Questions on XM radio.

[markw]

As much as I've been trying to avoid it on principle (The main one is that I'm cheap!) but I've noticed that, over the past few weeks, the bar where the lovely Mrs W and I have dinner at least once a week has been playing just killer classic rock. Not one song every now and then, but virtually every song is just what I needed.

I persuaded the waitress to let me peek my head into the electronics closet and there I found XM receiver tuned to channel 83.

Now, we're pretty ready to jump into it but I have some questions and I trust you guys (and gals, should any be present) as opposed to the brain dead zombies that wear the blue polo shirts.

I know I need a license and it'll cost about $13/month.

How many receivers can this license support? I can justify one for the home and a portable unit to switch between cars or, if doable, a receiver for each car, but I do NOT want to pay for more than one license. Is this do-able?

If not, those little ones DO have a headphone jack, don't they? Since all cars and the home unit have aux in's I could go that route rather than hold multiple licenses, although it's not the most elegant. Remember, I'm cheap!

Yeah, I know the hardware for each car will cost a bit but that's a one time expense that I could live with.

 

[hemiram]

Go to the XM website and they will have the info you need. I don't know about XM, but Siruis charges 6.49 a month for each additional receiver.

 

[markw]

Thanks.

Go to the XM website and they will have the info you need. I don't know about XM, but Siruis charges 6.49 a month for each additional receiver.

I tried there already but I'll try it again. It's a pretty website but isn't to awful helpful on this one.

Heck, I just might try to call 'em. If they DO charge for extra receivers, the lil' woman and I will fight about the one receiver well pass around.

edit: Found it. "Each radio activated will be charged it's own set of fees". No idea what a "Set of fees" translateds to in dollars and cents.

Looks like we're passing around one unit.

 

[jcPanny]

XM receivers

Mark,
Yes, you do play seperately for each activated XM receiver, but it is possible to share the receiver between car and home. We have a couple of the receivers for a total cost of 13 + 7 = $20/month. Some of the receivers come with car and home docs, allowing you to switch between the two locations. Add an extra car doc, and it would be possible to trade between 2 cars and the home setup.

 

[markw]

That's what I'm thinking.

Mark,
Yes, you do play seperately for each activated XM receiver, but it is possible to share the receiver between car and home. We have a couple of the receivers for a total cost of 13 + 7 = $20/month. Some of the receivers come with car and home docs, allowing you to switch between the two locations. Add an extra car doc, and it would be possible to trade between 2 cars and the home setup.

One receiver, two car docs, and one home dock seemsto be the solution. thanks for your input.

BTW, how do you like it? Does it solve the reception problems that plague FM, such as running out of an area? Is it worth it in your opinion?

 

[jonnythan]

I don't listen to FM anymore. I have XM in one car and Sirius in the other (gotta have MLB and NFL ).

It's totally worth it.

The one "gotcha" is that the sound quality is poor compared to even 128kbps MP3, which isn't great to begin with.

If you're in a city, you don't tend to lose signal at all thanks to ground-based repeaters. Out on the highway, you can sometimes lose the signal for ~1 second when going under an overpass, or lose it completely when there is really thick forest directly overhead or there is a large rock wall between you and the satellite. For instance, when driving eastbound through central MA, there is a section of highway that is basically cut out of the hillsides, leaving a fairly steep rock face on the southern side of the highway.. this rock face is basically a wall between my car and the sky, and I can't get XM.

However, in general, the reception is much better than FM and you will lose the signal less. Not that it matters anyway.. the lack of commercials on the XM stations means that it would take a hell of a lot of signal loss for an FM station to come near the songs per hour of an XM station

 

[footman]

xm for one year.

No regrets. Great programming, good sound. Dock for the car, dock for the home audio system. Have not bothered with FM since becoming a subscriber. My only complaint inadequate programming guide.