM radio

What are your questions?

[bicentennial_baby]

2. Sweet! Ok, so do I just buy the radio, get a subscription?

Is it difficult to install?

:hi:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I had mine installed because they also had to put in a special antenna.

If you are handy with such things, though, maybe you could do it yourself. The radio will come with instructions about how to contact XM to subscribe.

[KitchenWitch]

5. Not difficult at all.

I have a unit that I can take in and out of my car, and I bought a home kit, so I can listen to Twins games in the house, when they are not on Extra Innings.

Buy the radio, there should be instructions for how to set up a subscription.

My XM radio is the old Roady 2. It plays through my existing car stereo by FM Modulation (I chose a station that does not have anything on it in this area and set the XM radio to modulate to that station). Plug in the antenna, the ciggy lighter adapter, power up and away you go!

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Did you get that 'boom box'

that's shaped kinda like a big bow tie? :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I have one of those

besides the car radio. It's got pretty good sound, and I can take it outside and listen to AAR or Baroque operas while working in the garden.

[KitchenWitch]

12. No

Not yet anyway...

:D

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Unless you're experienced in stereo installation, yes

They send you a "car kit" (some receivers may come with it; I had to buy mine separately), which consists of a "universal" mounting bracket, the power cord and the antenna. I fabricated an additional bracket because I wasn't about to fuck up my dashboard. But the hard part is the antenna — it's a tiny little thing, about half the size of the smallest cell phones, but it has to be mounted in certain places (on the roof is best) or it won't catch the signal.

I've been installing stereos since I was a teenager. If that's not in your repertoire, I'd advise having a pro do it.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Yuck....nevermind. I don't need it that badly...

Not enough that I'm going to pay someone else to install it. That's just not my nature. C'est la vie.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I have XM radio in my car

and another portable one. I like it. You have to pay for a subscription, kind of like cable TV, but a lot cheaper. Your radio is assigned a specific code, and when you get the subscription you initialize the radio with the assigned code so it can get the XM signal. The nice thing about it is that you can get all kinds of music (with no ads), plus a lot of sports and talk radio (those have ads), as well as weather and traffic reports from all over. Also, if you drive long distances you can keep listening to your programs (unlike FM radio, where you lose the signal). The only time you lose the signal is in parking garages where the satellite signal can't get through.

[KitchenWitch]

6. There are certain parts of Orange County that I have driven through

that the signal from the satellite seems to be very week and full of static. It could be interference from all the cellphone towers around here though.

[Lavender Brown]

11. I got three months of XM free with my new car

I enjoyed it, there are different language channels and news and lots of things you can't find on the radio. And no commercials!

[Jamastiene]

13. They send satellites up into the air.

Satellite radio stations are like cable with no video. It's wireless though, so you don't have to call the "radio cable" guy to come hook you up. You just get a receiver and there ya go. XM and Sirius are like HBO and Showtime, just different channels. That's the easy to understand reply.

[Shakespeare]

14. SIRIUS!!!

have it. love it. highly recommend it.

[bixente]

15. I heard it once

It was funny. I'm not sure if we can subscribe to it in this country, but anyway, on this other forum, someone made available a recording from Sirius. Forget the show, but the host was interviewing Gollum (you know, from Lord of the Rings?) about who he would vote for in the election (this was some years ago). Now, Gollum is a creature who speaks in the third-person. His response to the question was "we like Kucinich!" Hilarious. The person who acted out his voice did a great job and is most known for assuming voice acting duties on the Pokemon anime. :P Meowth. That was random.

Edit. How he talks, "in the third-person"... that is the case sometimes, but in this case... er.